Tuscany

Tuscany: What’s Worth Your Time and What You Can Skip

Tuscany is Italy’s most visited region, which means some of it is genuinely wonderful and some of it has been polished to a tourist veneer that the place cannot sustain. The key decisions are about which towns to base yourself in, how much time to spend in Florence, and whether to rent a car or work with trains.

Florence

Florence requires three days minimum for anyone serious about the art. The Uffizi alone justifies a full day: the Botticelli rooms (Birth of Venus, Primavera), the Leonardo and Raphael rooms, the Caravaggios in the later galleries. Book tickets months ahead for July and August; same-day access in peak season is difficult. The Accademia (Michelangelo’s David) needs perhaps two hours. The Duomo complex – cathedral, baptistery, Giotto’s campanile, the dome interior with Vasari’s frescoes – spreads across adjacent buildings and benefits from a combined pass.

The Oltrarno, on the south bank of the Arno, is considerably less crowded than the historical centre and has the better restaurants and more honest version of Florentine daily life. Piazza di Santo Spirito on a weekday evening, with its food stalls and local crowd, gives you something closer to the actual city than anything near the Duomo tourist circuit.

Siena

Siena is Florence’s great rival historically and its Piazza del Campo is the most beautiful public square in Italy by most serious assessments: a sloping fan-shaped space of dark brick ringed by medieval palaces, where the Palio horse race has been run twice annually since 1283. The Torre del Mangia climb gives the view, and the Palazzo Pubblico contains Lorenzetti’s “Allegory of Good and Bad Government” frescoes (1338-1340), among the most significant secular paintings of the medieval period. The Duomo di Siena has a floor inlaid with 56 large marble panels depicting scenes from the Bible and antiquity, visible only in August and September when the protection is removed.

Stay overnight in Siena rather than day-tripping from Florence. The town after the coach tours leave in the evening is a different place.

The Countryside

The Val d’Orcia south of Siena is the rolling farmland in most postcard Tuscany photographs: cypress trees on hilltop roads, grain fields in pale winter colours, stone hilltop villages. A rental car is essential. The Chianti Classico zone between Florence and Siena (Greve, Panzano, Castellina, Radda) has small wine producers with cellar doors open for tastings from April through October. Badia a Coltibuono, Fontodi, and Riecine are among the more accessible.

San Gimignano has 14 medieval towers and heavy tourist traffic in season. Its Vernaccia di San Gimignano white wine is underrated. Go late afternoon when the coaches have left.

Montepulciano produces Vino Nobile, a Sangiovese-based red aged longer than standard Chianti with more structural depth. The hill town is attractive and quieter than the more famous places.

Food

Bistecca alla Fiorentina is a T-bone cut at least 4 centimetres thick, grilled over wood charcoal, served rare. Ordering it any other way is technically possible and widely considered a waste of the beef. Budget around EUR 40 to 50 for a portion at a reputable place. Pici is the pasta of southern Tuscany – thick, hand-rolled, chewy – and is best with a simple Aglione tomato sauce or wild boar ragu.

Timing

September and October are the best months: warm, harvest season in the vineyards, and fewer crowds than July and August. April and May are also good. August is hot, overwhelmed, and the wrong time to be in Florence unless you have pre-booked everything.