General Information on Tuscany

A few words on Tuscany. It is unlike any place to visit. What we’ve done is include some of our favourite “days” we did and you can see if they can fit into you itinerary based on where you are and where you are going. A few tips:

•  If you can stay a few days in Lucca and then rent a villa for a few days in the middle of wine country

• Don’t stay in Florence. Go visit it for a day but this is not the most beautiful part of Tuscany.

• In the wine regions, we loved the southern ones a bit more

• Try to go spend a day or two on a Tuscan beach if you can.

Day 1 & 2: The Charming city of Lucca

We loved Lucca, it is 30 mins from Pisa by train and so much nicer and less crowded with better food. If you want a few days in a Tuscan city you can’t go wrong with Lucca.

Bike ride around the perimeter of the wall.

Do a walking tour around the city and visit the main attractions while getting lost.

Try to stay in a place which is very high up, so you get all the views from your room! There are a few towers which are worth walking up, but ideally seeing the tower is kind of cooler.

Our Favourite Food Spots

We were in lucca for 2 weeks so we tried many restaurants and many are very good! However, in case you were wondering here are our 3 favourits by far!

Day 3-5 : Montepulciano & Montelcino

There are so many wine regions in Tuscany but with a car you can visit quite a few! For wine region, we loved the southern parts a bit more. Here was a perfect day for us, but you could break it up into two. Or do this one day and the other day explore another winery. Make sure to check out these little towns while you are based here for a few days.

Head to the famous town of Montepulciano in the morning.

This town does get quite a few tourists visiting daily so getting there in the morning you’ll have the streets to yourself to roam everywhere. We don’t have specific recommendations here, just walk around, visit the churches and piazzas for about 2 hours have some breakfast and croissants.

Picnic with a view

Now it’s time to leave the tourists behind (yay) we recommend for lunch heading off to have a picnic in a pretty secret place! It is called Cugusi Silvana E C. S.N.C. on Google maps? We randomly found it while driving and saw a tiny sign for “fresh cheese” on a board… we quickly turned down a dirt road unsure where we were going and found this gem of a place!

They sell cheeses, meats, olives etc etc and wine and can pack a mini picnic basket to have on their property. We recommend this be your lunch! Sit alone with the beautiful views and your picnic basket. (and probably buy more for the future)

Wine Tasting Time

Now it is after lunch and totally appropriate to go to wine tasting. We did a few places but this one 100% stood out from all others and we could not recommend it enough. It is a mom/pop equivalent of a winery so you must make reservations since it likely will only be you and the owners stay to welcome you. Do not try to come here unannounced.

Cordella Winery : You will get a tour of their property with the owner (the wife) while her husband prepared little bites to eat with the wines you are about to taste. The wines are divine and the food above and beyond. Then grab a glass of your favourite wine and hang out in their beautiful garden. We truly had the most magical experience here of any winery we have ever been to and frankly no other could match up, not even close.

Dinner in the Cutest Town We’ve Ever Seen

Once you are done and it is time for dinner. The owner at Cordella recommend we go to the town of: San Quirico D'Orcia, Bagno Vignon and again, she did not disappoint! This is a town with a big pool in the middle of it! it is unlike any other italian town we saw. All the restaurants are apparently great. We ate at one and were very pleased but just pick one which looks good for you.

Time to head home to bed!

Visiting Random Towns while based in wine region tuscany

We will share the ones we personally visited. But truth be told the way to do this is look on Google maps and find tiny towns near you or the destination you are going. Get off the highway and go explore them. This is the way we found gems of towns which were more fairy tail like one over the other. You only spend maybe 30 mins in each since many are so small there is nothing to do but admire how cool they look. But sometimes you fall on a gem with the cutest restaurants and stay a bit longer :-)

• san casciano in val di pesa

• pari

• val d’orcia

• san quirico d’orcia

• san giuliano

• Gaiole de Chianti

• Sienna (not small :) )

 Day 6 & 7: Capraia Island

Capraia is an island off the coast of Tuscany with about 350 inhabitants. It is tiny and you feel like you are on a magical island once you arrive. We went with our Italian friends and did not see one tourist while we were there. You must take a ferry from Livorno and it is about 3-hours to the island.

This is a very sleepy island with not a ton to do but relax mainly. The “beaches” are more cliff sides and gorgeous but don’t expect white sand beaches here.

A Typical day would include:

1. Have your morning pastry and coffee in the one cafe in the little town. We loved “La Chiarantjna” and would head over in the morning with a good book or the news and sit for 2 hours before doing anything.

2. If you can, rent a boat with a captain for half a day and go explore the island by sea. It was such a fun activity and we loved every moment of it.

3. Then in the late afternoon wonder around the town and explore how adorable it is! And end with another drink in the bar you were at in the morning for coffee. But this time with wine and beer!

There are surprisingly a ton of little restaurants and bars so your nights can be filled with good food and drinks. I’d recommend trying to stay in the northern part of Capraia not in the port portion.