My journey through Tuscany
Dear Friends,
Today I will publish a letter from a reader of my blog that I think may be helpful to everyone:
"Hello Giorgio, we have just returned from a 5 day trip to Tuscany and after using your blog to help us navigate the area I thought I would share my travel experience´s with you.
After looking at many rural houses that can be found on various websites, we decided to trust your suggestion and we stayed at Villa Vignacce Annalicia.
The truth is that it was a huge success; the place is great and everything is perfectly maintained. I stayed in the apartment Granaio with my wife where we celebrated 10 years of marriage. Upon arrival we found a bottle of Italian sparkling wine (prosecco), some strawberries from the garden of the house, and a home-made dessert which we enjoyed with our breakfast.
Day 1:
You explained that May is a wonderful time to go to Tuscany and the truth is that the flower garden in Vignacce gave us a spectacular view every morning as well as the fields and the countryside around the house which was full of beautiful flowers.
The first day we where a little tired from traveling and so only in the afternoon we began exploring Tuscany, we decided to go to Lake Trasimeno which is just 20 minutes from Vignacce. We took our Fiat 500 and in less than half an hour we were enjoying an ice cream at the gelateria tropical Passignano sul Trasimeno.
From Passignano we took a boat that took us to the Isola Maggiore on Lake Trasimeno where we enjoyed a beautiful walk through the castle and admired a wonderful sunset. On the way back it was almost dinner time and so we stopped at a restaurant in a village called the Fischio del Merlo. We ate excellent pasta with black truffle and fish from the lake that was the best I have ever eaten; truly exquisite.
Late in the afternoon we were heading back to Bettolle but took the opportunity to stop at the Incisa-Valdarno Outlet" Mall" where obviously my wife could not resist the temptation to spend all our savings on a nice Gucci bag at 70% off!
As you can imagine we arrived at the Villa very tired after our amazing but long day and so we rested before a walk through the village of Bettolle, which is located just 5 minutes walk from the Betulia restaurant, here we had a excellent Bistecca alla Fiorentina!
Day 3:
The time is going so fast on our trip, yet we head out to enjoy a spectacular sunrise and with our umbrella in hand we visited San Gimignano. We wondered around the charming medieval town which was only an hour and a quarter away. Here we spent a couple of hours walking through it. Then it began to rain so we decided to take the car back towards Monteriggioni where we ate at Bar del Orso! excellent recommendation! Thanks Giorgio.
In the afternoon it was time to visit Siena where we visited the spectacular cathedral! I recommend everyone to pay the € 10 entry because it is really wonderful, we went to Piazza del Campo and then again back to the Bettolle direction.
At night we had dinner at Santorotto in Sinalunga, also an excellent restaurant where we ate some local cuisine (a pasta typical of the area) ragout!
Day 4:
Finally we got to Pienza, the city we loved right away and actually in our opinion deserves the nickname Renaissance jewel. Following your advice we ate at Il Chiostro di Pienza where a friendly waiter named Alfonso served us very beautifully. From the restaurant we enjoyed a magnificent view of the entire Valdoricia and Mount Amiata.
We later visited Montichiello, Bagno Vignoni and climbed back through San Quirico d'Orcia! It is really wonderful! I fully understand why the Tuscan people protect their heritage and environment so carefully because it is awe inspiring.
Day 5:
As with every morning we where warmly greeted by a friendly Annalisa and her playful dog Billy. We drove to Pisa with the feeling that we had missed several days to enjoy the pool and the garden of the house. We also missed out on a visit to Umbria which is really close and Annalicia had recommended to us to visit as well as other beautiful areas of Tuscany which we read about in your Blog.
We arrived at Pisa late in the morning and found traffic around Florence but still plenty of time to visit the beautiful Piazza dei Miracoli and its Leaning Tower. In the afternoon at 18:00 we left for the airport and our flight back home with a sense of sadness and returned home promising ourselves to return back soon and get to know and further enjoy this beautiful land that is Tuscany and Umbria.
Thanks Giorgio!
Miguel and Marga "
Dear Friends, I hope this article written by Miguel helps you to plan your route through Tuscany, if you wish to read other articles on routes through and around Tuscany then simply click on the menu to the right of the blog that has a collection of all of these articles as well as the a general guide to Tuscany.
Please if you like give the G + button at the bottom of the article!
Today I will publish a letter from a reader of my blog that I think may be helpful to everyone:"Hello Giorgio, we have just returned from a 5 day trip to Tuscany and after using your blog to help us navigate the area I thought I would share my travel experience´s with you.
After looking at many rural houses that can be found on various websites, we decided to trust your suggestion and we stayed at Villa Vignacce Annalicia.
The truth is that it was a huge success; the place is great and everything is perfectly maintained. I stayed in the apartment Granaio with my wife where we celebrated 10 years of marriage. Upon arrival we found a bottle of Italian sparkling wine (prosecco), some strawberries from the garden of the house, and a home-made dessert which we enjoyed with our breakfast.
You explained that May is a wonderful time to go to Tuscany and the truth is that the flower garden in Vignacce gave us a spectacular view every morning as well as the fields and the countryside around the house which was full of beautiful flowers.
The first day we where a little tired from traveling and so only in the afternoon we began exploring Tuscany, we decided to go to Lake Trasimeno which is just 20 minutes from Vignacce. We took our Fiat 500 and in less than half an hour we were enjoying an ice cream at the gelateria tropical Passignano sul Trasimeno.
From Passignano we took a boat that took us to the Isola Maggiore on Lake Trasimeno where we enjoyed a beautiful walk through the castle and admired a wonderful sunset. On the way back it was almost dinner time and so we stopped at a restaurant in a village called the Fischio del Merlo. We ate excellent pasta with black truffle and fish from the lake that was the best I have ever eaten; truly exquisite.
Day 2:
We woke up enjoying a spectacular sunrise from our room in Cortona which is just in front of the house, we showered, had breakfast at home and a good Italian coffee with cake made by Annalicia, we thanked her and her friendly dog Billy and we headed towards Florence.
We woke up enjoying a spectacular sunrise from our room in Cortona which is just in front of the house, we showered, had breakfast at home and a good Italian coffee with cake made by Annalicia, we thanked her and her friendly dog Billy and we headed towards Florence.
We arrived in Florence in under an hour and parked in the Central Station. We had arranged time to dedicate the morning to visit the Uffizi museum while in the afternoon we walked through the main tourist attractions: the Ponte Vecchio, Il Palazzo Pitti, Piazza della Signoria, Piazza Santa Croce and obviously il Duomo. As for following your recommendations we stopped to eat at Restaurant Da Mario. Simply spectacular!
As you can imagine we arrived at the Villa very tired after our amazing but long day and so we rested before a walk through the village of Bettolle, which is located just 5 minutes walk from the Betulia restaurant, here we had a excellent Bistecca alla Fiorentina!
Day 3:
The time is going so fast on our trip, yet we head out to enjoy a spectacular sunrise and with our umbrella in hand we visited San Gimignano. We wondered around the charming medieval town which was only an hour and a quarter away. Here we spent a couple of hours walking through it. Then it began to rain so we decided to take the car back towards Monteriggioni where we ate at Bar del Orso! excellent recommendation! Thanks Giorgio.
In the afternoon it was time to visit Siena where we visited the spectacular cathedral! I recommend everyone to pay the € 10 entry because it is really wonderful, we went to Piazza del Campo and then again back to the Bettolle direction. At night we had dinner at Santorotto in Sinalunga, also an excellent restaurant where we ate some local cuisine (a pasta typical of the area) ragout!
Day 4:
In the morning it was a sunny day once again and so we headed to the nearby Valdorcia. From Bettolle Montepulciano the drive is wonderful! Just 20 minutes separating the two places yet there are an endless delight of landscapes amongst them.
This could be a postcard of Tuscany. Montepulciano desepcionó was a little change for us. The city has many ups and downs and to reach the Piazza Grande we got a little lost. After this we continued to drive towards Pienza and the scenery was even more beautiful. We could not help stop several times to take beautiful souvenir pictures of Tuscany.
This could be a postcard of Tuscany. Montepulciano desepcionó was a little change for us. The city has many ups and downs and to reach the Piazza Grande we got a little lost. After this we continued to drive towards Pienza and the scenery was even more beautiful. We could not help stop several times to take beautiful souvenir pictures of Tuscany.
Finally we got to Pienza, the city we loved right away and actually in our opinion deserves the nickname Renaissance jewel. Following your advice we ate at Il Chiostro di Pienza where a friendly waiter named Alfonso served us very beautifully. From the restaurant we enjoyed a magnificent view of the entire Valdoricia and Mount Amiata. We later visited Montichiello, Bagno Vignoni and climbed back through San Quirico d'Orcia! It is really wonderful! I fully understand why the Tuscan people protect their heritage and environment so carefully because it is awe inspiring.
Thanks Giorgio!
Miguel and Marga "
Dear Friends, I hope this article written by Miguel helps you to plan your route through Tuscany, if you wish to read other articles on routes through and around Tuscany then simply click on the menu to the right of the blog that has a collection of all of these articles as well as the a general guide to Tuscany.
Please if you like give the G + button at the bottom of the article!
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