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Tuscany: The Beaten Path Was Never So Beautiful
IgoUgo Editorial Director jilldg1 just can’t resist the call (or the taste) of Italy—hence her 14 visits within the span of 3 years. Next on the Italian agenda may be Taormina or Puglia, but only after she’s seen a bit of her own country for a change.
If Tuscany is mobbed with tourists, there's a good reason why: it delivers. This might be the only place in the world that actually lives up to its own overheated clichés. Here, the tomatoes really do shine like rubies, and you may well encounter a life-changing culinary experience at a run-down pizzeria. You can't look up without running into a medieval masterpiece or an Etruscan ruin. And the earth's countryside becomes striking in a way it never has before, with fields of dead sunflowers and withered cornstalks draped like yellow canvas across rolling hills and grapevine patterns.
Once you've decided to visit Tuscany (that's the easy part), it's a toss-up between the countryside and the well-documented highlights of larger towns like Florence, Pisa, and Siena.
Florence, Tuscany's capital, lays claim to the famous Duomo and some of the world's best museums (such as the Uffizi and Academy Gallery), while the peaceful university town of Pisa offers the all-too-popular Leaning Tower, and medieval Siena packs in the crowds with its semiannual Palio horse race through town. What you may not realize is that we're not talking about big cities here. You can walk from the center of Florence to its closest suburbs in 15 minutes, which is astounding when you consider the concentration of artistic riches contained within its bounds.
Tuscany covers over 9,000 square miles, with urban centers representing a mere sliver of the area's temptations. Wine regions like Chianti, Montalcino, and Montepulciano bring to life that quintessential Tuscany of calendars and movies: vineyards and olive groves spreading in every direction over a landscape dotted with market towns and renovated villas. Meanwhile, western Tuscany offers something completely unexpected: the sea. The fishing village of Livorno, beach resorts on the island of Elba, and centuries-old healing waters in Saturnia show off a side of Tuscany that few would suspect.
The bottom line is that Tuscany lives up to its hype, whether you're a gourmand, an architecture buff, or just yearning for views of an 11th-century hamlet as you lounge by the pool. Challenges will face travelers who arrive in search of untraveled paths, but such is the price of visiting one of the world's most wonderful places.
Tuscany at a Glance
Location: This fabled central Italian province borders the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west, with Umbria to the east, Rome to the south, and Emilia-Romagna and Liguria to the north.
Getting There: Tuscany's two major airports are at Pisa and Florence, neither of which receives direct flights from the U.S. (American visitors will need to take connecting flights from Milan or Rome.)
When to Go: Sunshine and mild temperatures make spring an ideal time to visit, though the winter (low season) is good if you're hunting for a bargain—or a less crowded Italian experience. Avoid summer, when the humidity and the tour groups are stifling. To wake up to the smell of grapes fermenting, visit in September and October—the annual wine harvest.
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IgoUgo's Best of Tuscany
Best Small Countryside Accommodations
- Cutting-edge style and old-world elegance meet at Villa Fontelunga, a restored nine-room palace set amid olive groves and vineyards.
- Agriturism—staying overnight at a working farm—is all the rage in Tuscany these days. If you're into fresh lavender and farm-pressed olive oil, but still want a sauna in your bathroom and a four-poster bed, take heart. Podere Dionora comes to the rescue.
- Ten minutes from Montalcino, birthplace of the famed Brunello wine, is the über-expensive fortress-turned-luxury-hotel Castello di Velona—a favorite for honeymooners.
Best Eats—in Every Price Range
- IgoUgo member unorthodox traveler felt "emotionally attached" to his favorite beer after visiting the Pilsner Brewery in Plzen.
- Expensive: I second barbara's rave review of La Grotta, an elegant restaurant on the edge of Montepulciano, whose backyard garden offered a peek at the looming church of Sant'Agnese next door.
- Moderate: JayBroek takes his cue from the locals and opts for amazing food—sans English menu—at Florence's “bustling, atmospheric, and authentic” Belle Donne.
- Inexpensive: Italophile Bear in Britain insists that the best pizza in Italy comes from the brick-fire ovens at L'Antinoro.
Best Small Towns
- Like JenLara, I fell in love with the perfectly formed Renaissance town of Pienza, whose vibrant flower boxes and hilltop views made for a perfect lunch stop between Montalcino and Montepulciano.
- Ozzy-Dave echoes my reaction to the lovely town of Greve in Chianti; I, too, have dreamt of taking up residence there someday.
- The book (and, later, the movie) Under the Tuscan Sun brought out the masses to Cortona, a favorite Tuscan destination of moatway's.
