Tuscany > Tuscany Experience

Advantages: Everything for a relaxed, away from it all break.
Disadvantages: Not for small children or those with walking difficulties

Where to start? Pisa airport where my wife and I landed on the start of our Tuscan adventure no frills quick baggage reclaim and out into the glorious sunshine. We decided to take a taxi to our destination instead of waiting for the service bus that runs regularly from Pisa to Lucca. Our driver was unfamiliar with the village of Santa Maria del Giudice, where our apartment was located, but he was friendly and helpful and finally got us there. The ...
...two levels, a kitchen, bathroom and small living room/bedroom with a double bedroom on the mezzanine above. Outside was a small terrace with a table and chairs that was sunlit throughout most of the day. Cozy, comfortable with all that was required to look after oneself. The village itself is just off the main road from Pisa to Lucca and boasts 3 grocer shops, 3 hairdressers, 3 restaurants a sports bar and a pasticceria. A regular bus service runs ... Read review

Advantages: nice city
Disadvantages: I do not know

Below is an article I had prepared some time ago. It is a town to be discovered slowly, wandering the silence of its streets amidst the severe beauty of palazzi whose stones disclose a timeless history. It is shrouded in a unique atmosphere, an indefinable charm, due possibly to the marble which is everywhere. The visitor is pervaded by an infinite candour at the sight of its beauties, foremost among them the Duomo (eleventh-fourteenth century) ...
...in white and dark inlaid marble. The three-naved interior houses works of indubitable artistic value: the fifteenth-century marble statues of the Cassanelle, a fourteenth-century wooden crucifix, the sixteenth-century pulpit and the Bergamini chair-backs. In Piazza del Duomo we can admire the imposing 33-metre belltower built in the thirteenth century and the Fontana del Gigante, an incomplete sixteenth-century work by Baccio Bandinelli. ... Read review

Advantages: Great for food and drink
Disadvantages: Cruise ships obstructing the view

Sadly, most visitors to Livorno are on their way somewhere else. Many cruise liners use this pretty Tuscan port as their quickest route to the well known sights of Pisa, Florence and Siena, and as such the town itself it is almost always neglected by guide books and recommendations. Most tours arrange coaches from the quayside towards the main Tuscan cities; however taking a train from the newly restored station in the town is a pleasant way to ...
...the unpleasant English moniker Leghorn, Livorno has always been a bustling cultural melting pot. The Medici port was known as a free port, meaning traders of all races could live and trade and freely in the city without persecution. This brought a great amount of foreign trade, and a large Jewish community was established. Nowadays, you can see the evidence in the varied restaurants and shops, the art museum, the famous Jewish synagogue and Italy's ... Read review

Advantages: Beautiful!
Disadvantages: No

...Tuscany don't forget to visit San Giminiano. It is really wonderful! • I went there with my boyfriend 3 years ago and we spent 3 days in a special place. Tuscany reagion is beautiful but San Giminiano has got something special. • San Giminiano is a small town. There are a lot of museums and galleries, but the most important attraction is the architecture as well as the atmosphere. • We spent some days here staying at "Le Bifore". ...
...http://www.accommodation-sangimignano.it/camere/bifore/inizio .htm • San Giminiano is well known all over the world for its towers. There are only 15 towers letf but in the past thy were 72. • From car park outside the town walls, you enter in busy streets and shops that creates an unforgettable atmosphere. • If you love Italian food you will find plenty of restaurants and bars in San Gimignano where you can eat anything! • ... Read review

Advantages: Cycling around the city walls
Disadvantages: Parking

...We stayed just outside Lucca in a lovely converted farmhouse with a beautiful pool surrounded by olive and oleader trees and stunning views of the mountains. Lucca itself has the beautiful circular Piazza Anfiteatro at its centre, where 4 or 5 storey terracota and yellow painted buildings curve around enclosing you in another world. Cafe tables around the edge let you sit and watch the world go by. The whole city is surrounded by a huge, very wide ...
...moped riders! Lucca also has a tower with a large tree growing from the top and another even taller tower next to the Duomo San Martino (cathedral). This is a nice place to visit to get away from the heat and bustle and sit and think. The darkness of Italian churches and cathedrals and the smell of insense and candles makes for a very calming experience. Remember to take something to cover shoulders and don't wear shorts...the guide books are actually ... Read review