Things to do in Tuscany
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Tuscany
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months: warm, green or golden, everything open.
Hot inland, crowded; many village restaurants close around Ferragosto, 15 August.
Harvest, truffles, new oil and misty mornings; some countryside hotels close from November.
Quiet and cheap; Florence and Siena work, much of the countryside shuts down.
Artichokes and wildflowers; Easter crowds in Florence.
What's on
- Palio di Siena 2 July and 16 August
The horse race that stops the city; book a year ahead.
- L'Eroica early October
Vintage-bike ride on the white gravel roads of Gaiole in Chianti.
- Carnevale di Viareggio February
The big Tuscan carnival on the coast.
Best things to do in Tuscany
Uffizi Galleries
Botticelli and the Renaissance canon; first slot beats the crowds.
Florence Cathedral
Brunelleschi's dome inside and out; the climb is the real visit.
Piazza del Campo
The great sloping square; evenings belong to the Sienese.
San Gimignano
Fourteen medieval towers; timing decides whether it delights.
Pienza
The ideal Renaissance town, pecorino shops and a valley view.
Montalcino
Brunello at the source, tasted in the fortress enoteca.
Montepulciano
Vino Nobile cantinas under a long climb to the Piazza Grande.
Leaning Tower of Pisa
Worth half a day and the timed climb; not an overnight.
Where to stay in Tuscany
Florence
a first trip
Art, car-free days, and the easiest arrival; two full days minimum before taking the car.
Chianti countryside
wine and the classic countryside stay
Central between Florence and Siena, vineyard hotels with pools; you need a car.
Val d'Orcia
scenery and slow days
The most beautiful light in Tuscany; best for second visits and honeymoons.
Siena
a town base with evening life
A real small city with late restaurants and the Campo at night.
Lucca
families and a relaxed pace
Flat, walled, cyclable, with the coast and Pisa in easy reach.
Think twice about
- Streets right around Florence Santa Maria Novella station
The city's scruffiest blocks and an unpleasant walk home at night. Stay ten minutes south toward the Duomo instead.
- A remote farmhouse without a car
The farmhouse dream collapses if you cannot get to dinner. Base in a town if you will not drive.
- Pisa as a multi-night base
A half-day sight with a thin evening scene. Sleep in Lucca and day-trip the tower.
Best restaurants in Tuscany
Trattoria Cammillo
Florentine trattoria since 1945; ribollita and fried chicken.
Osteria Acquacheta
Open-fire Florentine steak in Montepulciano; loud and excellent.
La Taverna di San Giuseppe
Old Siena cooking near the Campo; phone bookings only.
Arnolfo
Two-star creative Tuscan tasting menus in a skipped hill town.
Osteria di Passignano
The Antinori estate osteria; the lunch that justifies Chianti.
La Tenda Rossa
Family-run fine dining outside Florence; a special night.
Sette di Vino
Tiny wine bar; pecorino plates and Val d'Orcia wines.
Osteria Le Logge
Siena's smart osteria in a former pharmacy; refined Sienese cooking.
Outdoor things to do in Tuscany
Bagno Vignoni
A thermal spring for a main square; the valley's quiet marvel.
Cascate del Mulino
Free travertine hot-spring falls; dawn or dusk to dodge crowds.
Greve in Chianti
Triangular piazza and the start of the Chianti wine road.
Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore
Working abbey with a great fresco cloister in moonlike hills.
Abbey of San Galgano
A roofless abbey of walls and sky; the region's finest ruin.
Best hotels in Tuscany
Hotel Brunelleschi
A Byzantine tower folded into the old town by the Duomo.
Portrait Firenze
Lungarno suites; the splurge with the Arno view.
Four Seasons Hotel Firenze
Palazzo stay around the city's biggest private garden.
Castello di Spaltenna
An 11th-century hamlet above Panzano; the romantic Chianti base.
COMO Castello Del Nero
Estate hotel with a serious spa in the Chianti hills.
Borgo San Felice
A whole restored village run as one hotel.
Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco
Brunello estate stay; the great Val d'Orcia splurge.
Lupaia
Twelve-room farmhouse retreat above the valley.
Is Tuscany expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | €90 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | €220 a person |
| Splurge | €480 a person |
| No limits | €950 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Uffizi Galleries: weeks ahead
- Florence Cathedral: weeks ahead
- Leaning Tower of Pisa: weeks ahead
- Hotel Brunelleschi: weeks ahead
- Portrait Firenze: weeks ahead
- Four Seasons Hotel Firenze: weeks ahead
- Castello di Spaltenna: weeks ahead
- COMO Castello Del Nero: weeks ahead
- Uffizi, Accademia and the dome climb: timed tickets weeks ahead in season.
- Countryside hotels in May, June and September sell out months ahead.
- Arnolfo, La Taverna di San Giuseppe and Cammillo: book restaurants with your dates.
Is Tuscany safe?
- Petty theft in Florence around the station, markets and crowded buses; car break-ins at rural viewpoints. Never leave bags visible in a parked car. Emergency number 112.
Tuscany travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Restaurants on Piazza della Repubblica or with photo menus; eat in Santo Spirito instead.
- Bus-tour cooking classes; the good ones are small groups in farmhouses.
- San Gimignano at midday in August.
Getting around Tuscany: public transport and more
- Rent the car at the airport, not in Florence centre. Hill-town streets are narrow, so go small.
- Every historic centre is a camera-enforced ZTL: park outside the walls and walk in.
- Trains link Florence, Siena, Pisa and Lucca; the Val d'Orcia needs a car.
- Book winery visits ahead; most estates require reservations.
Who Tuscany suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Tuscany your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
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