Tuscany Italy

An art lover's paradise, Tuscany Italy is a cultural center and an artist's destination. The city is filled with museums, churches and art galleries, these places are filled with sculptures, monuments, frescos, and paintings made by the best of artists. Tuscany is equally popular for its landscapes; UNESCO has declared six localities of Tuscany as protected sites. The list includes

• The historical center of Florence
  
• The Square of Cathedral of Pisa
  
• The historical center of Siena
  
• The historical center of Pienza
  
• The Vald'Orcia
  
• The historical center of San Gimignano
  
  

Tuscany is well known for its fine wines. Tuscany is located in the central western part of the country along the Mediterranean coast. Tuscany is a mild hilly region and is popular for its vineyards and olive groves. The territory of Tuscany is two-thirds hilly and one-third mountainous. The capital of Tuscany is Florence. Tuscany has a varied climate owing to the various terrains. July and August is hot, autumn has clear days and cool nights, and winter is cloudy and wet.

Tuscany attractions

Florence:
Florence is a beautiful renaissance city and has few of Italy's best churches, museums, cathedrals, shopping outlets, and elegant buildings. When you travel to Florence make sure you visit these places:

1. Piazza della Signoria and Palazzo Vecchio is the heart of the historic center and is the most famous square of Florence.
   
   
2. The baptistry is one of the oldest buildings of Florence and is the baptistry of John the Baptist who lived in the 11th century. The outer part of this building is made from white and green marble and has three sets of astounding bronze doors.
   
   
3. Il Duomo - Cattedrale de Santa Maria del Fiore is a very famous site of Florence is the Duomo. This Gothic Duomo can accommodate up to 20,000 people.
   
   
4. Campinile - Bell tower is located in Piazza del Duomo and is well-known as Giotto's campinile. You have to climb the 414 stair cases and enjoy the breathtaking view of the city of Florence.
   
   
5. Galleria deqli Uffizi houses an important and huge collection of the renaissance period. It is one the most crowded museums in Italy.
   
   
6. Ponte Vecchio was the first bridge to be built across the Arno River and is the first bridge of Florence.
   
   
7. Santa Croce is one of the largest Franciscan churches of Italy. It houses the tombs of various significant people of Florence like Michelangelo, Dante, etc.
   
   

San Gimignano:
This city is also popular as the city of beautiful towers. It is an archetypal medieval walled hill town in Tuscany. This place is well known all over the world for its fourteen medieval towers, these towers being visible from the neighboring countryside.

Siena:
This town is famous for the large fan-shaped piazza, piazza del Campo and Il Palio. There are various other museums and cathedrals for tourists to visit.

Pisa:
World renowned for its leaning tower, Pisa has lots more to offer for its visitors. The list includes medival center, parks, statues, beautiful Duomo, the residences of Lord Byron and Shelley, statues, and baptistry.

Lucca:
It is a walled city and has the best preserved walls of Italy. On top of the walls there are bicycle paths, walking paths, and gardens. There are numerous towers in good condition in Lucca.

Chianti classico wine region:
This region is located in between Florence and Siena. The scenic villages, landscape, and wineries are worth a visit.

Cortona:
The Etruscan walls surround Cortona and have retained the history, and architecture. The stately buildings, beautiful views, medieval architecture are all interesting things to see.

Versilia:
This is the coast of Tuscany and has clean beaches.

Montepulciano:
This city is built on a narrow and inclined limestone ridge and is a walled city of Tuscany. This city is famous for its wine and renaissance buildings.

Pienza and Val D'Orcia:
This is a beautiful renaissance town and is famous for its cheese. The Piccolomini palace is renowned; it is a world heritage site.

Travel to Tuscany
Tuscany is served by two international airports; plenty of airlines cater to this part of Italy. The Galileo Galilei international airport at Pisa is a bigger airport when compared to the Amerigo Vespucci airport in Florence. Trenitalia is the railway system catering to and fro Tuscany. The railway network is well connected to the rest of European rail systems and thus is easily accessible from any part of Europe. There are plenty of buses operating into Tuscany. The frequency is a lot lesser when compared to train services. Driving down can be a great option too; Tuscany can be reached from France, Switzerland, and Austria by car.

If you wish to visit the small villages of Tuscany, it is better to travel by car or any road transport. If you are driving in the hilly regions of Tuscany, ensure that you drive carefully as most of the roads are single lanes. Train travel is comfortable and cost-effective too.

Tuscany is famous for food prepared from its own produce. Wines top the lists and are popular all through the world. Siena is famous for panforte cake and ricciarelli almond biscuits. Chianti area is famous for extra virgin olive oil and wine. The ribollita soup and Fiorentina steak is popular in Florence, caciucco, a fish soup is very famous in Livorno.

Accommodation is available aplenty in Tuscany; accommodation varies from bed and breakfast to five star hotels. There are numerous hill top accommodations available in Tuscany.