This calm hilltop town in Lazio holds a 12th-century Romanesque cathedral, medieval buildings, and local wine bars, all surrounded by olive groves an hour from Rome.
Tuscany covers 23,000 square kilometers along Italy's western coast. In Florence, you can see Michelangelo's David at the Accademia Gallery. In Chianti, you'll walk through rows of Sangiovese vines between medieval stone farmhouses. The Carrara quarries still supply the same white marble that Michelangelo used for his sculptures.
Getting Around Tuscany
Trains run hourly between Florence, Pisa, and Siena, with tickets starting at €8.40 one-way. Local SITA buses connect smaller towns, though schedules become limited on weekends. A rental car helps you reach remote villages and vineyards, especially in the Chianti and Val d'Orcia areas. The narrow roads between towns have sharp turns and steep inclines, and city centers like Siena and San Gimignano only allow resident vehicles.
Florence and Art
The Uffizi Gallery contains 101 rooms of art, including Botticelli's Birth of Venus and works by Leonardo da Vinci. In the city's Oltrarno district, you can watch craftspeople carve leather, shape gold, and restore furniture in their workshops. Via de' Tornabuoni, Florence's main shopping street, houses Italian fashion brands like Ferragamo, Gucci, and Bulgari in 15th-century palazzos.
Wine and Agriculture
Chianti's vineyards spread across the hills between Florence and Siena, where wine makers produce Chianti Classico from Sangiovese grapes. From October to December, olive farms press their harvest using granite millstones and hydraulic presses at temperatures below 27°C. Many estates organize wine tastings and cooking classes - half-day experiences cost between €45-80 per person.
Hill Towns and Mountains
The Val d'Orcia contains paths connecting five medieval towns: Montalcino, Pienza, San Quirico d'Orcia, Castiglione d'Orcia, and Radicofani. You can walk sections of the Via Francigena, a 1,000-year-old pilgrim route marked by yellow arrows. The Apuan Alps reach heights of 1,946 meters at Monte Pisanino, where you'll find active quarries cutting blocks of white marble using diamond-tipped wires.
