Painting holidays – Where you stay and
what it costs

You stay in bright, well-decorated bedrooms in a complex of elegant Tuscan buildings. We've recently put in new, comfy beds and more original artwork on the walls. 

There is a large communal sitting room and a new dining room for leisurely breakfasts and mouth-watering evening meals. There are facilities at the mill for personal tea-/coffee-making.

EVERYTHING is included in the cost of your holiday:

  • all tuition fees
  • local transportation (including transfers to and from Pisa airport; including our mid week excursion by train to Lucca or the Cinque Terre)
  • all meals including breakfast, gourmet picnics on location, pre-dinner aperitifs, dinner at the mill or at small and friendly local restaurants with regional Italian dishes and wines.

All you have to do is to get to Pisa and we do the rest!

What it costs

Our policy is not to discriminate against people coming on their own by charging a vast supplement for single rooms. So, if you are coming on your own you will have your own individual bedroom. We would, however, like friends (and married couples) to share if it is at all possible and there will be a saving if you do so.

The mill is arranged as four self-contained apartments but, during a painting course, it all comes together and we use the big reception room in our own apartment as our communal meeting place.

Because The Watermill at Posara is a building of historic importance and listed by the Italian government, we cannot make major alterations, so some guests will have to share a bathroom with either one or two other people.  BUT we have just completed four new bedrooms, each with en suite shower rooms for those who want  their own bathrooms.  These are called the Courtyard bedrooms (1 and 2), plus the double bedrooms in the Tuscan House (Bedrooms 3 and 4).

These are the bedrooms on offer, and their prices:

Watermill courtyard rooms

Bedrooms 1 & 2

Courtyard en suite bedrooms

De luxe bedrooms with en suite shower rooms and large roof terrace overlooking the courtyard and gardens. One bedroom has a small double bed (Bedroom 1) and the other has a very large single bed (Bedroom 2).

Price (per course):

  • Single:  £1316 single occupancy
  • Sharing:  £1187 per person sharing
     
Upper apartment

Bedroom 3

Principal en suite bedroom, Tuscan house:

Large, dual aspect bedroom with en suite shower room (Bedroom 3).  Views over the courtyard and gardens to mountains beyond.. 'Super Kingsize' bed can be divided into large singles if required.

Price (per course):

  • Single:  £1316 single occupancy
  • Sharing:  £1187 per person sharing
     
Bedroom 4

Bedroom 4

Double en suite bedroom, Tuscan house:

Large, double bedroom with en suite shower room (Bedroom 4).  Views over the courtyard and gardens, and to the mountains beyond.. 'Kingsize' bed can be divided into singles if required.

Price (per course):

  • Single:  £1316 single occupancy
  • Sharing:  £1187 per person sharing
     
Twin bedroom, apartment3

Bedroom 5

Principal bedroom, above the 17th Century mill
(part of the Mill apartment):

Double bedroom with dual aspect views overlooking courtyard and up to the mountains (Bedroom 5).

Price (per course):

  • Single:  £1230 single occupancy
  • Sharing:  £1149 per person sharing
     
Twin bedroom, apartment 3

Bedroom 6

Twin bedroom, above the 17th Century mill
(part of the Mill apartment):

Large twin room, overlooking river (Bedroom 6).  'Super Kingsize' bed can be divided into large singles if required.

Price (per course):

  • Single:  £1230 single occupancy
  • Sharing:  £1149 per person sharing
     
Boudoir, apartment 3

Bedroom 7

Boudoir, above the 17th Century mill
(part of the Mill apartment):

Single room with dual aspect views over river and courtyard (Bedroom 7).

Price (per course):

  • Single:  £1230 single occupancy
     
Twin bedroom, apartment 4

Bedrooms 8 & 9

Cascades apartment:

Exclusive apartment for two (including your own bathroom and sitting room) with double bedroom overlooking the mill cascades and the river (Bedrooms 8 and 9 - see about sharing below).

Price (per course):

  • Sharing double bed:  £1211 per person sharing double bed
  • Sharing in separate rooms: If two people want to share, but sleep in separate rooms, we can put up a bed in the sitting room. The cost is £1211 per person sharing in separate rooms
     
Principal bedroom, apartment 5

Bedroom 10

Principal bedroom
(part of Riverside Gardens apartment):

Double bedroom with dual aspect views of gardens and river (Bedroom 10).

Price (per course):

  • Single:  £1230 single occupancy
  • Sharing:  £1149 per person sharing
     
Single bedroom, apartment 5

Bedroom 11

Single bedroom (can be a small twin room)
(part of Riverside Gardens apartment):

Single bedroom (but can be a twin room at a squeeze), with views over vine verandah, walled garden, with mountains in the background (Bedroom 11).

Price (per course):

  • Single:  £1230 single occupancy
  • Sharing:  £1149 per person sharing
     

Deposit and balance

A deposit of £200 per person is required to confirm your booking.

The balance for your holiday is due eight weeks before arrival.

Please note our cancellation conditions set out below. (We recommend that you take out normal holiday insurance, including cancellation insurance.)

Cancellations

A handling charge of £50 per person per course will be levied on all cancellations. In addition, if you have to cancel four to eight weeks before departure, a charge of 40% of the total price is payable; at two to four weeks, 60%; at one to two weeks, 80%; at less than one week, 90%.

We reserve the right to cancel any course at two months' notice and, where possible, provide you with an alternative course.

Getting there

You can book your own flights (there are good connections from Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, East Midlands, Birmingham, Leeds/Bradford, Manchester and Bristol and an increasing number of other UK airports).

Or, to make life easier, you can use the services of our Personal Travel Adviser, Peter Millard, who will fix everything for you at very competitive prices. There is absolutely no obligation to use him, but if you would like his help, his phone number is 01453 889494 and his email address is peter.millard@futuretravel.co.uk. We have found that many travel agents these days are not very helpful and are often tied to big tour operators. Peter will give you personal service.

We pick you up at Pisa airport on the first day between 11am and 2pm. Our departure times from Posara on the last Saturday are between 7am and 11am. If you arrive or leave outside these times we can arrange transportation for you but you will have to pay for it.

You may decide to come by car. You can park at the mill and we'll give you full instructions on how to get there.