Things to do in Tuscany: the places to visit, by type of trip

Things to do in Tuscany: where to start

If this is your first trip, the short answer is Florence, Siena, Pisa and San Gimignano, plus a day in the countryside between Chianti and the Val d'Orcia. These are the best places to visit in Tuscany for a first look, and almost everything can be booked on the official sites, which are often cheaper than the platforms. Two things need booking ahead: the Leaning Tower of Pisa, which has time slots, and the dome of Florence's Duomo, which has a dated, timed ticket. Tours and platforms are useful mainly for transport: without a car, rural Tuscany is hard to reach.

Below, Tuscany's attractions are grouped by type. If you prefer a ranking, see our top 10.

Art cities

Florence. You need at least two full days. At the Uffizi a ticket costs €25 if you buy it on the day and €29 if you buy it in advance; in the afternoon, from 16:00, it costs less. Brunelleschi's dome has no ticket of its own: you can only climb it with the Brunelleschi Pass at €30, which also includes the bell tower, the Baptistery and the museum. The David is in the Accademia, €20 plus €4 for the booking. Everything else is on the page about Florence.

Siena. Piazza del Campo is free and always open. What you pay for is the Duomo complex: the OPA SI PASS costs €14, or €16 when the marble floor is uncovered, normally from late June to late July and from mid or late August into autumn. The Torre del Mangia cannot be booked: tickets are sold only on the day, in slots of 25 people. Details are on the page about Siena.

Pisa. The Tower and the Duomo cost €20 on the Opera della Primaziale's site, with a fixed time and the rule that children must turn 8 within the year of the visit. The Duomo on its own is free, but you need a timed pass that can only be collected at the ticket office. The square takes half a day; the rest of the city, including the Lungarni along the river, deserves a few more hours. See Pisa.

Lucca. The walls form a 4.2 km ring you can walk or cycle, with no cars. In the centre are Piazza dell'Anfiteatro, built over the ruins of the Roman amphitheatre, the Duomo di San Martino with the Volto Santo, and two towers to climb: the Guinigi, with holm oaks growing on top, and the Torre delle Ore. Each costs €8. See Lucca.

Arezzo. Piero della Francesca's Legend of the True Cross, in the Basilica of San Francesco, is seen in groups of 30 people for half an hour. It can only be booked online and at least three working days ahead; it is closed on Wednesdays. On the first Sunday of the month and the Saturday before it, Piazza Grande hosts the Fiera Antiquaria antiques fair. See Arezzo and Cortona.

Borghi and hill towns

The borghi, Tuscany's hill towns and villages, are among the most visited tourist places in the region, and several of them are sights in their own right.

San Gimignano. About 14 of its medieval towers survive, and the centre has been a UNESCO site since 1990. The San Gimignano Pass at €15 covers the frescoed Collegiata and the Torre Grossa, the tallest tower; it is valid for three days. There is no railway station: you arrive by bus from Poggibonsi. See San Gimignano.

Pienza and Montalcino. Pienza is the "ideal city" that Pope Pius II had rebuilt in the 15th century around Piazza Pio II. Montalcino is the home of Brunello, with its Fortezza and the abbey of Sant'Antimo a few kilometres away. Both are on the page about the Val d'Orcia.

Montepulciano. It lies in the Valdichiana, not in the Val d'Orcia UNESCO site, even though almost every tour includes it there. From April to early November you can climb the tower of the Palazzo Comunale (€5) and see as far as Lake Trasimeno and Monte Amiata. Beneath the houses are the historic cellars of Vino Nobile. New Moon was filmed here, although the story is set in Volterra.

Volterra. This is the city of the Etruscans and of alabaster. The Museo Guarnacci holds hundreds of cinerary urns and the statuette known as the Ombra della Sera ("Evening Shadow"). The Volterra Card at €23 is valid for 72 hours and covers the museums, the Roman theatre and the acropolis; it pays off from the third site onwards. There is no direct bus from Florence. See Volterra and Elba.

Cortona, Monteriggioni, Pitigliano, Certaldo. Cortona sits on top of a hill above the Valdichiana, with the Museo Diocesano and its Fra Angelico works. Monteriggioni is a ring of 13th-century walls, mentioned by Dante in the Inferno; only part of the walkway on the walls is open today. Pitigliano is built on a tufa cliff and has a synagogue from 1598. Certaldo Alto, Boccaccio's town, is reached by train and funicular. The other villages are on the page about the borghi.

Wine areas

Chianti Classico. It covers about 70,000 hectares between Florence and Siena, with Greve, Panzano, Castellina, Radda and Gaiole. The SR222 Chiantigiana road runs through almost all of them. At the larger estates tastings must be booked: to give you an idea, Antinori's Tinaia Tour, with three wines, costs €50. If you are driving, remember that the alcohol limit is zero for drivers under 21 and in the first three years after passing the test. See Chianti.

Montalcino and Montepulciano. Brunello is 100% Sangiovese. The "five years" you keep hearing about is the rule for when it can go on sale, not the time in the barrel, which is at least two years. In Montepulciano the historic cellars can be visited right in the town centre. Organised trips and options with a driver are on the page about wine tours.

Vernaccia di San Gimignano. It is remembered as the first Italian wine to be awarded DOC status, in 1966, and you can taste it in town or at the estates around it.

Coast and islands

Versilia. From Viareggio to Forte dei Marmi the beach is almost entirely paid beach clubs, with few free stretches. In winter there is the Viareggio Carnival, where children up to 1.20 m tall get in free. In Carrara you can visit the marble quarries, inside the tunnels or by jeep. See Versilia.

The Maremma. The Maremma Park has beaches without facilities and paid trails at €5 or €10; in summer almost all of them can only be walked with a guide. From June to September Cala Violina admits at most 700 people a day, with compulsory booking at €1. See Maremma and Saturnia.

Elba and Giglio. Elba is about an hour by ferry from Piombino. In Portoferraio you can visit Napoleon's residences, with half-day opening hours that alternate between the two villas. For Giglio, boats leave from Porto Santo Stefano.

Cinque Terre. They are in Liguria, but they are a popular day trip from Florence. The Via dell'Amore can only be walked in one direction and with a booked time slot; the Manarola–Corniglia section of the Sentiero Azzurro is closed. See Cinque Terre.

Hot springs and spas

The Cascate del Mulino at Saturnia are free and open day and night, with water at about 37 °C. The paid thermal park next door starts from €30 a day. Bagni San Filippo and Petriolo are free too.

At Bagno Vignoni bathing is forbidden, both in the pool in the square and at the Parco dei Mulini: you can only dip your feet in the channels.

The paid spas easiest to reach by train from Florence are at Montecatini, about 50 minutes away. At Chianciano the Theia pools close on Tuesdays. The full comparison is on the page about thermal baths.

Nature and parks

The Apuan Alps and the Garfagnana. The Grotta del Vento has three routes, from one to three hours, at 10.7 °C all year round. The Antro del Corchia is visited in two hours with a guide and a shuttle. The Orrido di Botri is a gorge you walk up through the stream bed, open only in summer, with a helmet required.

The Casentino Forests. The national park is free to explore, with Camaldoli, the sanctuary of La Verna and the source of the Arno on Monte Falterona. For families there are also the Pinocchio Park at Collodi, Pistoia Zoo and the Livorno Aquarium. See caves, parks and the aquarium.

Experiences and activities

For activities you book in advance, partner prices start from these figures:

Truffle hunting takes place all year except in May, but white truffles are only hunted from 10 September to 31 December. Balloons fly only at dawn, and the pilot decides the day before whether the flight goes ahead. For shopping there are the outlets, for the big shows the exhibitions, and everything else is on the page about experiences. Partner prices change often, and we check them regularly.

Getting around Tuscany

By train

All the regional lines pass through Florence Santa Maria Novella. Regional fares are fixed and do not go up if you buy at the last minute. Paper tickets must be validated; digital tickets validate themselves at the departure time.

By bus

All the buses in the region, both urban and intercity, are run by Autolinee Toscane (at-bus.it, "at bus" app). Many guides still mention the old companies, but they no longer run the service. In the cities a ticket costs €2 and is valid for 90 minutes in Florence and 70 in the other provincial capitals; bought on board it costs €3. You can also pay with a contactless card: on intercity buses you must tap it both when you get on and when you get off, otherwise you pay the fare to the end of the line. The useful routes are the 131R express to Siena, the 365 to Greve in Chianti and the 130 from Poggibonsi to San Gimignano. In the countryside many services run only on school days: check the timetable before you set off.

By car, and the ZTL

A car is needed for Chianti, the Val d'Orcia, the Maremma and Saturnia. The main roads are the A1 motorway, which runs past Florence towards Arezzo, the Florence–Siena road and the FI-PI-LI, both toll-free. Almost all historic centres are a ZTL, a limited traffic zone with cameras. In Florence the main sectors are active Monday to Friday from 07:30 to 20:00 and on Saturdays until 16:00. Each unauthorised entry can cost €83 to €332, and with a hire car the fine usually arrives months later, with the rental company's admin charges on top. Park outside the walls; if your hotel is inside the ZTL, have it register your number plate.

Tourist tax

Each municipality sets its own. In Florence it ranges from €3.50 to €8 per person per night depending on the category, normally for the first 7 nights. In most other tourist towns it is a few euros a night and is paid directly at the accommodation, often in cash.

Without a car: organised day trips

For the countryside, a day tour from Florence solves the transport problem. The most popular covers Pisa, Siena and San Gimignano in about twelve hours. The limit is time: you get about two hours in Siena, an hour and a half in San Gimignano and an hour in Pisa. The full comparison is on the page about day trips.

Tuscany day trips from Florence on Tiqets