day trips from florence to tuscany

2021/05/21

The guide was knowledgeable, friendly and informative. I'd definitely recommend this tour.

The colonnaded pavilions are set among equally beautiful gardens that you can stroll through, even if you are not using the spa. It's a landscape where you'll encounter historic olive groves, honey-colored stone farmhouses, dense forests, graceful Romanesque pievi (rural churches), handsome Renaissance villas and imposing stone castles built in the Middle Ages by Florentine and Sienese warlords. Accommodation: Where to Stay in San Gimignano. Admire medieval frescoes in Collegiata, theRomanesque cathedral, and climb the tower of Palazzo Communale. She somehow had magic and did t even have to let her egg dough rest before she rolled and cut it. Alternating stripes of dark and light marble cover the faade and walls of Siena's cathedral, further adorned by statues and reliefs, all the work of famed artist Giovanni Pisano.

As we depart, you'll settle into a comfortable, air-conditioned luxury vehicle and head into the rolling hills of Tuscany.

Subscribe to Lonely Planet newsletters and promotions. Led by an expert guide, the trip includes travel to Pisa through the Tuscan countryside on an air-conditioned coach. Tickets for the Siena Cathedral are not included in the tour price.

The tour guide was knowledgeable, friendly and was overall wonderful!

Along with the tower are the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, the Baptistery, and Campo Santo, close together in the Campo dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles).

The foremost Romanesque church is San Michele in Foro, and don't miss climbing the tall Guinigi Tower, where there's a tree-shaded mini park at the top.

One of them is open to the public, and if you can handle the climb up 498 vertigo-inducing steps, you'll be rewarded with postcard-perfect views across Bologna.

travellingking How to get to Bologna: Bologna is about a90-minute drive from Florence. Some of Italy's finest restaurants are here, with many traditional trattorias serving Bolognese specialties in unassuming surroundings. Once you're ready for something more contemporary, enjoy the art at Galleria Continua, one of Europe's best commercial art galleries.

The five picturesque villages that stud the steep hillsides and cliffs above the Ligurian Sea have taken on an iconic status. Even its main square, the huge Piazza del Campo where the famous Palio horse race is held, slopes downhill.

It was hot, but we got to do so much, including visiting a beautiful lookout view of all of Florence before we left the city.

The Chianti Hills, with their olive groves and woods of chestnut and oak, lie between Florence and Siena, and Route 222, the Via Chiantigiana, twists and turns through this region.

walkingontravels As the lunch hour arises, take a tour of an authentic farm, complete with spreading vineyards and full wine cellars. Discover the last monumental wall paintingpop artist Keith Haring did before he died, enjoy low-key architectural and artistic genius at the Chiesa di Santa Maria della Spina and Palazzo Blu.

It was fascinating to learn about Sienna, its origins and politics. A celebrated statue on display in a Tuscany cathederal was recently discovered to be the oldest known wooden relic in Europe, dating back much further. Read our Privacy Policy. If traveling by train go toPoggibonsi-San Gimignano and take a bus the rest of the way.

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Sandra was phenomenal!

The cathedral was begun a century earlier to celebrate Pisa's naval victory over the Saracens; enlarged and embellished over the centuries it is the definitive example of the Pisan architectural style. Lucca is known for itstraditional cuisine and prized olive oil, so be sure to linger long enough to enjoy a meal here. Our day starts in the center of Florence, meeting your expert guide, designated driver, and a small group (up to 12 other people). East is one of Tuscany's loveliest piazzas: oval cafe-ringed Piazza Anfiteatro, named for the amphitheater that was here in Roman times.

A drive through the Monti del Chianti takes you through some of the most attractive scenery in Italy.

But even closer than these cities are the Chianti hills, the beautiful rolling Tuscan countryside, and art-filled Prato and Pistoia.

With a full belly, we will move on to the little town of San Gimignano, so pretty and architecturally significant, its a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

If you are traveling with a small child, please contact us.

We tried a sparkling, a white, a Chianti Classico, Chianti reserva, and super Tuscan (and learned the difference), and a dessert wine with cookies plus a small shot of grappa with the sommelier!

Original article by Renee Bergere published in June 2012, with a new version published in February 2021. Just walking through Siena's narrow medieval streets is a pleasure, but be prepared for some climbing, as the city is built on hills.

Itscentro storico(historic center), seemingly little changed in more than 400 years, rises in a helter-skelter of cobbled alleys, arched stairways and piazzas framed by solemn churches and magnificent Gothicpalazzi(mansions). Fiesole has seduced for centuries with its cooler air, olive groves, scattering of Renaissance-styled villas and spectacular views of the plain. For a more active experience, join the Cinque Terre Hiking Day Trip from Florence to hike a 5.5-kilometer stretch of the famed Cinque Terre walking path between towns with a guide.

It was a long day but didnt feel tiring because it was broken up nicely. The tour guide told us great and interesting stories of the proud tradition of not only this race but Sienna itself as well as San Giminano.

You'll find reminders of all these eras in its museums and churches, along with art by some of Italy's great names.

Your guide may need to split time between vehicles on groups larger than 8.

Great tour guide! Monticchiello,10km south of Pienza,makes a tranquil and convenient base when exploring the Val d'Orcia. Throughout the city are more premier examples of Gothic churches and palaces, most of them constructed of bricks made from Siena's characteristic red clay. This turns the building's focus to the outdoors, engaging the surroundings in the architecture itself. Please visit here to find and follow local regulations.

So, once you've had your fill of the city's amazing sights, use it as a base for fantastic day trips around and beyond Tuscany. To experience a bit of the city's original atmosphere, visit during the July Festival of Monteriggioni, when the streets are filled with medieval costumes, minstrels, music, games, performers, dancing, and craftspeople. Siena is where the architecture soars, as do the souls of many of its visitors.

Expertly guided walking tour of San Gimignano, Gourmet lunch and wine tasting in Chianti. Some are only a short distance apart, so if you have your own car, you can easily tied them together for longer days out.

It's worth saving your visit to the tower and its oversized square for the latter part of the day. You can combine a tour of Assisi with a visit to the charming nearby Umbrian town of Cortona on an Assisi and Cortona Day Trip from Florence that includes stops at the Basilica, Convent of Santa Chiara, and Santa Maria degli Angeli.

I appreciated that the group was small, and we got to see so much of Tuscany in one day. Chianti is a postcard-perfect area full of rolling hills and quaint farmhouses.

More Places to Visit in Tuscany: Florence also makes a good base for several overnight trips, perhaps combining several of the hill towns or traveling south to some of the towns described in our page on day trips from Siena. Florence city of the duomo, bistecca alla fiorentina and Michelangelo's Davidhas a relatively small populationthat is dwarfed by the millions of tourists who swarm to it annually. The winery was fantastic, Lorenzo was so knowledgeable and fun. Loved every moment of this tour. Less than 25 kilometers from Florence, Prato is a center for art, both historic and contemporary. But if you only have time for one, which should you pick?

Only about 80 kilometers from Florence, the town of Arezzo was a Roman outpost, but dates back to Etruscan times. Businesses in Italy are reviving the tradition of selling wine and other drinks from tiny wall hatches known as wine windows. It is theperfect day trip destination for foodies. The wine tasting and lunch was inredible. Our drivers were fantastic.

A company has launched a brand new experience that sees visitors travelling to the rustic Tuscan countryside to learn Italian from local teachers in truly serene and beautiful surroundings. Today, they are one of this charming small city's greatest attractions. As a result, its medieval towers, walls, and churches were not torn down to make room for new development, so 13 of its original 70 towers, its largely intact 13th-century walls, the Romanesque Knights Templars' Church of San Icopo, and even a 14th-century Herb Pharmacy and Herbarium remain for tourists to enjoy.

If you wish to visit the Cathedral, your guide will assist you.

Overlooking Piazza Maggiore is the still unfinished facade of the great Basilica of San Petronius. The Cappella del Sacro Cngolo is illuminated with 14th-century frescoes by Agnolo Gaddi. The valley's distinctive landscape features flat chalk plains, out of which rise almost conical hills topped with fortified settlements and magnificent abbeys that were once important staging points on the Via Francigena. Visit the duomo, an art-laden Gothic cathedral with abaptistry, crypt and museum, and then head to the Museo Civico to marvel at magnificent frescoes commissioned by the city's medieval rulers. It's the abundance of remarkable medieval churches that attract tourists to Pistoia, about halfway between Florence and Lucca.

Here we will walk the city center while your guide points out all the local culture and history including the famed Siena Cathedral as well as show you the location of the bi-annual Palio horserace. The closest train station,Camucia-Cortona,is about 1.5 miles (2.4km) from the town.

We would like to remind you that Italy is updating its COVID regulations. Written by Barbara Radcliffe RogersUpdated May 26, 2022, We may earn a commission from affiliate links (). All rights reserved. They commissioned the best architects, artists, and garden designers to create summer palaces surrounded by acres of manicured gardens and hunting parks. Greve, in the heart of the Chianti Classico region, has an impressive piazza lined with arched colonnades, and beyond Greve, the landscape grows even more picturesque.

In Piazza del Duomo, the cathedral looks across to the late-13th-century Palazzo Vecchio del Podest and its tower, the Torre della Rognosa.

The tour includes a 40-minute boat ride along the Riviera, a train ride between towns, time for a swim, and transport from Florence on an air-conditioned coach. Built wide to support heavy artillery and planted with trees to help support the earthwork, the walls made a perfect promenade in the 19th century, when they were no longer needed for defense. The stops in Siena and San Gimignano were perfect to get a little taste of two beautiful towns and interesting history. Piazza del Campo is Siena's social center, so take time to enjoy a coffee or aperitivo while watching the action unfold.

The museums will be located in well-known artists' hometownsin an attempt to give more context to the work and artist.

The picturesque agricultural valley of Val d'Orcia is a Unesco World Heritage site, as is the historic center of the town of Pienza on its northeastern edge. At its height in the Middle Ages, San Gimignano was a stop on the Via Francigena, the main pilgrimage route to Rome, and when the flow of pilgrims slowed in the late Middle Ages, the town became a nearly forgotten backwater. Priceless silver masterpieces, embroideries, tombs, sculptures, and paintings are displayed in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, where you can also get the best close-up view of the Leaning Tower. The grandest of these is Villa Poggio a Caiano, about 22 kilometers from the center of Florence on the way to Pistoia. Address: Piazza dei Medici 14, Poggio a Caiano. You'll savor a guided wine tasting and learn a few tips as you see a live, Italian pasta-making demonstration.

For even more ideas of things to do, see our page on the top tourist attractions in Tuscany. A maximum of eight people guarantees personal service.

The Cathedral is closed on Sundays and for certain holy days.

The Accademia d'Arte is a small art museum.

The two medieval leaning towers of the Torre degli Asinelliare symbols of the city. She took us to several interesting places and provided explanations for their selection and interest or importance. Official site: http://www.termemontecatini.it/en/. The vineyards in this picturesque part of Tuscany produce the grapes used in namesake Chianti and Chianti Classico: world-famous reds. I felt lucky that our group was small (12) and divided into two vans, and would recommend that the company lower the cap to that size. You'll enjoy a full tour of the city then have free time to shop for local Italian specialties or climb the citys campanile for the other best view in Tuscany. With tourism taking a halt in Italy, Tuscany's beloved truffles have been given a chance to thrive, according to one expert. This was the best tour Ive taken in two trips to italy. Im sure it depends on where your group is taken on a given day, but this farm was amazing - we each got a huge tasting plate of meats, cheeses, breads, and oil/balsamic, and got to try balsamics of different ages (12, 20, and even 36 years!).

Where to Go from Florence: Some of the top tourist attractions in Italy are easy to reach from Florence. While the Florentines have a knack for ignoring the hordes, a visitor can feel like one of a herd.

Rooms with a view are the rule rather than the exception in thespectacularly sited hilltop town of Cortona. Inside the walls, in Piazza di Roma, the imposing Church of Santa Maria Assunta dates from the same time as the castle: Romanesque with some Gothic embellishments. The choice of winery in Tuscany with lunch provided a delicious break in the day.

This tour was wonderful, and the guide Stephanie was terrific. Begin at the Cattedrale di San Zeno, built in the 12th to 13th century, whose facade and arched portico is decorated with panels of majolica and a glazed terra-cotta lunette by Andrea della Robbia.

With more than 300 suggestions for destinations across Europe and the best time of year to experience them, this book is the ultimate trip planner for every month of the year. Although not as famous as Pisa's, Bologna's tall brick towers lean at more alarming angles, and the perception is magnified by their height and slender construction. In what can only be described as a homecoming of biblical proportions, a 550-year-old Italian Renaissance masterpiece dismantled and scattered throughout Europe in the 18th century will return to its hometown of Bologna for the first time in 300 years in March. In order to get into the city center, we utilize small luxury minivans. The historic contrade (districts) are marvelous withvibrant streets full of artisanal boutiques, sweet-smelling pasticcerie (pastry shops) and tempting restaurants.

For incredible views over the valley and beyond, the nearby medieval town ofMontepulcianoperched on a reclaimed narrow ridge of volcanic rock, will push your quadriceps to failure point. What a fantastic experience. __Covid Update. Instead of an enclosed central courtyard, the villa has an open loggia running along the outside of all four faces of the building. Bologna, in Emilia-Romagna,fuses haughty elegance with down-to-earth grit in one beautifully colonnaded medieval grid. How to get to Val d'Orcia:Montepulciano and Pienza are less than a two-hour drive from Florence.

Follow SR 302 through Borgo San Lorenzo, where you'll find another former Medici palace and garden, to Ravenna, with its spectacular churches lined in Byzantine mosaics. Indulge instead in peaceful meanderings along the Arno river, over its bridges and through Pisa's medieval heart. Hilarious, fun, and delicious.

The theme is carried out in the villa's central hall, where frescos from the early 1500s feature rural scenes along with classical subjects and scenes from the lives of Cosimo and Lorenzo de Medici.

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How to get to Cortona: The town isslightly more than a 90-minute drive from Florence.

Gave us a great idea of what would transpire for the race.

Without the traditional must-see sights, churches, or museums, it's the Cinque Terre's natural beauty and carefree atmosphere that are the attraction. Scale and stroll atop Pisa's ancient city walls for a bird's-eye view of the city.

Hidden behind imposing Renaissance walls, its cobbled streets, handsome piazzas and shady promenades make it a perfect destination to explore by foot.

Opposite the cathedral is the 14th-century baptistery, designed by Andrea Pisano in alternating bands of white and green marble, and a small rose-window.

Editor's note: during COVID-19 there are restrictions on travel and opening hours may vary. It's a long day but it goes very quickly! At the center of Bologna are the broad Piazza Maggiore and Piazza del Nettuno, named for the 16th-century fountain, among the finest of its period. An absolute must for anyone who would like to see the best of Tuscany's landscape and history. Fortunately and coincidentally we were able to see the setup of Il Palio 2022 for the July version a day before it happened. We ended up purchasing several bottles of the wine and also the olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

As Italy begins the process of easing lockdown restrictions and opening back up, one writer went to his favorite restaurant to see how COVID-19 has changed basic life in Italy.

Fine old shopfronts, restaurants, and cafs hide underneath the columned passages, making Bologna a favorite city for shopping.