Travel Guides: All Countries / Europe / Italy / Tuscany
 |  | Destination Guide : Tuscany |
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| | | Enchanting hilltop villages |  | Why go on holiday to Tuscany?
For wonderful art and architecture, beautiful sun-baked fields of vineyards and olive groves, stunning historic cities and enchanting medieval hilltop villages.
How much does it cost?
If you're lucky, you could get a budget flights to Pisa for less than £100. Fares to Florence are more likely to start at around £120. Expect to pay at least £30 a night for a room in a three-star hotel and more in Florence.
A seven-night self-drive village holiday package, including ferry crossing for up to five people with apartment accommodation, costs from £350 at the time of writing. Fly-drive breaks are popular - expect to pay nearer £600 for a week.
When should I go?
July and August are great for sun-seekers, with hot, dry weather and highs above 30C (85F). For Florence, however, the best times to visit are late April to May and September to October, when temperatures are in the more comfortable 20Cs/70Fs.
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| | | Stunning art and architecture | | What should I do when I'm there?
Most visitors come to Tuscany via the stately cities of Pisa or Florence. Pisa has far more to offer than a badly engineered tower; once a significant Roman port, it remains a beautiful university town with the green Campo dei Miracoli squarely at its heart.
Glorious Florence, birthplace of the Renaissance, is crammed with so much wonderful art and architecture that it's impossible to recommend a definitive list.
The duomo (cathedral) and battistero (baptistry), the Galleria degli Uffizi, the Museos del Bargello and di San Marco, the Ponte Vecchio, and the churches of Santa Maria Novella, Santa Croce and SS Annunziata are a good start.
Where can I find medieval Tuscany?
Try the enchanting town of Siena, dominated by its 12th-century cathedral and by traditions dating back hundreds of years. Don't miss the 13 towers of the majestic hilltop town of San Gimignano, or the unspoilt fortified hamlet of Monteriggioni.
Going further into the mists of time, the Etruscan sites around Saturnia and Sovana will take you away from the tourists and back to pre-Roman times.
How can I get away from it all?
Take the wine trail through the rolling Chianti countryside, stopping in the picturesque hill towns of Greve, Castellina, Radda and Gaiole.
Nature lovers will enjoy the mountainous Alpi Apuane, the Garfagnana and the Parco Naturale della Maremma, which also has a magnificent stretch of unspoilt coastline. Busier beaches can be found on the pretty island of Elba.
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| | | Lively festivals | | Where's good for nightlife?
Florence has some great little bars and clubs, as well as a packed yearly schedule of classical concerts, opera, drama and dance. There are many lively festivals held throughout the region, providing great opportunities to party with the locals.
Try the Feast of San Giovanni Battista, held in Florence on June 24; Siena's Il Palio, held twice yearly on July 2 and August 16; and the Pisa regatta, staged on June 17.
What's the food like?
Virgin olive oil and wonderful crusty bread are the staples. Bread can even be eaten for dessert: try it topped with egg yolk and smothered in powdered sugar and orange rind.
Hearty soups are popular starters, while meat and poultry are usually served simply grilled, roasted or fried, perhaps flavoured with a slice of lemon.
Sample the excellent local wines: the red wines of Chianti and Montepulciano and the crisp white from around San Gimignano and Vernaccia.
What should I buy?
Wine and olive oil are of high quality and great value. In Florence, find goldsmiths lining the Ponte Vecchio and check in the many stationery stores for examples of the city's beautifully patterned paper. Look for fine embroidery in Siena.
What is there for children to do?
For a break in Florence, head to the Parco delle Cascine, a massive public park with lawns and playgrounds. Many hotels in the Tuscan countryside have swimming pools and activities such as horse riding are usually on offer close by.
Another option is to stay in a holiday village, where children are usually catered for while the grown-ups go sightseeing.
Tourist office
Italian State Tourist Board, 1 Princes St, London W1R 8AY. Tel. 020 7408 1254. Brochure line: 09001 600 280 (calls cost 60p per minute).
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| | Available rental properties in Tuscany |
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| |  | | Riverside villa with garden
Beautiful house in the historical village of Bagni di Lucca, with a very large private garden and private access to the river.
|  | | Farm Holiday
FARM HOUSE ON HILLS OF PESCIA encircled from the nature and far away from the chaos of the modern city.
|  | | ANTICO CASTELLO DI SAN GUSME'
The Castle,a beautiful medieval fortified village, is ideally located in the Chiantishire and is one of the most characteristic buildings of Tuscany.
|  | | Casa Marta (Pascoso,Tuscany)
Casa Marta is a 18th-century stone house with three floors located in the village of Pascoso (province of Lucca) in the Apuane Park,680 meters asl.
|  | | Casa O, a 19th-century stone house
Casa O is a 19th-century, fully restored, stone house of 100 square metres approximately
located in the village of Pascoso (province of Lucca)
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