One of those places you hear about all your life and then one day you are actually there and you can hardly believe it. Over two different trips to Tuscany in two different years we visited Florence, Siena, San Gimignano, Casole d’Elsa, Pisa, Volterra and a couple of other little hilltop towns. Loved Tuscany but our first day getting there, on our first trip, not so good.
Discovered that actually my partner, John, cannot drive on the other side of the road! All over the road and kept veering into gutters and poles. Had quite a few close calls – I was quite scared. So after damaging our hire car we finally made it to our destination. Still to this day he thinks there was nothing wrong with his driving – bit of a sore topic between us! Thereafter I did the driving – wasn’t so hard! So enough said about that.
Casole d’Elsa and surrounding area
After belatedly arriving at this beautiful farmhouse’s cottage, Agriturismo L’Agresto, which was to be a home for the next week, we got settled in and ventured into the quaint village of Casole d’Elsa. Lovely old historic village high on a hill. It was really in the centre of Tuscany, about 50 kms from Florence and 25 kms from Siena, the two major centres of Tuscany. Had a lovely seafood linguine and a lemon dessert shortly after arriving on our first night. The cost of food here was not at all expensive. So I think if you are in the cities near the main tourist attractions then food etc. can be quite expensive, but in some of the smaller towns, prices are quite good.
The next night we had dinner in what was to become our favourite restaurant in town which really had a beautiful feel to it – the sort of restaurant you go to Italy for. It think it was called Caffe Casolani. Good service too. Got drenched leaving the restaurant and that was the start of some stormy weather.
Our first full day we just had a quiet day exploring the town and had a look at the local museum – quite good for small town. And it really is a beautiful place. Took some pizza back to our cottage for lunch- not actually our idea of pizza but it is in fact proper Italian style pizza. We had the best red wine of our time so far in Italy though. Much more important to have a great wine, don’t you think?! Another thunderstorm followed lunch – glad we weren’t out on the roads!
Following day still wet with a few dry spells but no thunderstorms luckily. We went to the nearby bigger town of Colle de Val D’Elsa. Colle was very nice, very old and picturesque. Nothing open though between 1:30 and 3:30 except one ceramics shop and one restaurant. And even after 3:30 not much open because it is a Monday – who knew!
San Gimignano
The following day – beautiful and sunny – what a difference the weather makes! On this day we went to the most beautiful town of San Gimignano. Really a must see if you are in this part of the world – just loved this town! It has a skyline of medieval towers – Quite striking! There is of course a wonderful church to visit, great shops and if you are so inclined, a few medieval torture chamber museums! We passed. In the afternoon visited a small little town called Monteriggioni. Much smaller and just not the same atmosphere and very quiet. Definitely San Gimignano was the highlight of the day.
Another charming little town we visited the following day was Volterra. Quite nice, lots of marble shops and a pretty little park here too. Weather was really pleasant today. They have a fantastic Etruscan Museum here which was amazing – so much to take in!
Siena – the jewel in the crown of central Tuscany!
The following day was a highlight of our trip to Tuscany – Siena! Beautiful weather too which makes all the difference. There are a lot of interesting and beautiful places to see in Siena. Highlights of our visit here included:
- Piazza del Campos – one of the biggest medieval squares in the world. This is where the famous horse race, Palio, occurs twice a year. But when we were here it was just a sunny day with families and lovers out and lying on the sloping floors of the Piazza.
- The Tower of Mangia – a few hundred steps up and you can get the most fabulous views over Siena. This tower is at the Piazzo del Campos and is well worth the effort to get up there. Unbelievable views!
- The tower is attached to the Palazzo Pubblico which is a palace that serves as a town hall and holds a fabulous museum. Magnificent frescoes are everywhere. One of my favourite pieces was actually a white sculpture of a small child with chubby soft arms. It made me really want to stroke it – looked so soft!
- Siena Cathedral is one of the most magnificent cathedrals in Italy if not the world. Hard to believe when looking from the outside but the inside is possibly more magnificent and unique. Lots of black and white striped columns, and above a many busts of past religious men looking down on you, the floors hold fantastic mosaics. And you can take photos – this is not the case in all cathedrals in Italy. Also there is an awesome library called the Piccolomini Library in the cathedral which holds the most magnificent artwork. The ceiling is a masterpiece! Next to the cathedral is a wall leftover from abandoned expansion of the cathedral hundreds of years ago. There is a platform up there that you can climb up to via a small narrow staircase. This also provides magnificent views. Not quite as high as the Tower of Mangia but pretty fantastic just the same!
There really are many other things to see in this city but above are our favourites and really the Cathedral would be at the top of the list. After seeing all this you’ll need to sit in one of the cafes surrounding the Piazza and have an expensive glass of wine whilst people watching and probably scanning through the hundreds of photos you’ve just taken!
Pisa
Our last full day was to Pisa. Bit of a long drive to Pisa from our little hilltop town. About two hour’s drive on a cool and overcast day. Parked about 20 mins away from the Tower of Pisa as we weren’t really sure where to go. Quite a big city – bigger than we expected anyway.
Now I now all of you know about the Tower of Pisa and it is pretty special sight, but less well known is the magnificent Pisa Cathedral right next to it. It was a wonderful surprise, inside was nearly as amazing as the visual feast of the Siena Cathedral and that is really saying something. These Italians sure know how to build beautiful buildings! There’s a separate Dome which is a Baptistry but this wasn’t quite as impressive as the cathedral. Had a nice lunch nearby and a bit more of a walk around and then back to the car to drive home. Somehow the trip home took an hour longer. Seems we took the scenic route which was indeed scenic!
Totally enjoyed our week in Tuscany. Would definitely come back – in fact we did. A couple of years later we did another trip of Italy and put Florence on the itinerary. See below.
Florence – what’s not to love!
Wow what a place! We were met at the station and then walked to our accommodation in the historical centre of Florence. We were maybe 50m or so from the famous Duomo. So lucky. Lovely little apartment. The Duomo is absolutely massive. You can’t understand how big it is until you are actually there. The history and art and beauty of Florence is so extreme and amazing. Obviously you must see this Cathedral.
The Baptistry was undergoing renovations whilst we were there so couldn’t see that unfortunately but we went up the bell tower alongside the cathedral. Always worth getting up lots of stairs to see the surrounding area from up high.
Note: all the photos you see here of Florence are John’s.
Really the whole of the historical centre of the city is one big outdoor museum and gallery. You can walk pretty much everywhere although in the hot weather it can be a bit tough to go from one end to another.
We did all the main tourist attractions in Florence, burning off all extra calories as we tend to do as we walk all day. Unfortunately, I was quite sick with a bad cold one day and missed out on going to the Uffizi Gallery. Sometimes you are so sick you really don’t care. Anyway I was happy with having seen so much apart from that one day.
A few tips for Florence attractions
There is no end of info online about the many Florence attractions but there are a few tips I’d like to give:
- The statue of David: I had no concept of how large, beautiful and exquisite it would be in real life. Please make sure you get to it. It is not just a statue!
- We did a tour of the hills surrounding Florence which took us through some very pretty countryside and panoramic views. Fiesole has some ruins such as an ancient Roman theatre. There are other towns too. I would definitely recommend getting out to the hills if you can.
- Also if you are staying in the city but feel the need for some greenery, get yourself to the huge Boboli Gardens. This is located behind the Polazzo Pitti. So you get two attractions at once.
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Lovely post Jenny! We didn’t make it to Siena and so really loved hearing about that!
Thanks Christy, yes Siena was definitely a highlight. A wonderful part of the world for sure!
I really enjoyed reading your post, Jenny, and am so glad you loved Siena, it is our nearest largish town in Tuscany and always a huge pleasure to visit for the reasons you give and many more! You packed in a lot and saw so much of interest in your stay, it is a wonderful part of the world and of course Florence holds stunning works of art with the David a magnificent highlight.
Thanks Roz, much appreciated. From your comment, do I understand that you live or sometimes live near Siena?
Yes, we go there once a year and stay at a farmhouse with Italian family.