What to do in Tuscany

Tuscany is world renowned for a reason. The rolling hills covered in vineyards are absolutely breathtaking, the Chianti is amazing and the food is divine. I had decently high expectations and every expectation was met or surpassed. While the winding {sometimes very narrow} roads were a bit of a surprise to me, they were 100% worth it- even as someone who gets very car sick. Tuscany definitely needs to be on your bucket list! Here are my top tips on what to do in Tuscany!

Itinerary

You could honestly spend as much time or as little time as you want in Tuscany! For us with two kids, I would have loved one more day at least so we could experience few other surrounding cities. But I do feel as though we had a decent amount of time to experience Tuscany! If the weather was warmer we would have relaxed by the pool more as well. But the food, wine, views & company made for a perfect getaway!

• Day 1- Drove from Verona to Tuscany
• Day 2- Explore cities, eat delicious food & drink incredible wines
• Day 3- Explore cities, eat delicious food & drink incredible wines
• Day 4- Explore cities, eat delicious food & drink incredible wines
• Day 5- Drove from Tuscany to Pisa

Airport/Train Stations

• Florence International Airport (FLR)
• Pisa International Airport (PSA)
• Firenze Santa Maria Novella (Firenze SMN)

Hotel

• My parents rented this home for our whole family to stay together and we would 110% rent it again. It is located walking distance to a cute little town with a handful of restaurants, is walking distance to a delicious winery, has a private pool, ample space and was absolutely stunning!! It was a true, cozy Tuscan villa and felt straight out of a RomCom. The grounds are spectacular! My parents actually talked about renting it for a full month and having friends come visit them because they enjoyed the home and location so much!

Restaurants

• Lunch/Dinner
  • We hired two private chefs (recommended by our host) for two of the nights and 110% recommend you do the same! They came and cooked in our home and it was so much fun!! Literally one of the highlights of the trip! We learned how to make different types of pasta & ate delicious local dishes made from family recipes that have been passed down for generations! The chefs were Susanna Civeli {susannaciveli @ yahoo.it- she taught us to make pasta}
  • Antica Macelleria Cecchini :: An 8th generation, famous butcher shop specializing in fresh cut meats (specifically the Florentine steak)
  • Ristoro Di Lamole :: One of the most praised restaurants in the region. Their Zucchini pie with pecorino sauce and fresh truffles is an amazing appetizer. Reservations are highly recommended- so try booking this in advance!

Transportation

• We drove everywhere, other than the little city we stayed in/walking distance to.
• Hire a driver. If you plan on drinking quite a bit of Chianti, you may want to look into a driver or a tour. We didn’t take one since we had our two little kids with us, but I would definitely contemplate it in the future!

Recommendations

Cities Worth Visiting

• Castellina in Chianti :: A small, but quaint town full of restaurants and stores. Check out Via delle Votle, San Salvatore, and Rocca. We really liked this cute little city.
• Radda in Chianti :: This walled village is full of stores, alleys and squares. Visit Palazzo del Podesta and Prepositura di San Niccolo (a church dating back to 1200)
• Siena :: Visit the Contrada della Lupa, Piazza del Campo di Siena, Siena Cathedral and simply walk downtown!

Wineries
Tuscany is FILLED with delicious Chianti wines and so many of them have stunning views. These are a few of my recommendations, but also see the map I link below for more suggestions.

• Fattoria Le Fonti :: This is the winery located right next to the home we rented. It was so good, the view was stunning and we drank their wines at home just about every night!
• Fontodi
• Tenuta Casenuove
• Le Cinciole
• Azienda Agricola Montefioralle Winery
• Castello dei Rampolla

Must See Attractions

Our top priorities in Tuscany were to relax, eat delicious food and drink good wine. And that’s exactly what we did! I actually made a Google Map with tons of recommendations here! You’ll find cities that were recommended to me, restaurant suggestions, landmark suggestions, winery suggestions, viewpoint suggestions and more! Some of these spots we did make it to, others we didn’t. But we were very impressed by the spots we did make it to!

It’s also worth noting Tuscany is known for their truffles! White truffle season is October-December, Black winter truffle season is December-March and Black summer truffle season is May-September.

Did I miss anything?
What would you add to the list or what would you like to know more about?

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