I had never had an intention to go to Tuscany knowing it’s just a countryside in Italy, until I came to Florence and got lost in the Medieval scenery, the winery, olive farm and the vibrant greeness. Tuscany in a moment has captured my soul and becoming a refreshing memory for the first days of summer.
Tuscany is enormous in size, in this expedition I came across Florence, Siena and the Medieval town San Gimignano, and came to the winery and olive to taste the true flavors of Tuscany. Florence, Siena and San Gimignano are all UNESCO World Cultural Heritages, thus, their preservations are beyond imagination.
To begin exploring Tuscany, Florence is the first and foremost destination. The capital city of Tuscany region has everything to offer and worth the so called “Best city in Europe” voted by many famous travel magazines. The whole city is one unique structure that makes every street a small museum with countless stories to tell. Florence deserves all the butterfly. If ever come here, the must visits are Florence Cathedral, Ponte di Vecchio, Galleria dell’Accademia, and Piazzale Michelangelo.
From Florence, you can travel by train to key cities and ancient town in Tuscany or a 30-minute-drive can give you access to the closest winery and olive farm. If you don’t have enough time to plan your own itinerary, as a developed tourism city in Tuscany, Florence offers different tour for you to discover Tuscany at ease.
Siena is the second stop in the exploration of endless Tuscany. Siena used be one of the biggest cities in Italy during Medieval time so its architecture stays impressive. In the middle of the city is the city hall and the horse racing square, every year each small district brings their horse to the square to compete bringing glory back to their district. If you come to Siena during Saint Catherine 29 April, or during horse race dates, all districts will hang their flags up. I happened to come here during Saint Catherine day so it was overwhelming the flag, a scene can be taken from Games of Throne.
Must-dos in Siena is to try Chianti wine, most famous in the region, visit Piazza di Campo, Siena Cathedral – a church made entirely by marble, and don’t forget to visit the interior to visit Piccolomini Library erected by Pope Pius II. The interior is impressive that makes me consider this the most beautiful church in Europe that I have ever been to.
It’s a Medieval town with 14 giant towers. In the old days, San Gimignano was considered as the Manhattan of today in terms of prosperity. San Gimignano is small so you can have a walk around for an afternoon. But don’t forget to climb on top of one tower to have a panoramic view of the whole Tuscany region.
I recommend going to Florence first because you have a wide range of choices for services and easy access to the rest region of Tuscany. For bus, you can purchase on GoEuro.com and train tickets can be bought at the ticket office via Treinitali or Italo.
I suggest going on tour to Siena because the fee is cheap and can have a lot of experience that is uniquely for you with just 44 euros. Besides, you can have a tour to Cinque Terre to discover Liguria region that is as interesting.