Top Tuscany hotels
Il Duomo - Santa Maria del Fiore Florence
331 Reviews The Florence Cathedral is the centerpiece of the city and has been for centuries. Built with grand ideas, it sat dome-less for nearly 100 years. The builders were sure that someone in the future...
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The Tower Pisa
205 Reviews Its just one of those things you see all your life and you expect it to be dissapointing. Then you see it in person, and you think wow now I know why its so iconic. get here early to get tickets to...
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Duomo Siena
139 Reviews On my first trip to Siena, I was simply amazed at the floors in the Cathedral – inlaid marble that make up pictures, geometric designs, mosaics, etc. It was simply amazing to me. The cathedral itself...
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City walls Lucca
35 Reviews Lucca and its city wall is home to several gates which are all well worth seeing, because of the different architectural styles. Porta San Pietro was erected in 1566 and is located at the southern...
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Ponte Vecchio & Arno River Florence
260 Reviews The Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge in Florence by virtue that the Germans in WWII did not destroy it, crosses the Arno River near the Uffizi Gallery. Today it is lined with gold jewelry shops and...
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The Duomo/Cathedral Pisa
142 Reviews %Would be almost funny if such an magnificent church has ordinary door. This massive main bronze door were made in the workshops of Giambologna, replacing the original doors destroyed in fire. The...
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Piazza del Campo Siena
126 Reviews The center of town is the Piazza del Campo, a shell-shaped public square and the site of Siena’s two-times-a-year horse race, the Palio de Siena. As you look at the piazza, try to imagine it filled...
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Tower Guinigi Lucca
25 Reviews The Torre Guinigi is one of the two towers that can be climbed to get panoramic views of Lucca and the surrounding Apuane Alps. In the 15th century the tower was added to the Palazzo Guinigi, which...
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Pitti Palace & Boboli Gardens Florence
143 Reviews The Palazzo Pitti was originally the home of the Pitti family, who were wealthy bankers in Florence. It was sold to Eleanor of Toledo, wife of Grand Duke Cosimo I Medici, in 1550 and became the home...
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The Baptistery Pisa
95 Reviews The Cathedral of Pisa's baptistery is the largest baptistery in all of Italy. Built between 1152 and 1363, it's the second oldest structure on the Piazza dei Miracoli after the duomo. The baptistery...
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Museo Civico Siena
18 Reviews The Civic Museum is in the town hall and is full of art that mixes both the religious with the secular. While there is lots of see in the museum, you do not want to miss two things – the Maesta by...
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Piazza dell'Anfiteatro Lucca
20 Reviews The oval Piazza Anfiteatro used to be a Roman amphitheater. During medieval times, houses were built on the Roman remains; later from 1830 the area was used as a marketplace. Nowadays it is a nice...
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The Uffizi Gallery Florence
182 Reviews There are already so many tips for the Uffizi Gallery on here that I hesitate to write yet another one. But I will limit my tip to the great Renaissance paintings that are on display, and even with...
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Campo dei Miracoli Pisa
98 Reviews The cathedral cemetary dates back to the 12th Century. it was almost completely destroyed in WWII but has since been mostly painstakingly restored. What has been lost is a large percentage of the...
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Museo dell'opera del duomo Siena
13 Reviews This is where all the originals from the cathedral are kept – statues, windows, altar pieces. It protects them from the weather, vandalism, and gives them more correct temperatures and lighting in...
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Duomo di San Martino Lucca
22 Reviews The facade of of San Martino Cathedral could be described as "interesting" - a euphemism for many things. Rick Steves' invaluable guidebook describes it as "... an entertaining mix of architectural...
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David Statue Florence
107 Reviews David! He seems to be everywhere in Florence. David represents the Florentine people – the little warrior that fights the large giant (other larger city-states, Rome, etc.) and comes up victorious....
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Arno river Pisa
23 Reviews The same river that flows through Florence also flows through the city of Pisa. Other than the Leaning Tower I found admiring the picturesque view of the river winding through the city to be the...
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the PALIO Siena
11 Reviews Two times a year, at the beginning of july and at mid august, Siena celebrates the Palio. Don't even think that the Palio is something arranged for tourists or a staged manifestation. People in...
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San Michele in Foro Lucca
19 Reviews This famous San Michele in Foro Church was built between the 11th and 14th century. The columns in the facade are all different and the wings of the angel statue on top of the facade are flexible to...
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Piazza della Signoria Florence
135 Reviews In the Piazza della Signoria, to the left of the Palazzo Vecchio, is a fountain with Neptune as its center piece. Neptune, the Roman god of the sea, has a face similar to Cosimo I de’ Medici. The...
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The Cemetery Pisa
42 Reviews Camposanto (the cemetery) is monumental architectural complex which dates back to the 13th century. The construction was begun by Giovanni di Simone and completed during the several following...
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Loggia della Mercanzia Siena
10 Reviews Loggia della Mercanzia, also known as Loggia di San Paolo or Loggia dei Nobili is typical of Sienese architecture from Medieval to Renaissance. It is located at the point known as Croce del Travaglio...
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Palazzo Pfanner Lucca
15 Reviews Palazzo Pfanner turned out to be my favourite museum in Lucca. For 5.50 Euros, you can have access to the palazzo and its beautiful gardens. Dating back to the 1660s, the palazzo is named after Felix...
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Piazalle Michelangelo Florence
77 Reviews The Piazzale Michelangelo is where you go to get that fantastic view of the city of Florence with views of the Cathedral. It is near the top of the hill on the other side of the Arno River. You can...
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I have spend 4 days in Forte dei Marmi but never made any tour in this small coastal town. Actually, it was our base where we usually had dinners and spending nights, during days we made tours of Liguria and on our way back home a day trip to Pisa and Florence. According to my inguierings on the net, Forte dei Marmi is beach resorts for mass tourism only.
Ponte Vecchio is another symbol of Florence and another 'must see', even if you spend just a couple of hours in Florence.This oldest bridge of Florence crosses the river Arno and links the historic city centre with Altrarno - the district on the southern bank.The bridge has always been a place to do business - from the 13th century there were stalls on it and people buying and selling things. Butchers, fishmongers, vegetable sellers and craftsmen used to throw away waste straight into the water. The odour must have been unbearable. In 1565 the famous Corridoio Vasariano was built to connect Uffizi and Palazzo Pitti. The Grand Duke Ferdinand I de Medici decided then to do away with the 'smelly business' and ordered that the shops should be taken over by goldsmiths - the trade more suitable as the neighbours of the noble family.Another interesting fact concerning the history of Ponte...
For centuries Piazza della Signoria was the heart of social and political life for residents of Florence. The square is dominated by Palazzo Vecchio, now and in the past the seat of local authorities. However, the square is best known for its gallery of sculptures, now mostly the copies of great masterpieces. The most famous is that of David by Michelangelo - the original is in Galleria dell Academia. It took the artist almost three years to sculpt but it confirmed his position as the greatest sculptor of Florence. The figure is almost four and a half metres high and is the first large nude created after ancient times. What can strike some viewers as the lack of proportions ( f.e. large hands), was well intended to reflect some of the special qualities of David.Loggia dei Lanzi ( or Logia of the Signoria), the arcaded building constructed in the 14th century in the times of Cosma I,...
The problem with Florence are the crowds of tourists and the noise. It's so different from the peace and quiet of less popular towns and villages of Tuscany. But if you are able to 'alienate' from the crowds and focus on the treasures the city has to offer, you will appreciate this unique place. Piazza del Duomo is one of the sites with the biggest concentration of visitors who come to admire here three different masterpieces of architecture: Duomo (cathedral), Campanilla (bell tower) and Batistero (baptistery). Duomo Santa Maria del Fiore is crowned by an enormous dome - the masterpiece of Brunelleschi. It's one of the most amazing achievements of architecture and engineering. It's possible to climb it and I would definitely recommend it, but you should be fit to do it. The stairs are winding, the passage narrow and being followed by others, you have hardly any moment to have a rest....
Siena's coat-of-arms is black and white. These colours can be noticed on many layers of the city's past and present. As black and white symbolize conflicting values and passions, so Siena was the mother-city of 9 popes and many saints, but also of fallen women, rascals and other villains. In its history there were moments of triumph and of failure. For centuries in conflict with Florence, it won a spectacular victory over its rival in the battle of Montaperti in 1260. Eighty eight years later the tragedy struck. The Black Death took 70 000 from the population of 100 000. The wounded city was still trying to fight for its independence until 1555, when Siena was incorporated into the territories of Florence. Black and white are predominant colours of Sienese cathedral, both its exterior and interior. By many this cathedral is considered to be the most beautiful in Tuscany, or even Italy....
The majestic building of Sienese Duomo is a mixture of two styles: Romanesque (the lower part) and Gothic (the upper part). The bell-tower with its stripes of two-coloured marble, is a typical example of Romanesque architecture. The construction of the cathedral took over one hundred years and was completed in1296. Soon the decision was made to expand it and build Duomo Nuovo. Siena wanted to have the biggest Christian temple of those times. The political and financial situation, worsened by the Black Death, interrupted those ambitious attempts. Now we can only see the traces of the plan on the left side of current Duomo. The interior amazes with abundance of artworks. The first thing a visitor notices are the walls covered in horizontal strips of black and white and the multi coloured marble floor that looks like a carpet. High along the walls there are rows of sculpted heads of 172...
Piazza del Campo lies in the very heart of Siena and is the place where almost all important city events have been taking place for centuries. The most famous event is of course palio - the dangerous bareback horse race which is held here twice a year: on July 2nd and August 16th. When we visited Siena on June 28th, 2011 parts of the piazza were covered in sand as the preparations were already in progress. The square is also well-known for its remarkable shape of a giant shell. The paving is made of red brick divided by nine strips of grey stone (to commemorate the Government of the Nine).The square is circled by massive buildings and towers. The most impressive is Palazzo Publico which houses a museum. Here you can see among others a famous fresco of Maesta (Virgin Mary on the throne surrounded by angels and saints) by Simon Martini. This theme was very popular in the past, hence there...
Arezzo is a city rich in art but free from crowds. Besides, its famous for its goldsmiths and the tradition of producing golden and silver jewellery which goes back to Etruscan times. It's quite a big city with a historic medieval centre and relatively new suburbs. The main square of the city, Piaza Grande, spreads on a small slope. It's surrounded by palaces, towers and churches. The most interesting palaces include Palazzo delle Logge designed by Giorgio Vasari in 1573 and Palazzo Pretorio with numerous coats of arms. Piaza Grande is the place of traditional Giostra del Saracino (Joust of the saracen) going back to the 13th century. The feast takes place on the first Sunday of September. In the lower part of the square you can see the apse of Pieve di Santa Maria. This sandstone church is one of the largest and most interesting Romanesque churches in Tuscany. Its amazing facade...
One of the great masterpieces of Renaissance art - The Legend of the True Cross - can be seen in the church of San Francesco in Arezzo. The church looks very modest from the outside with its unfinished facade so its hard to guess that it hides such a treasure. The frescoes decorate the Bacci chapel, which is entered separately from the main church. The paintings depict scenes from the stories about the true cross, inspired by a collection of legends popular in the 13th century. Briefly speaking, it's a story of wood from which the cross for Jesus Christ was made. But it's not the theme of the cycle which makes the work so outstanding, but the unique approach of the artist towards it.Piero della Francesca was born in 1411 in Borgo San Sepolcro , a small town on the border of Tuscany an Umbria, as a son of a shoemaker. From his earliest childhood he was interested in paintig and...
Casa dei Vasari was the other reason ( the first were the frescoes by Piero della Francesca) that drew me to Arezzo. I wanted to see the house of the man who did so much for the Renaissance art.Giorgio Vasari was born in Arezzo in 1511 in the family of vase makers. From his early years he showed interest in painting and was lucky enough to be taught by greatest masters, including Michelangelo. Vasari became a prolific painter and architect. His works include wall and ceiling paintings in Palazzo Vecchio or frescoes inside the cupola of Florence cathedral. He also built a long passage connecting the Ufizzi with Palazzo Pitti, known as Vasari corridor. But his greatest claim to fame lies somewhere else. He is the author of a monumental encyclopedia of Renaissance art entitled "Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects". Much what we know about Renaissance today is...
Hotel David Florence
6 Reviews and 920 Opinions My husband and I stayed at the hotel 4 years ago and loved it, so when I planned our family trip...
Bologna Hotel Pisa Pisa
6 Reviews and 1032 Opinions This is a gentle warning to anyone using a vehicle on the road at the front of the hotel, who is not...
Borgo Grondaie Siena
3 Reviews and 285 Opinions This was the most magical place we stayed the summer of 2005. We spent almost 2 months throughout...
Reviews and photos of Tuscany attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Tuscany sightseeing.
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Q: We are heading to Florence for a week in mid-March and other than an overnight trip to Venice, we plan to spend the rest of the...
A: Definitely take the bus up to Fiesole. It's a short ride (from what I remember - long time ago this trip) and it's beautiful up above Florence. There's a nice...
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