Tuscan hilltop villages are built in higgeldy-piggeldy fashion with houses clambering up the hillside on top of each other to the church. This village is no exception but unusually you are able to park right in front of our house in a little piazza. Cardoso has two small bars each with its own tiny shop. During the summer the village comes alive with a slow food festival, art exhibition and a multitude of festas held at either of the bars or in various piazzas but at all times you will receive a warm welcome from the villagers. There is excellent walking in the mountains around - many walks starting from Cardoso itself - and only slightly further afield are the magnificent marble mines where Michelangelo found the stone for his wonderful statues; the Grotto del Vento, a stunning cave system; the ancient town of Barga; the beautiful walled city of Lucca and the buzzing seaside resorts of Viareggio and Torre del Lago, home of Puccini. Easily within reach for a day trip are wonderful Florence, Pisa, Livorno and the Cinque Terre. Eating out in this region is always a gastronomic delight and you will find bill posters of all our favourite haunts pinned up on a kitchen cupboard!

We, Fred (60-ish) and Siobhan (50-ish), are both professional and recently retired from our own business in England. We are keen travellers and love walking and exploring new places, new foods and new cultures; Fred fly fishes and Siobhan is a scuba diver. Our "kids" are 31 and 29 and firmly based in Yorkshire, one is a science teacher and the other a dry stone waller. We have been house swapping for three years now and delight in the opportunity it gives us to visit new countries. We're very open to non-simultaneous exchange as this would give us (and you) maximum flexibility and maybe even a chance to meet. As we have no time restrictions we don't mind what time of year we travel whereas you may feel that June to September is the very best time to visit Italy. We're especially looking for exchanges in the countryside or by the beach.