Set the farewell brunch by two numbers: the venue’s check-out time and the drive to the airport. Work backwards from both and the brunch usually lands between about half past nine and noon, at the venue, for no more than two hours.
Check-out first
Relais La Costa asks for check-out by 11am, with check-in from 4pm to 7pm, according to its 2025 wedding brochure. Villa Castiglione gives check-out as 8.00 to 10.30 and serves breakfast from 7.30 to 10.00, so a brunch there means asking to hold luggage or extend rooms.
On exclusive use, ask whether the last morning is inside the buyout and when the next party arrives. Borgo Bucciano includes a breakfast buffet each morning of an exclusive stay, so a brunch there can be an upgrade to a meal already booked rather than a second one.
Then the drive
The venues’ own figures for the journey to the airports:
- Borgo Bucciano: about 30 minutes to Pisa, 45 to Florence.
- Castello di Casole: about 1 hour to Florence airport, 1 hour 30 minutes to Pisa.
- Castel Monastero: about 1 hour 20 minutes to Florence airport, 2 hours 30 minutes to Rome Fiumicino.
- Castello di Velona: about 1 hour 30 minutes to Florence airport, 1 hour 50 minutes to Pisa.
Add the airline’s check-in time. A guest staying at Castello di Velona with a 3pm flight from Pisa should leave by about 11am, before most brunches have finished, so offer an early table for those guests.
Guests travelling on by train have an easier time from Pisa: the Pisa Mover shuttle links the airport and Pisa Centrale station every 5 to 8 minutes, according to Visit Tuscany.
Where
At the venue is simplest: guests are already there, with their luggage. Castello di Casole has terraces with tables under umbrellas, Relais La Costa a stone courtyard with a brick outdoor oven, and Borgo Bucciano a covered terrace over the valley. Castel Monastero has tables on its medieval piazza.
If most guests stayed in Florence, hold the brunch in the city instead, and save a journey on the last morning.
Practicalities
- Transfers: book cars or a coach from the brunch to each airport. Castello di Casole runs a shuttle and its concierge books taxis, which come from Siena and need booking ahead.
- Luggage: ask where bags can wait while guests eat.
- Minimum stays: Relais La Costa asks for two nights midweek and three at weekends, so the brunch morning is often already part of the booking.
- Length: two hours is enough.
For airports and transfers across the region, see the Tuscany Wedding Atlas.
Questions couples ask
What time should a farewell brunch start?
Early enough to finish before check-out and before guests on afternoon flights must leave. At Relais La Costa, with check-out by 11am, a start around half past nine works.
Do we need the whole hotel for a brunch?
No. Castello di Casole, for example, asks for at least 10 rooms for a wedding without a buyout, and recommends exclusive use above 25 guests.
Updated 1 October 2026
