Florence Duomo and Brunelleschi's dome — which pass, which climb, and how to plan it
Brunelleschi, Giotto or Ghiberti pass? Dome or bell tower? The free cathedral queue, the 463 steps, and the museum almost everyone skips.
How-to
Featured · How-to 
Val d'Orcia · Sep 
Panzano · Butcher Ten Provinces
A region of regions.
Tuscany is not one place — it is ten. Each province keeps its own dialect, its own dish, its own saint's day. Start anywhere.
Get inspired
What are you in the mood for?
Six ways to slice the region. Pick a mood and we'll show you where to start.
Food & Wine
Chianti cellars, truffle hunts, trattorie.
From the notebook
Stories, itineraries, how-tos.
Long-form reading from editors on the ground. Filter by category or search — nothing is hidden.
Siena Cathedral — the floor, the library, the rooftops, and which ticket to buy
When the marble floor is uncovered in 2026, the OPA SI Pass versus the Gate of Heaven, and the order to see the complex in half a day.
How-to
The Uffizi Gallery — tickets, what to see, and how to do it well
Tickets and timed slots, the dozen-odd works worth planning around, the Vasari Corridor, and how to see the Uffizi in two hours without hating it.
How-to
Michelangelo's David at the Accademia — tickets, timing, and what else is inside
The 2026 ticket price, the best time to see David without a crowd, the unfinished Prisoners that explain him, and why an hour is enough.
How-to
Seven slow days across Chianti
A practical itinerary between Florence and Siena — with three cellars worth the detour.
Itineraries
Elba, by ferry and by bike
How to do the biggest Tuscan island without a car — hydrofoil, coastal buses and rented e-bikes.
How-to
Truffle season in San Miniato
November in a hill town that smells like the forest floor — where to eat, and what to buy.
Food & Wine
Photographing Val d'Orcia without clichés
Yes, the lone cypress. But also: backroads, late-afternoon mist, and why dawn beats sunset.
Inspiration
When to come: a month-by-month field guide
Weather, crowds, festivals and what's on the plate, broken down.
Planning
Bistecca alla Fiorentina, demystified
Chianina beef, a very hot grill, and salt. There is no secret — but there are rules.
Food & Wine
Hiking the Apuan Alps above Carrara
Marble mountains, chestnut woods, refuges serving polenta. A three-day traverse, and how to do it.
Itineraries
Day trips from Florence by train
Twelve destinations reachable without a car, sorted by travel time and what to do when you get there.
How-to
Soaking at Saturnia, free and paid
The cascade everyone posts about, plus three quieter alternatives within 20km — and the rules nobody tells you.
How-to
Pienza and the Val d'Orcia, a guide
The Renaissance-pope's experiment in town planning, and the photogenic countryside around it.
Itineraries
Where to stay in Tuscany — a planning guide
City base versus countryside agriturismo, which towns suit which traveller, and the three mistakes first-timers make.
Planning
San Gimignano — the towers, demystified
Medieval Manhattan, day-trip or overnight, where to eat without the tourist menus.
Itineraries
Cortona and Arezzo — east Tuscany in three days
Piero della Francesca's frescoes, hilltop Cortona, and the antiques fair you should plan around.
Itineraries
Florence vs Siena — which to base in
Two great Tuscan cities, two very different stays. The honest comparison: art, food, crowds, cost, day trips.
Planning
Chianti vs Val d'Orcia — which to base in
Both inside Siena province, both world-famous, very different trips. Wine, landscape, crowds, drive times, and which one suits you.
Planning
Lucca vs Florence — which to base in
Walled-city quiet versus Renaissance density. The honest comparison for visitors who want to skip the queues.
Planning
Florence's wine windows — the buchette del vino, demystified
Cellar-to-street wine hatches cut into palazzo walls in the 1500s. Plague-proof in 1630. Quietly re-opened in 2020. Where to find a working one today.
Food & Wine
Viareggio beaches — the train-accessible Tuscan riviera
Wide sand, Liberty-era beach clubs, and a station 800m from the sea. The most rail-friendly Tuscan beach town, decoded.
How-to
The Leaning Tower of Pisa, explained — and what else to see
Why the tower leans, how the engineers stopped it falling, and the four other monuments on the Piazza dei Miracoli most day-trippers never enter.
Itineraries
Plan your trip
Practical, not precious.
The three questions every visitor asks — answered without fluff.
Step · 01
Getting here & around
Fly into Florence (FLR) or Pisa (PSA). High-speed Frecciarossa from Rome in 90 minutes. Rent a car for the hills; skip it for the cities.
- Florence FLR Intl. airport
- Pisa PSA Low-cost hub
- Roma → FI 90 min · FR
- Car rental €45/day avg
Step · 02
Where to stay
A city base for art, a country agriturismo for slow days, a coast room for summer. Most travellers mix two in a week.
- City hotel, FI €180–€350
- Agriturismo €120–€220
- Villa rental €300–€800
- Hostel / B&B €50–€110
Step · 03
Suggested itineraries
Our most-read trip plans, built by editors and tested in person. Start with one, swap days as needed.
- Classic 7 days FI · SI · coast
- Chianti slow 7 nights · 1 car
- No-car week Trains only
- Family, 10 days Beach + art
The big picture
Tuscany, in one view.
Hover a dot to preview the province. Click to open the regional guide.
Province
Firenze
Renaissance capital
The cradle of the Renaissance — Brunelleschi's dome, the Uffizi, Ponte Vecchio at dusk.
Highlights
- Duomo di Santa Maria del Fiore
- Uffizi Gallery
- Oltrarno artisan quarter
- Piazzale Michelangelo at sunset
From readers
A postcard wall.
Images from editors and contributors. Click any frame to open.