Southern Tuscany is the region at its best: an infinite gradation of hills, trees and cultivation that runs across the crete - the Sienese badlands - and through the vineyards of Montepulciano and Montalcino, before climbing into the hills around Monte Amiata. Over in the west of this region, rugged Massa Marittima presides over a coastal plain...Inland, magnificent monastic architecture can be savoured in the tranquil settings of San Galgano and a short distance east on the Montepuliano road, Monte Oliveto Maggiore...
Perhaps the finest of the towns of southern Tuscany is Montepulciano with its independent hill-town life and a Renaissance ensemble that rivals neighbouring Pienza. Famous for its wine, Montalcino is also close to the superb abbey of Sant’Antimo; while further south, there are medieval centres and mountain walking at Arcidossa and Abbadia San Salvatore, the remarkable sulphur springs of Saturnia and the isolated drama of Pitigliano and Sovana.
Umbria is a predominately beautiful region of rolling hills, woods, streams and valleys and despite the growing number of visitors has largely retained an unspoilt air. Within its borders it also contains a dozen or so classic hill-towns, each resolutely individual and crammed with artistic and architectural treasures to rival bigger and more famous cities.
To the east, pastoral countryside gives way to more rugged scenery,none better than the dramatic twists and turns of the Valnerian and the high mountain scenery of the Parco Nazionale dei Sibellini...Most visitors head for Perugia, Assisi or Orvieto.
For a taste of the region's more understated qualities, it's best to concentrate on lesser-known places such as Todi, Gubbio, ranked as the most perfect medieval centre in Italy, and Spoleto, for many people the outstanding Umbrian town.
Although there are few unattractive parts of the Umbrian landscape the factories of Terni and the Tiber Valley being the largest blots, some districts are especially enticing: principally the mountainous Valnerian, Piano Grande and Lago Trasimeno, the last of which is the largest lake in the Italian peninsula, with plenty of opportunities for swimming and water sports...Distances between the main sights are short, and there are excellent rail links both within the region and to Florence and Rome.
Fodor’s Exploring Italy
In exploring Florence - with all its treasures - you barely scratch the surface of Tuscany’s artistic heritage. Almost every town in Tuscany boasts attractions that could occupy a day’s sightseeing. Siena deserves at least that...Little known Lucca is as graceful a town as any in Italy, often overlooked in favor of Pisa...Lofty Volterra, too, has its medieval moments but is better known for its fine Etruscan museum. Arezzo might be ignored altogether, except for its great frescoes, while nearby Cortona seduces with its fine and atmospheric streets. Pienza and Montepulciano, too, are both as attractive for their own sakes as for any outstanding art and architecture they offer.
The Landscapes. Chianti encapsulates for many people Tuscany’s archetypal landscape. There is more than just vineyards and soft rolling hills. In the far north, for example, rise the mountains of the Orecchiella and Alpi Apuane, famed for their marble (Carrara) and their scenic splendour. Caught between them is the green valley of the Garfagnana. South of Siena lie the crete, the region’s strangest landscape, bare clay hills checkered with prairies of rippling wheat. In the east are the Casentino, Mugello and Pratomagno, all Chianti’s scenic equals, but all still largely unexplored by foreign visitors.
Baedeker Tuscany
Suggested Routes: distances are the main routes only, not detours
Carrara to Lucca via the Apuan Alps and the Garfagnana (about 110 kms)
Pisa to Florence (avoiding the motorway) (about 140 kms)
Florence to Arezo via the Casentino (about 140 kms)
Florence to Siena by the Via Chiantigiana (about 70 kms)
Siena to Monte Amiata (about 130 kms)
From Siena via Volterra and Massa Marittima to the coast (about 140 kms)
From Grosseto to Pitigliano through the Maremma (about 120 kms)
Blue Guide - Tuscany
Famous Towns
The most famous towns of Tuscany - Florence, Siena, Pisa, Lucca, Arezzo, and San Gimignano have many of the most important buildings, works of art and museums in the region. The Campo of Siena and the Piazza del Duomo of Pisa are unforgettable sights.
Less known small towns and villages
The region also has numerous less well-known small towns which are extremely interesting and pleasant places to visit...These include Cortona, Pienza, Volterra, Massa Marittima, Montalcino, San Quirico d'Orcia, Pitigliano, Sansepolcro and Colle Val d'Elsa. Near Florence the town of Prato and Pistoia, often overlooked, have much of interest.
Small well preserved villages in lovely countryside include (not in order) Uzzano, Barga, Bolgheri, Tirli, Caldana, Montepescali, Capalbio, Montefioralle, San Gusme, Monteriggioni, Certaldo Alto, Torri, Bagno Vignoni, Cartiglione d'Orcia, Cetona, Magliano in Toscana, Pereta, Sovana, Sorano, Poppi, Cennina, Anghiari, Civitella in Val di Chiana, and Lucignano.
Landscape
Some of the most beautiful landscape in Tuscany can be found in the Chianti region, the Casentino, the forest of Camaldoli, the Mugello, the Garfagnana, the Maremma, particularly inthe Parco dell'Uccellina, and vear Capalbio and Pitigliano at the nature reserve at Bolgheri, the Lago di Burano and Cala Martina and Cala Violina on the coast near Flollonica. Fine countryside can also be found in parts of Monte Argentario (and the Tombolo di Beniglia), Elba, and Capraia.
Etrsucan sites and tombs in interesting towns or lovely countryside include those at Chiusi, Cortona, Vetulonia, Volterra, Arezzo, Populonia, Roselle, Fiesole, Pitigliano, Saturnia, and Artimino.
Roman monuments are to be found at Lucca, Arezzo, Fiesole, Volterra, Cosa dna Roselle.
Renaissance architecture
Masterpieces of Renaissance architecture (apart from those in Florence) include Santa Maria delle Carceri in Prato, the Tempio di San Biagio at Montepuciano, Santa Maria del Calcinato at Cortona, and the Renaissance town of Pienza.
Near Pisa and Lucca
To the north-west of Florence and the Arno is the Garfagnana, the wooded foothills of the Apennines...rugged chain of the Apuan Alps which forms a stark and jagged backdrop to the fertile plain of the Arno valley with its maize fields, lanes of pollarded trees and towns of green-shuttered houses.Near San Gimignano
San Gimignano...still an evocative sight despite thousands of summer visitors.Near Montepulciano
40 km SE of Siena. South of Siena are more villages, most notably Montalcino...In this same area, lost in lovely countryside, stand three beautiful abbeys - Sant’Antimo, San Galgano, and Monte Oliveto Maggiore.Near Junction of A1 & S326
A1 is the main road East of Siena that goes to Firenze. The S326 goes East from Siena to join the A1.Crete- barren rolling hills known as the Crete (southeast of Siena) which form one of the most impressive and most unusual landscapes in Tuscany, lie southeast of Siena between Taverne d’Arbia and Asciano. There could hardly be a greater contrast to the gentle green hills found elsewhere in Tuscany. (Note: it looks like a quite small area).
Near Spello & Assisi
Umbria has emerged from Tuscany’s shadow...a beautiful and varied region in its own right...a dozen or more hilltowns, each crammed with artistic and architectural treasures. Its pastoral countryside has earned the title the Green Heart of Italy. Pink-stoned Assisi...Perugia, its more stern neighbour has a warren of dark medieval streets...Orvieto has finest Gothic cathedral. Spoleto and Gubbio (the Umbrian Siena) are both delightful medieval towns. Lesser and less-visited places also have their charms, notably Todi,the epitome of a hilltown, Spello, steep and sleepy; and Montefalco, a lofty belvedered...Part of Umbria’s charm is its soft gentle countryside...some is spotted with light industry, but off the main roads the region is a picture of pastoral perfection - all olive groves, oak woods, vineyards and silver-hazed hills rolling into the distance.
Landlocked Umbria is a gentle, tranquil landscape of verdant valleys and wooded hills. The central plain (Piano degli Angeli) is a patchwork of neat fields of cereals, sunflowers and tobacco, with haystacks still house-shaped or conical in the old-fashioned way. Here and there an ancient abbey or monastery is a reminder that Umbria has been the birthplace of many saints...countryside is still recognisable in the frescoes of The Life of St Francis painted by Giotto at Assisi.
Lake Trasimeno, (Hannibal's triumph) is not scenically memorable.
There is a harsher side to the serene Umbrian countryside. The east is earthquake-prone with remote rugged mountains and damaged industrial town. In the south, volcanic plateaus are geologically akin to neighbouring Lazio.
Umbria The gentle land where St. Francis lived is a country of hills, valleys and river basins, where the poplars raise their rustling heads to limpid skies. This is the greeen Umbria of the Clitumnus Valley (Valle des Clitunno) whose pastures were already famous in ancient times. Umbria has two lakes, Trasimeno and Piediluco and many rivers, including the Tiber. Medieval cities which succeeded Etruscan settlements overlook ravines and valleys: grim Gubbio, haughty Perugia (capital), Assisi, Spoleto and Spello. Others stand in the centre of a plain, such as Foligno and Terni, the metallurgical centre.
Blue Guide Umbria
Recommended medieval towns: Assisi, Bevagna, Todi, Spoleto, Trevi, Gubbio, Spello, Narni
Bibliography
I have used all these books at various stages of my planning. The public library has a great selection, although perhaps not always the latest edition.
AA Tour Guide, 1991.
FitzRoy, Charles. Italy, A grand tour for the modern traveller.Macmillan London, 1991.
McIntyre, Anthony Osler. Medieval Tuscany and Umbria (architectural guides for travellers) Viking, 1992.
Eyewitness Travel Guide: Italy. Dorling Kindersley, 1996.
Duncan, Paul. Discovering the hill towns of Italy. Pavilion Books, 1990
The Which? guide to Italy. Consumers' Association and Hodder & Stoughton, rev. rept. 1992.
Murphy, Michael and Murphy, Laura. Guide to vacation rentals in Europe. Voyager Book (Globe Pequot Press), 1994
Touring Club of Italy. Florence, the surrounding countryside and the Chianti region. 1996
Macadam, Alta. Blue Guide, Umbria. A&C Black, 1995.
Macadam, Alta. Blue Guide, Tuscany. 3rd edition. A&C Black, 1999.
This guide is strong on art and architecture. I bought this one!
Hobley, Stephen. A traveller's wine guide to Italy. Interlink Books, 1997.
Hofmann, Paul. Umbria, Italy's timeless heart. Henry Holt, 1999.
Fodor's Exploring Italy. 2nd edition. Automobile Association, 1966.
Lasdun, James and Davis, Pia. Walking and Eating in Tuscany and Umbria. Penguin Books, 1997.
Bonfante-Warren, Alexandra. Timeless Places: Tuscany. Friedman/Fairfax Pub, 1999.
A photo essay.
Duncan, Fiona and Greene, Peter. Central Italy. Trip Planner & Guide Florence, Tuscany, Umbrai, the Marches, Northern Laxio. Passport Books, 1996.
Buckley, Jonathan, Ellingham, Mark, and Jepson, Tim. Tuscany & Umbria, the Rough Guide. 1998.
Useful, opinionated. Good for public transportation and budget travel. I bought this guide!
Sferlazzo, Antonio and Gianetti, Candice. Escape To Tuscany. Fodor's, 1999.
Photo essay.
Facaros, Dana, and Pauls, Michael. Tuscany Umbria and the Marches. Cadogan Guides, 1998.
Excellent detailed guidebook. Good comments on the web from other travellers.
Rick Steves' Italy 1999. John Muir Publications, Sante Fe, New Mexico.1999.
Since it is a slim book and covers all Italy, it is useful only as an overview for Tuscany and Umbria.
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