San Gimignano
There are three museums in this complex. The ground floor is home to a part-reconstructed 15th- to 18th-century pharmacy known as the Speziera di Santa…
Must-see attractions in Tuscany
Museo Civico Archeologico 'Isidoro Falchi'
Southern Tuscany
Piazza Vatluna off Vetulonia's main street boasts spectacular views over the surrounding countryside and is also home to this small museum, which brings…
Val d'Orcia
This now-ruined 13th-century Cistercian abbey was one of the finest Gothic buildings of its day. On a hill above is the tiny, round Romanesque Cappella di…
Chiesa di Sant'Andrea Apostolo
Pistoia
This 12th-century church was built outside the original city walls, hence its windowless (fortified) state. The partly white-and-green striped marble…
San Gimignano
This late-13th-century church is best known for Benozzo Gozzoli's charming fresco cycle (1464–65) illustrating the life of St Augustine. You'll find it in…
Chianti
Mona Lisa Gherardini, subject of Leonardo da Vinci's world-famous painting, married into the family that built this villa in the 14th century. After a…
Riserva Naturale Provinciale Diaccia Botrona
Southern Tuscany
The marshes surrounding the coastal town of Castiglione della Pescaia are an important shelter for migrating birds, and this 12.7-sq-km nature reserve off…
Pistoia
The beautifully restored facade of this former hospital, operational from 1277 until 2013, stuns with its 16th-century polychrome terracotta frieze by…
Northwestern Tuscany
Grandiose white-marble steps flank Pietrasanta's attractive cathedral, built in the 14th century on the site of an earlier church dating from 1250. Its…
Val d'Orcia
Stand in this magnificent square and spin 360 degrees. You've just taken in an overview of Pienza's major monuments. Gems of the Renaissance constructed…
Central Tuscany
The name (isola means island) reflects the fact that until the 18th century, this 11th-century abbey was surrounded by swampland. It has hosted many…
Southern Tuscany
In 2009 a small team of archaeologists began excavating these foundations of a 2300-year-old Etruscan domus (house), on the main road just below Vetulonia…
Northwestern Tuscany
At the foot of the cathedral bell tower is the entrance to this serene cloister museum safeguarding ecclesiastical treasures bestowed upon the cathedral…
Southern Tuscany
Cinnabar, the red-coloured mineral from which mercury is extracted, was mined in the hills around Abbadia San Salvatore from Etruscan times until quite…
Siena
The tranquil terraces of this botanical garden (1856), which is spread over 2.5 hectares of the verdant Sant'Agostino Valley, provide gorgeous views…
Museo Archeologico all'Aperto 'Alberto Manzi'
Southern Tuscany
This open-air museum south of Pitigliano on the road to Saturnia contains sections of vie cave (sunken roads hewn out of tufo) and several Etruscan…
Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta
Volterra
A handsome coffered ceiling is the standout feature of Volterra's duomo, which was built in the 12th and 13th centuries and remodelled in the 16th. The…
Chiesa e Battistero dei SS Giovanni e Reparata
Lucca
The 12th-century interior of this deconsecrated church is a hauntingly atmospheric setting for summertime opera and concert recitals (www…
Fiesole
Make the Area Archeologica your first stop. A pretty site to stroll, the archaeological area ensnares an Etruscan temple (Fiesole was founded in the 7th…
Basilica della Madonna dell'Umiltà
Pistoia
For anyone familiar with Florence, it is impossible not to notice the bright red–tiled dome of this 15th-century backstreet church, built by Ventura…
Northwestern Tuscany
Inside the convent adjoining Chiesa di Sant'Agostino, this small museum explores the evolution of modern sculpture through 700-odd bozzetti (maquettes or…
Siena
To enjoy spectacular bird's-eye views of the interior and exterior of Siena's cathedral, buy a ticket for the 'Gate of Heaven' escorted tour up, into and…
Lucca
One of Lucca's many architecturally significant churches, this glittering Romanesque edifice marks the spot where the city's Roman forum was. The present…
Pisa
For a Zen-like respite from the Piazza dei Miracoli crowd, explore this peaceful walled garden laced with centurion palm trees, flora typical to the…
Livorno
Piccola Venezia is a tangle of small canals built during the 17th century, using Venetian methods of reclaiming land from the sea. At its heart sits the…
Northwestern Tuscany
The Vespa, Italy's iconic scooter, revolutionised travel when Piaggio launched it from its factory in Pontedera, 25km southeast of Pisa, in 1946. The…
Elba
Portoferraio's loftiest highest hill is crowned by this largely intact, 16th-century fort (1548) – a key point, together with Fort Stella and Torre del…
Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Guingi
Lucca
Lucchese history from the 8th century BC to late 18th century AD is evoked through archaeological objects, paintings and other artworks at this small…
Montepulciano
Built for Cardinal Giovanni Maria Ricci in the 16th century, this handsome palazzo has a rear loggia with a stunning view of the countryside. Home to many…
Livorno
Livorno's seafront aquarium swims with black-tip reef and zebra sharks, seahorses, Madagascan spider tortoises, moon jellyfish and impressive green sea…
Badia delle Sante Flora e Lucilla
Arezzo
This 13th-century abbey was rebuilt to a design by Vasari in the 16th century, and its austerely elegant Romanesque exterior stands in extreme contrast to…
Volterra
As befits a town that's hewn the precious material from nearby quarries since Etruscan times, Volterra is the proud possessor of an alabaster museum. It's…
Museo Civico & Pinacoteca Crociani
Montepulciano
It was a curatorial dream come true: in 2011 a painting in the collection of this modest art gallery was attributed to Caravaggio. The work, Portrait of a…
Siena
Remarkably, this vaulted space under the duomo's pulpit was totally filled with debris in the late 1300s and was only excavated and restored in 1999…
Siena
Completed in 1348, this 87m-high red-brick-and-travertine bell tower commands magnificent views from its highest levels. Its name (The Tower of Eater)…
Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Mansi
Lucca
This 16th-century mansion built for a wealthy Luccan merchant is a wonderful piece of rococo excess. The private apartments are draped head to toe in…
Chianti
Medieval Montefioralle crowns a rise just east of Greve, and can be accessed via a 2km walking path from the town centre (head up Via San Francesco, off…
Livorno
Laid out in 1854 to prettify the wasteland around the city's great water cistern (unveiled in 1842), this lush public park is a peaceful green oasis of…
Northwestern Tuscany
Neoclassical Villa Grabau, 11km north of Lucca in San Pancrazio, sits among a vast parkland with sweeping traditional English- and Italian-styled gardens,…
San Gimignano
Protected and opened to the public by the Fondo Ambiente Italiano (FAI), the Italian National Trust equivalent, this art- and antique-filled tower house…
