travel

FOOD + WINE

Florence for food lovers

Don’t come to Florence to lose weight. Although if you love walking as much as you love eating, then you’ll find that the city is a natural gym and you’ll ...

THINGS TO DO

What to do in Arezzo: a perfect weekend

During the June 2 maxi-ponte weekend, take a day trip and get to know Arezzo. At only 1 hour 20 minutes by train from Florence Santa Maria Novella, the city ...

THINGS TO DO

Bike tours in Tuscany

I’ll never forget the first time I took a bike tour in Tuscany. It was spring, that time of the year when poppies dot the winding country roads and the ...

THINGS TO DO

A spring walk in the Maremma

Walking in the Maremma is as natural as cantucci and vin santo.     One of Tuscany’s most beautiful holiday destinations outside Florence is mainly countryside: the fields and hazy ...

THINGS TO DO

12 reasons to visit the Ivan Bruschi House Museum

In addition to being an eclectic cabinet of curiosities with more than 10,000 objets d’art and rarities, the Ivan Bruschi House Museum also hosts contemporary art exhibitions, live art restoration ...

THINGS TO DO

Going Medieval at the Festa Medievale of Castiglion Fiorentino

Tuscany is an old land, crowded with ancient marble daydreams left behind by geniuses who passed in the wink of an eye, but if by chance they and their families ...

THINGS TO DO

Spotlight on Pistoia

  Pistoia‘s nomination as Italian Capital of Culture for 2017 has led to thoughts that are instantly connected to images in my head.       Pistoia has quite suddenly ...

THINGS TO DO

The Giaredo straits: pools for pixies

Dazzlingly crystalline waters that yearn to be plunged into, the Giaredo straits beckon like a playful pixie as the barometer rises.     Located between Pontremoli and Zeri, these spectacular ...

THINGS TO DO

What to do in Tuscany in May 2016

Pack your bags: this month, numerous food festivals, wine affairs and cultural events are adding color to Tuscan spring. May brings ample opportunities for overnight and day trips from Florence, ...

THINGS TO DO

7 popular day trips from Florence

Florence is beautiful, fascinating and packed with artistic treasures, but when the sun heats up and the crowds accumulate, do like a local and escape to the more peaceful corners ...

THINGS TO DO

That’s Prato: the path from fashion to wine

The exciting and enlightening series of free guided tours around the Prato area is back again this spring and summer. It marks the continued success of the initiative born out ...

THINGS TO DO

Three free archaeological tours in Tuscany

Did you know that an opportunity to explore the world of the Etruscan warrior princes who dominated Tuscany 3,000 years ago is within a drive of Florence? All part of ...

THINGS TO DO

9 things to do in the province of Pistoia

There’s a vast part of Tuscany that remains off most tourists’ radars, despite its vast green spaces, profound culture, mountains and thermal baths. The Valdinievole refers to 11 comuni in ...

THINGS TO DO

A winter road trip in Monte Amiata

  It seems unlikely, but winter is the most peaceful time to visit one of Tuscany’s tallest mountains, Monte Amiata, and the area around it. Although it’s only mildly cold ...

THINGS TO DO

Tuscan gardens open in winter

Still-green fields, ripe persimmons hanging off bare branches, avenues of leafless trees with gnarly bark, crisp scents detectable in the cold, white and yellow bulbs poking through woodlands: this is winter in Tuscany. Tuscany is home to many magnificent gardens, and winter is a wonderful time to visit them.

THINGS TO DO

Artisans and antiques at Arezzo Antique Fair

  Many people come to Arezzo to witness the beauty of Piero della Francesca’s frescoes or to see the birthplace of poet Petrarch or Vasari, the Medici architect. Some people ...

THINGS TO DO

Lucca and the City of Light

Running concurrently with the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition in Pisa is another show with a French connection. Through February 14, 2016, Lu.C.C.A. Lucca Center of Contemporary Art is hosting De Chirico, Savinio and Les Italiens de Paris.    Through approximately 50 works, the show highlights seven Italian

THINGS TO DO

‘@Montevarchi goes viral

  Montevarchi, a small town of 24,000 in the province of Arezzo, is making a big name for itself on the Internet.   Over the past six years, the city ...

THINGS TO DO

Taste truffles in Milan with The Florentine

Fancy a free truffle tasting and meeting The Florentine in Milan?   On October 27, at 5.30pm, at Milan's Societa' Umanitaria, join The Florentine's editor Helen Farrell at an evening dedicated to truffles, cross-cultural difference and translation in the world of food.   The event is

THINGS TO DO

Villa Medicea di Lilliano: a new adventure for a Medici villa

Just 15 minutes from Florence, nestled among its own olive groves and vineyards, stands a wine estate  with a difference. Villa Medicea di Lilliano began life in the eleventh century as ...

THINGS TO DO

Insider tips from the Maremma

Editor's note: In the premier issue of The Tuscan Times, an exciting new supplement to The Florentine (read more about it here), our contributors shared their insider knowledge of their home bases with us. Writers Emiko Davies and Elisa Scarton Detti are two of our top sources in

THINGS TO DO

Insider tips from the Prato area

    photos by Marco Badiani Editor’s note: In the premier issue of The Tuscan Times, an exciting new supplement to The Florentine (read more about it here), our contributors shared ...

LIGHT MODE
DARK MODE