The cypress, the Cupressus sempervirens, the 20 metres tall, the dark green, the columnar, the 2 rows that frame the drive of the cypresses that curves up the hill to the villa in the Val d’Orcia (the most beautiful valley in Italy, the UNESCO, the 2004, the landscape that the Renaissance painters immortalised, and the essential Tuscany photograph: the cypresses on the ridge, the isolated the farmhouse, the wheat the field that is the gold in the June and the brown in the October), the cypress that the 600 years old and has been the painted by the every artist who ever came to the San Quirico d’Orcia, is the essential Tuscan the image. Here are the top things to do in Tuscany.

Top Things to Do in Tuscany

• The Val d’Orcia, the Siena, and the Pienza, the essential Tuscany: The Val d’Orcia (the essential Tuscan landscape): the drive the SR2 (the Via Cassia, the Roman road) from the San Quirico to the Montepulciano: the 20 km, the 5 the stops, the Cappella della Madonna di Vitaleta (the tiny the chapel on the hill, the most photographed the building in the Val d’Orcia, the 1590, the 5-minute walk from the road, and the essential Tuscany photograph), the Agriturismo Poggio Covili (the lunch, the €25 for the 4-course the fixed menu, the view of the cypresses, the pici al cinghiale, the thick the hand-rolled the pasta with the wild-boar the ragù, and the best-value the lunch in the Val d’Orcia), the Bagno Vignoni (the Renaissance the spa the village, the central the piazza is the 16th-century the thermal the pool at the 49°C, the no the swimming, the feet-dangle in the side the channels, the essential: the walk the 1 km down the hill to the Parco dei Mulini: the free, the thermal the waterfall, the swimming, and the essential Tuscan the wild-swim), the Pienza (the perfect the Renaissance the town, the Pope the Pius II rebuilt his the birthplace in the 1459 as the “Ideal the City,” the Piazza the Pio II, the pecorino the cheese, the €8 for the 250g of the aged, the essential: the La Taverna di Moranda for the €15 the lunch), the Montepulciano (the wine, the Vino Nobile, the €8 for the tasting at the Contucci, the 1,000-year-old the winery in the piazza). More Italy →
• The Florence, the Lucca, and the Chianti: Florence (the essential Tuscan city, see #1341): the Uffizi (the €25, the book the 2 months ahead), the Accademia (the David, the €16, the book the 1 month ahead), the essential Florence tip: the Piazzale Michelangelo at the sunset, the view of the entire Florence, the Duomo, the Arno, the hills, and the best free thing in Florence. The walk up: the 30 minutes from the Ponte Vecchio, the staircase through the rose garden. The Lucca (the essential walled city): the 16th-century walls, the 4.2 km the loop, the tree-lined, the bike the rental for the €5/hour, the cycle the walls, the view of the rooftops, the towers, the Torre Guinigi (the tower with the trees growing on the top, the holm oaks, the 130 steps, the €6, and the best view in Lucca), the Puccini Museum (the birthplace of the composer, the €9, the essential: the daily Puccini concert at the San Giovanni church at the 7pm, the €20, and the best hour in Lucca). The Chianti and the San Gimignano: the Chiantigiana road (the SR222 from the Florence to the Siena, the 50 km, the vineyards, the olive groves, the Castello di Verrazzano for the wine tasting: the €25 for the 4 wines and the tour, the book the week ahead), the San Gimignano (the “Medieval Manhattan”, the 14 towers that remain of the 72, the Gelateria Dondoli: the €3.50 for the 2 scoops, the world-champion the gelato: the saffron and the pine-nut, the Vernaccia di San Gimignano the white wine), and the essential Tuscan itinerary: the 5 days, the day 1: the Florence, the day 2: the Chianti, the day 3: the Siena and the San Gimignano, the day 4: the Val d’Orcia, the day 5: the Lucca and the Pisa on the way out.