I'm off to Tuscany in Sept. Rented a wee villa in
Pievescola, near Sienna. Can anyone recommend some must-see
sites in the Tuscan region. I prefer small off the beaten
track type places rather than large towns or cities. Thanks
in advance.
Jake
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Hi Jake
You chose a cool place to go on your holidays! Siena itself
is a beautiful town and is well worth exploring over several
trips as there are a lot of little steets, cafes, trattorias
etc. I'd advise you to hire a car if you aren't bringing one
as there are loads of little towns to visit but not so easy
if you have no transport. Florence is the more obvious place
to visit but don't skip it - spend a day there as it is
absolutly beautiful, Pisa is worth a couple of hours to see
the tower if you fancy it.
Other smaller places to see are San Gimignano which is a
small town on a hill but the thing about it is that each
important family back in the 1500s built their own chapel
with its own bell tower and its really something to see.
Also Monteriggioni is very beautiful. Basically I could stay
here for an hour telling you all about the fabulous places
to visit in Tuscany, the best thing to do is choose a
general direction in the morning and before long you will
have stumbled on some major historic site, a castle or a
beautiful little village. And don't forget to try the
Chianti! Have a great trip!
Here's a list of things to see:
1. San Biagio in Montepulciano - a church that resembles an
early design for St. Peter's
2. Pienza - there is a great renaissance piazza with a
church and the Palazzo Piccolomini by Rosselino- wonderful
views of olive groves
3. Arezzo - a beautiful medieval town w/ some Piero della
Francesca works
4. of course San Gimignano
5. Siena of course
6. Lucca - the renaissance city walls are intact, therefore,
preserving the city itself. You can take a wonderful bike
ride around them or a stroll
7. Sansepolcro - Piero della Francesca's Resurrection
You may want to venture a little further afield to the
neighboring La Marche region. It is considered Tuscany
without the tourists. The Art and architecture are similar
but not quite as abundant. Urbino is a well-preserved
middle-ages wallled town with a beutiful quality of life.
It is the hometown of Raphael. I recommmend late afternoons
in a cafe in the central piazza, followed by an early
evening walk to the bocce club, or anywhere else for that
matter. If you go raise a glass for me. Grazie.
You may want to venture a little further afield to the
neighboring La Marche region. It is considered Tuscany
without the tourists. The Art and architecture are similar
but not quite as abundant. Urbino is a well-preserved
middle-ages wallled town with a beutiful quality of life.
It is the hometown of Raphael. I recommmend late afternoons
in a cafe in the central piazza, followed by an early
evening walk to the bocce club, or anywhere else for that
matter. If you go raise a glass for me. Grazie.
You may want to venture a little further afield to the
neighboring La Marche region. It is considered Tuscany
without the tourists. The Art and architecture are similar
but not quite as abundant. Urbino is a well-preserved
middle-ages wallled town with a beutiful quality of life.
It is the hometown of Raphael. I recommmend late afternoons
in a cafe in the central piazza, followed by an early
evening walk to the bocce club, or anywhere else for that
matter. If you go raise a glass for me. Grazie.
Jake, I'll add 2-bits here...all above posts are excellent,
but a special vote for Siena to Monteriggioni. I worked a
summer years ago at the base of that tiny walled village.
What a great area to wander. My favorite way to travel was
to take off walking on my day off, get on a local (San
Gimignano run) and just ride town-to-town. Best wishes for
a great trip. By the way, you do know that the best
pickpockets in western Europe work in Italy, right? If I
had $1- for every story I heard...but then, the pickpockets
got the dollar!
..too kind. Sounds like I picked a good place to explore.
I've got a rental car so transport is no problem (it's the
Italian driving I'm not looking forward to). Got a few books
from the library and I think I'll take your advice on
Sienna, Monteriggioni, and San G. Thanks a mill.
-
Jake