[Travel] Tuscany..

[The Clamp]

Anyone recommend any areas/paces to visit? And reasons why?

I like peace and quiet, cafe culture, red wine, and food.


Please and thank you.

 

[Flounce]

Been there twice in the summer, close to San Gimignano. The weather was absolute shite both times, no wonder the countryside is as green as the Lake District

I also got very bored with every menu having a profusion of what turned out to be over cooked wild boar and shit service from uninterested high season waiters.

So no I can’t recommend it personally

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Been there twice in the summer, close to San Gimignano. The weather was absolute shite both times, no wonder the countryside is as green as the Lake District

I also got very bored with every menu having a profusion of what turned out to be over cooked wild boar and shit service from uninterested high season waiters.

So no I can’t recommend it personally

Tough crowd!

 

[cjd]

Anyone recommend any areas/paces to visit? And reasons why?

I like peace and quiet, cafe culture, red wine, and food.


Please and thank you.

I'm going to be wandering around Tuscany for five weeks, end of May to beginning of July. I have never been in that area but there looks to be so many stunning places of interest and some good beaches too.

 

[Perry Milkins]

Anyone recommend any areas/paces to visit? And reasons why?

I like peace and quiet, cafe culture, red wine, and food.


Please and thank you.

Florence

San Gim


Sienna


Take a wide tasting tour.

Book an evening of opera at the English Catholic Church.

 

[MattBackHome]

Volterra

 

[MJsGhost]

It was maybe 8 years ago now, but we (GF at the time, now Mrs MJsG and I) looked into a Tuscany trip before ending up elsewhere. We were pretty sold on the idea of Montepulciano, but then the missus saw an article on Monemvasia in the Peloponnese and that was it.

Anyway... exact details are hazy now obvs, but we liked that it was relatively off the beaten track, with an obvious connection to delicious red wine and there would also have been a good number of well-regarded restaurants. It's an old medieval town set on a hill, so beautiful if our research was anything to go by.

This thread has reminded me that I still want to go there, to be honest. It's not the best destination for a holiday with kids though, so it'll have to wait a while yet.

 

[schmunk]

Take a wide tasting tour.

Is that like a long tasting tour, but...

...?

 

[S.T.U cgull]

Lucca is a beautiful town to visit
Hire a car and get into the countryside
Or if feeling flush Forte dei Marmi on the coast

 

[Insel affe]

I like peace and quiet, cafe culture, red wine, and food.

Yet you live in Lancing.
Where it is rough and noisy, cocaine culture, stella and Mr chips.

 

[Perry Milkins]

Is that like a long tasting tour, but...

...?

Yes, yes it is. Alternatively it may be a typo.

 

[Machiavelli]

Tuscany warrants its reputation. Towns/cities I'd recommend include (some of) those mentioned: Volterra, Sienna and Lucca. Florence is lovely too, but swamped with tourists and its big attractions eg Uffizi aren't that great to visit because there's too many people there.
Chianti is where there will be the most opportunities for wine visits or tours but, within that, go for the Classico region not just because the wines are better, but the landscape is too. There are other wine places you can go to too, including Brunello di Montalcino if you want the most exalted and expensive wines from that region. I'm keen on wine so book visits to specific wineries in advance but, if you're less keen (and are not willing to do the research which is key), a generic wine tour can be revealing.
The food is very very good and, there are so many different activities that you can do that you ought to identify those and fit things in around that in your planning.

 

[Beanstalk]

Florence

San Gim


Sienna

Did this path about a decade ago. Would highly recommend.

Florence is stunning, San Gim is great anyway but worth the trip for Gelateria Dondoli alone, and if you're going to Siena in July or August line your visit up with the Palio di Siena - utter madness and one of those experiences you'll be telling people about for years.

 

[The Clamp]

Thanks one and all.

 

[Bakero]

I went here 6 years ago. It was 50 euro a head for a multi-course meal and an absolute shedload of wine (and a tour or the vineyard before the food and wine tasting)

Highly recommend. Accessible by public transport from Florence.

 

[Grassman]

I say don’t go to Tuscany! Go to the Marche instead. It’s as beautiful as Tuscany but cheaper and not as busy. My wife’s family are all from the region and are fiercely proud of it.

 

[Bald Head]

Me and the wife had a week in Florence in 2022 also a week in San Gimignano and visited Lucca. Beautiful places but very expensive especially San Gimignano it is very difficult to find a dinner table as the large American tourist groups have them booked in advance !

 

[Norman Potting]

Been a good few years since we went but echo the Sienna recommendations, Although we didn't witness the Palio we saw some of the preparations, mainly banner and flag waving plus noise. I got the impression that Lewes Bonfire on a Saturday night would appear tame in comparison. San Gimiano, with its many towers is also well worth a visit. Think we either got a train or bus there.

 

[Questions]

Is that like a long tasting tour, but...

...?

If anyone mentions Merlot…..!!!!!!!!

 

[Questions]

I say don’t go to Tuscany! Go to the Marche instead. It’s as beautiful as Tuscany but cheaper and not as busy. My wife’s family are all from the region and are fiercely proud of it.

Same with my old family with Umbria.