“In Tuscany, every moment feels like a timeless masterpiece.” -Unknown

Tuscany is a region in central Italy that is regarded as the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance. Florence is the capital of Tuscany and this region is known for their wines, rolling landscapes and rich culture. I could have spent forever in Tuscany. The architecture, the food and the views are what dreams are made of.

Florence

Florence is a great place to make your main hub to do day trips out and about through the country side. We stayed at a little hotel called Affittacamere Casa Billi. It was in the middle of the city so there were so many restaurants around us, it was near the train station and there was a laundry mat around the corner. Florence was our favorite city it Italy! It was so beautiful, super clean and the overall atmosphere was mesmorizing. When in Florence make sure you have a Florentine Steak! We had the most life changing Florentine Steak at La Bussola. It was super rare but man oh man it is SO worth it. They know what they are doing so let them prepare the food their way and you will not be disappointed! When planning our trip we decided not to rent a car and we would take the train everywhere, do tour buses and walk. Tour buses were SO great because there are so many options on places to go and you don’t have to worry about transportation. While we were staying in Florence we did three different bus tours out into the Tuscan countryside that I booked on TripAdvisor. The first one was a day trip to Cinque Terre. The second was a small group wine tasting experience and the third was a day trip to Pisa, San Gimignano (with lunch at a local winery) and Siena. Each costed about $100 per person and everything was included (food and transportation).

Pisa

Pisa was apart of one of our day trips that I booked through TripAdvisor. We only spent a few hours here and honestly that was enough time. I am glad we were going to other places this day and I personally feel like yes you need to visit Pisa to say you did but once you go you don’t really need to go back. We got there early in the morning and I’m glad we did because by the time we left the place was packed. We had tickets to climb the Tower of Pisa and we almost didn’t make it because there was traffic and our tour bus was running behind our scheduled time. Our tour guide fought for us to still be able to go so we did it! It was so beautiful from the top. Again, I recommend at least doing it once in your life. How many people can say they have climbed the Tower of Pisa?

If you are going to climb the Tower of Pisa just know that you are not allowed to bring bags. Our tour guide told us to leave our backpacks on the bus or we would need to check them into the baggage room there. We left our bags on the bus and only brought our fanny packs that fit under our clothes with our money and important documents. We were able to walk right up into the line and others in our group had to go check their bags in the baggage room. They ended up missing their time to climb the tower but we were able to! Tip: plan ahead and don’t bring bags to the Tower of Pisa if you are planning on climbing it. -Kylie

Siena

Siena was another stop on our day trip from Florence. Siena was stunning with the architure of the buildings. Our tour guide here was very hard to understand because she had a very thick accent which is a bummer because I would have loved to hear more about the history of Siena. My favorite place here was the Siena Cathedral. It was first constucted in the 1100s and was finished in the 1300s. This was one of my favorite cathedrals we visited in all of Europe. It has breathtaking black and white striped pillars on the inside and has the Piccolomini Library which contains choir books from around the 1400s. I wish we had more time to spend here and I would highly recommend visiting this cathedral!

Make sure you always have a large scarf or sweater in your bag because you never know when you are going to visit a church. I was not aware we were visiting a church this day so I was wearing a tank top like shirt so I had to be given a cloth to cover my shoulders to enter the Siena Cathedral. Some church’s provide you with a cloth when you enter if you are not dressed appropriately (shoulders showing, short skirts/dresses/shorts). My advice is to always have a scarf or sweater in your bag just in case! -Kylie

San Gimignano

This was our favorite Tuscan town! San Gimignano is straight out of a movie. It is called the Town of Fine Towers and is a medieval town known for their fourteen presevered towers. If I could go back I would have stayed a few days here. It was so beautiful and so many shops to explore in this little town. We ate lunch at a winery which had incrediable views of the towers in the distance. The winery we ate at was to die for and they had the very best wine in all of Italy! We bought bottles and had them shipped home. It’s called Fattoria Pogggio Alloro. It is about 5km away from San Gimignano and I HIGHLY recommend going! The lunch was spectacular and they were serving about 60 people and it came out piping hot. We had a ragù pasta which they said is using the local in season meat in a red sauce and let me tell you this dish changed my life. We also had bread with extra virgin olive oil, salad, meats and cheeses, their Chianti wine and Vernaccia Di San Gimignano wine and to end the meal we had digestivo and biscotti. Back in town of San Gimignano, there is also the best gelato we had in all of Italy! And this place actually won the Gelato World Champion in 2006/2007 and 2008/2009 and it was seriously the best we had our whole trip! It’s called Gelateria Dondoli and it is in the Piazza della Cisterna. There is always a super long line through the plaza (it moves pretty quick) and it is SO worth it! The best one we tried was the Nutella gelato.

Wineries in Tuscany

We specifically did a small group wine tasting in the Tuscan countryside and it was a day trip out of Florence. It was a great experience to see the beautiful area, visit wineries and of course try lots of different wine. We went to one winery called Casa Emma in Barberino Tavarnelle. We tried their different wines, extra virgin olive oil and balsamics with cheese and bread. The views were so stunning from this winery. The other winery we went to was just down the road called Fattoria Montecchio and we tried their different wines and had breads with toppings and meats with cheeses. This winery also had breathtaking views. It seemed like you were looking at a picture when you walked out onto the back patio. We were in the Chianti region so if you are in this area drink all the Chianti wine you can! (Or if you go to a restaurant anywhere in the world and they have a Chianti wine from Italy, I recommend trying it). Our favorite winery in all of Italy was the Fattoria Poggio Alloro that I mentioned in San Gimignano.

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When in Italy please make sure to visit the Tuscan countryside! It truly is like nothing else in the world. I would love to hear your experiences in this magical place!