Under the Tuscan Sun at Agriturismo Marciano and La Lastra Near Siena
Last Updated on May 11, 2026 by Charlotte
La Lastra and its guesthouse, Agriturismo Marciano, is one of my most favorite stays in all of Tuscany, and I would go back in a heartbeat. We stayed here for three nights, and during our stay, we joined their wine tour and lunch, borrowed bikes to cruise through the countryside, ate homemade breakfasts in the big kitchen, and spent our evenings around long tables with strangers who felt, by the second glass of house wine, like old friends.
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A Dream Built Over Decades
The story of La Lastra and Agriturismo Marciano is the kind of thing that makes me feel quietly hopeful about what life can look like. In the early 1980s, a small group of friends fell in love with the Sienese countryside while completing their studies.
They spent a decade working the land before formally founding La Lastra in 1994, with a single goal to produce high-quality, sustainable wines as a pure expression of the place they’d grown to love. In 2000, they added Marciano, an 18th-century farmhouse estate just two kilometers from the center of Siena, and the agriturismo was born.
Our Stay at Agriturismo Marciano and Touring La Lastra
By the time we arrived at La Lastra and Agriturismo Marciano, we had been traveling across Italy for over three weeks, from Capri, to the Amalfi Coast, to Verona, and the Dolomites. This sounds glamorous, and in many ways it was. But after so many trains, buses, and dragging our luggage over cobblestones and up stairs, we were ready for a slower pace of living.
Serendipitously, La Lastra and Agriturismo Marciano arrived at exactly the right time. We hailed a taxi from the taxi stand in the central piazza of Siena, and the town quickly gave way to rolling hills of vineyards and olive trees as far as the eye could see.
As we pulled into Agriturismo Marciano, our hostess, Nadia, greeted us and showed us to our room. At check-in, we were given a bottle of wine and two glasses, and Nadia invited us to enjoy the sunset in the courtyard until dinner.
It felt like we had wandered into a 2000s Tuscany romance movie, somewhere between Under the Tuscan Sun and Letters to Juliet, surrounded by climbing star jasmine and friendly vineyard cats.
Our Room at Agriturismo Marciano
We ducked into our room before dinner, which was quite spacious and had its own private patio.
We’d booked the Cammino Suite, which is set on the ground floor inside a restored agricultural building — possibly a former granary — with tall ceilings, a queen bed, and a desk and couch, with a private ensuite bathroom in the next room, before heading up to dinner.
Long Dinners With Other Guests
That evening, we gathered around long tables with the other guests for a multi-course meal made with local ingredients, served with plenty of house wine. We indulged in homemade pesto pasta, lightly battered fried vegetables, and stuffed squash blossoms, and a blueberry tart for dessert. People slowly fell into conversation over the courses. Wine was poured, and plates were passed, and chatting with the other guests made the dinners feel all the more special.
I learned that some guests were honeymooners, still glowing in that soft post-wedding travel bubble. One family had come to Siena from all far corners of the world, like Hong Kong and New York, to meet in the middle in Tuscany to spend time together. One couple was celebrating retirement after 40 years as public school teachers. It was such a sweet reminder that this kind of place works for so many different stages of life.
Our La Lastra Wine Tour
On our first full day, we joined the La Lastra wine tour, which included a full tasting and a light lunch. Our tour started in the cool underground wine cellar, tucked beneath one of the old farm buildings. Our guide, Christian, was incredibly personable and walked us through the winemaking process before taking us outside to visit the vines.
In the fields, we learned about the grape varieties grown at La Lastra, how the vines are pruned, and what happens during harvest season. La Lastra produces organic wines from its vineyards in Tuscany, including classic regional wines like Vernaccia di San Gimignano and Chianti Colli Senesi, along with other Tuscan reds and blends.
If you are new to Tuscan wine, this is a lovely place to learn because the wines connect directly to the surrounding region. Their Chianti Colli Senesi highlights Sangiovese, the classic red grape of this part of Tuscany, while their white wine production includes Vernaccia di San Gimignano, a historic Tuscan white wine from the nearby San Gimignano area.
I always appreciate wine tours that make the wine feel connected to the land, rather than just presenting it as a mysterious liquid that appears in glasses through magic and good branding.
Wine Tasting and Homemade Lunch
Just when our tummies started to rumble, we sat down for lunch on the shaded outdoor patio. Our meal began with crusty bread, followed by sage ravioli in brown butter sauce, baked tomatoes, and prosciutto topped with fresh pesto, walnuts, and shavings of hard cheese. For dessert, we had chocolate cake dusted with powdered sugar.
The whole meal was generous without feeling heavy, and it paired beautifully with the wines. I especially loved the white and rosé wines. Travel Buddy and I are not serious wine people in the “we have a cellar and opinions about decanting” sense, but we do know when we are happy, well-fed, and sitting in the Tuscan countryside with very good wine in our glasses.
The second-best thing about staying on the farm was that it was a short walk back to our room and patio after our lunch.
Breakfasts in the Big Kitchen
As an overnight guest at Agriturismo Marciano, we were treated to breakfast in the communal kitchen every morning, which was absolutely delicious. Each morning, we could choose between a sweet or savory breakfast. There were homemade strawberry and apricot jams and spreads, freshly baked bread, and simple, thoughtful food that somehow felt more luxurious than a giant hotel buffet. This felt reminiscent of childhood summers at my Nana’s country house, in that warm, lived-in way where the kitchen feels like the heart of the home, where the aroma of pastries wafts around every corner, and enjoying blueberries sprinkled with a little sugar is the epitome of a sweet treat.
Speaking of hospitality, I remember mentioning how much I loved the buffalo mozzarella, and our host Nadia must have overheard me. The next morning, she’d somehow arranged to have buffala brought in specially from Naples for my breakfast! I was utterly thrilled, and it was such a small, generous gesture, but it captured exactly why staying there felt so special. We truly felt like treasured guests.
Slow Days in the Tuscan Countryside
Our second full day at the agriturismo was peaceful and unhurried, and I read my book for hours on the patio overlooking terraces of olive trees. In the late morning, we borrowed bikes from the agriturismo and cruised through the rolling hills outside Siena, which felt exactly as absurdly romantic as it sounds.
Were we professional Tuscan cyclists? Absolutely not. It was just one of those easy, golden travel afternoons cruising quiet roads, and taking in the countryside views of vineyards, olive trees, and reveling in the feeling that for once, we did not need to be anywhere else in the world but here.
How to Book Agriturismo Marciano and La Lastra Wine Tours
The wine tour, the dinners, and the overnight accommodation are all separate bookings.
Unfortunately, the guesthouse at Agriturismo Marciano is closed for the 2026 season while renovations are underway, so overnight bookings are not available this year. However, they are still running the wine tour and tasting experiences during the day.
The Wine Tour
To reserve your spot, book directly through La Lastra. I highly recommend booking early because spots are limited and the tour is totally worth it the next time you are in Siena. Plus, the lunch is really good. If you plan to take a Taxi, try to arrange your ride back into town in advance, since taxis can be hard to hail when everyone is trying to leave the wine tour at the same time.
Some of the other guests on our tour who were not staying at the guesthouse had to wait up to three hours to get a taxi back home!
Dinners at the Long Table
If you’re staying overnight, you’ll need to communicate via email that you’re interested in their homemade dinners.
Overnight Accommodation
The guesthouse is closed for renovations in 2026. I’ll update this post as soon as it’s available, but for now, check out these nearby stays in Siena.
Getting to La Lastra
The property is just 2 km from the center of Siena, and can be reached by private car or Taxi.
Was it Worth the Trip?
100% Yes! I’ve been comparing every agriturismo stay against it ever since. The only one that’s ever come close is the truffle hunting experience outside Alba, and even then, it’s a different kind of magic. I’m writing this from my couch in Hawaii, practically green with envy that we are not visiting the Alps or Italy this summer, or enjoying watching the sun set over the vineyards at La Lastra. Tough life, I know.
