Top Things to Do in Tuscany

Tuscany packs more beauty, art, and culture into its 23,000 square kilometres than most entire countries. This is the region that gave us the Renaissance, Dante, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Brunelleschi's dome — yet its greatest attraction might be the landscape itself: cypress-lined roads, silver olive groves, vineyards rolling to the horizon, and stone hill towns that haven't changed in 500 years.

Whether you have three days or three weeks, this guide covers the essential experiences — from museum masterpieces to wine country drives, medieval festivals to thermal springs. Every experience pairs perfectly with an eco hotel booked through IMPT, where every booking removes 1 tonne of CO₂ at the same price as Booking.com.

Culture & Masterpieces — Florence

Uffizi Gallery

The Uffizi is one of the world's greatest art museums — and for good reason. Housed in a 16th-century palace designed by Giorgio Vasari (the corridor connecting it to the Pitti Palace across the Arno was built so the Medici could walk between palaces without mixing with commoners), the Uffizi's collection charts the entire sweep of the Italian Renaissance. Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera are the undisputed stars — Venus rising from her shell is one of the most recognisable images in Western art. But Leonardo's Annunciation, Caravaggio's Medusa, Raphael's Madonnas, and Titian's Venus of Urbino are equally breathtaking.

Practical tip: Book timed-entry tickets at least 2-4 weeks ahead (€25, uffizi.it). The first slot (8:15am) and late afternoon (after 4pm) are quietest. Allow 3-4 hours minimum — the collection is enormous. The rooftop café has views of the Palazzo Vecchio tower. The Uffizi is closed Mondays.

Accademia & Michelangelo's David

The Galleria dell'Accademia is effectively a shrine to Michelangelo's David — and the sculpture justifies the devotion. Carved from a single block of Carrara marble between 1501 and 1504, when Michelangelo was just 26, the 5.17-metre statue of the biblical hero was originally intended for the Duomo's roofline but was placed in the Piazza della Signoria instead (a replica now stands there). The original has been indoors since 1873. Seeing David in person — the subtle contrapposto stance, the oversized right hand, the veins visible in the marble — is a genuinely moving experience. The Accademia also holds Michelangelo's unfinished Slaves, emerging from their marble blocks as if fighting to be born.

Practical tip: Book online (€16, galleriaaccademiafirenze.it). Lines for walk-up tickets can exceed two hours in high season. The museum is small — 90 minutes is sufficient. Closed Mondays.

Duomo & Brunelleschi's Dome

Florence's Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore — the Duomo — dominates the city. Its terracotta dome, engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi between 1420 and 1436, was the largest brick dome ever built and remains the largest masonry dome in the world. Brunelleschi invented new hoisting machines and construction techniques — no wooden centering was used — and his rivals thought it would collapse. Climbing the 463 steps to the top is a rite of passage: the narrow, sloping corridors between the inner and outer shells give way to a vertiginous view across Florence's terracotta rooftops to the hills beyond. The interior fresco of the Last Judgement (by Vasari and Zuccari) is one of the largest paintings in the world.

Practical tip: The Brunelleschi Pass (€30) includes the dome climb, bell tower, baptistery, museum, and Santa Reparata crypt. Book online at least 1-2 weeks ahead (duomo.firenze.it). The 463 steps are steep, narrow, and not for claustrophobics.

Iconic Landmarks — Pisa & Siena

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

Yes, it's touristy. Yes, everyone takes the same photo pretending to hold it up. But the Leaning Tower is genuinely spectacular — and the entire Piazza dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles), where it stands alongside the cathedral, baptistery, and monumental cemetery, is one of Italy's most breathtaking architectural ensembles. The tower, the campanile of Pisa's cathedral, began leaning during construction in 1173 due to unstable subsoil. It was closed from 1990 to 2001 for engineering work that reduced the lean from 5.5 degrees to just under 4 degrees — stabilising it for at least another 200 years.

Practical tip: Climbing the tower costs €20 and must be booked in advance (opapisa.it). Slots are timed; children under 8 are not permitted. The cathedral is free but requires a timed ticket from the ticket office. Allow 3-4 hours for the full Piazza dei Miracoli experience. Pisa is an easy day trip from Florence (1 hour by train) or Lucca (20 minutes).

Siena's Piazza del Campo & Duomo

Siena is Florence's great medieval rival — a city of narrow winding streets, towering Gothic architecture, and one of the most beautiful public squares in the world. Piazza del Campo is fan-shaped and brick-paved, sloping gently toward the Palazzo Pubblico, whose 102-metre Torre del Mangia offers panoramic views across terracotta rooftops to the Chianti hills. The Palio horse race — a bareback, 90-second adrenaline explosion around the piazza — runs twice each summer (July 2 and August 16) and defines Sienese identity.

Siena's Duomo is one of Italy's great Gothic cathedrals — striped black and white marble (the city's colours), with an interior of astonishing richness. The Piccolomini Library, frescoed by Pinturicchio, is a small room of overwhelming beauty. The inlaid marble floor — 56 panels of biblical and allegorical scenes by 40 artists over 200 years — is uncovered in full only from late June to July and late August to October. The Baptistery, with its hexagonal font by Donatello, Ghiberti, and Jacopo della Quercia, is a Renaissance sculpture masterpiece.

Practical tip: The Opa Si Pass (€20, operaduomo.siena.it) covers the cathedral, Piccolomini Library, baptistery, crypt, and museum. The 'Gate of Heaven' rooftop tour (extra fee) offers close-up views of the cathedral's mosaics. Allow a full day for Siena, or an overnight stay to experience the piazza in the evening.

Wine Country — Chianti, Montalcino & Montepulciano

Chianti Classico Wine Route

The Chianti region between Florence and Siena is Tuscany's most famous wine country — a landscape of vineyard-covered hills, stone farmhouses, cypress avenues, and hilltop villages that look like Renaissance paintings come to life. The Chiantigiana (SR222) is one of Italy's most beautiful drives, winding through Greve, Panzano, Castellina, Radda, and Gaiole. The black rooster (Gallo Nero) on a wine label indicates Chianti Classico — the historic heartland.

Wineries range from tiny family operations to the grand estates of Castello di Brolio and Castello di Verrazzano. Most offer tastings from €15-30, often including a tour of the cellars and estate olive oil. Book ahead for smaller producers. Combine wine tasting with lunch at a countryside trattoria — Dario Cecchini's Officina della Bistecca in Panzano is an unforgettable (and meat-heavy) experience. Allow a full day for the Chianti route, or base yourself in the region for 2-3 days.

Brunello di Montalcino & Vino Nobile di Montepulciano

South of Siena, the hill towns of Montalcino and Montepulciano produce two of Italy's most celebrated red wines. Montalcino's Brunello — powerful, age-worthy, and made from a Sangiovese clone — is one of Italy's great luxury wines. The town itself is a fortified medieval hilltop with sweeping views and enoteche (wine bars) offering tastings by the glass. Montepulciano, perched on a ridge of volcanic tufa, produces Vino Nobile — softer than Brunello with notes of plum and leather. The town's Renaissance architecture is magnificent, and many wine bars occupy ancient cellars carved into the rock beneath the streets. Both towns are in the Val d'Orcia, a UNESCO World Heritage landscape.

UNESCO Landscapes — Val d'Orcia & Hill Towns

Val d'Orcia

South of Siena, the Val d'Orcia is Tuscany at its most photogenic — gentle hills topped with cypress clusters, isolated stone farmhouses, and the distinctive Crete Senesi (grey clay badlands) that look like a lunar landscape in summer. The entire valley is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The cypress circle near San Quirico d'Orcia is one of the most photographed spots in Italy — two concentric rings of cypress trees on a hilltop. The Chapel of the Madonna di Vitaleta, a tiny stone chapel on a hill near the same town, is another iconic image. Pienza, the 'ideal Renaissance city', was rebuilt by Pope Pius II in the 15th century — its main street leads to a balcony with views across the entire valley.

The Val d'Orcia is also home to Tuscany's best thermal springs. Bagno Vignoni has a central piazza that is a giant thermal pool (swimming is nearby, in the Parco dei Mulini, not in the piazza itself). Bagni San Filippo has the 'White Whale' — a surreal formation of white calcium deposits with hot waterfalls and free pools in the woods. Saturnia's Cascate del Mulino, in the far south near the Lazio border, has free thermal pools in a series of terraced travertine basins — particularly atmospheric at sunrise or under a full moon.

San Gimignano

The 'Medieval Manhattan' — a hill town famous for its 14 surviving medieval tower houses (there were once 72). The towers were status symbols built by rival families in the 12th and 13th centuries. San Gimignano is undeniably touristy — day-trippers flood the main street — but stay overnight and the town transforms after dark, when coaches leave and the medieval lanes fall quiet. Torre Grossa, the tallest surviving tower, offers panoramic views. The Collegiata church contains vivid fresco cycles of the Old and New Testaments. And the gelato at Gelateria Dondoli (a world champion gelateria) genuinely lives up to the hype — try the Vernaccia sorbet made from the local white wine.

Lucca's Renaissance Walls

Lucca is one of Italy's most charming small cities, encircled by 4.2 km of intact Renaissance walls built between 1504 and 1645. The walls were never tested in battle and were converted into a tree-lined park in the 19th century — today they're Lucca's communal living room, where locals jog, cycle, walk dogs, and picnic under plane trees. Rent a bike and cycle the full circuit (30-40 minutes at a gentle pace). The oval Piazza dell'Anfiteatro follows the shape of a Roman amphitheatre. Climb the Guinigi Tower — with holm oaks growing on its roof — for views across terracotta rooftops to the Apuan Alps. Lucca's cathedral contains the Volto Santo, a wooden crucifix said to have been carved by Nicodemus. The city is also the birthplace of Puccini — his childhood home is a museum, and there are daily Puccini concerts in the church of San Giovanni.

Coast & Islands — Maremma & Elba

The Maremma Coast

Tuscany's southern coast is a world away from the Renaissance cities — wild, windswept, and far less developed than its northern counterpart. The Parco Regionale della Maremma (also called Parco dell'Uccellina) protects 100 km² of coastal wilderness with hiking trails through Mediterranean maquis, pine forests, and empty beaches. The Argentario peninsula — once an island, now connected by sand bars — has chic fishing villages (Porto Ercole, Porto Santo Stefano) and the exclusive Hotel Il Pellicano on its cliffs. Castiglione della Pescaia is a classic seaside town with a medieval hilltop centre and long sandy beaches. The Maremma is also home to the butteri — Tuscany's traditional cowboys — and Etruscan ruins at Roselle, Vetulonia, and Populonia. Far fewer international tourists make it this far south, making it a rewarding area for those who do.

Elba Island

Napoleon's island of exile is Tuscany's largest island and a destination in its own right. Reachable by ferry from Piombino (1 hour), Elba has over 150 beaches — from sandy bays to granite coves — clear waters for snorkelling, and a mountainous interior with hiking trails. Napoleon's two residences (Villa dei Mulini in Portoferraio and Villa San Martino) are open to visitors. The island is popular with Italian holidaymakers in July and August but quiet in shoulder seasons. A car is useful for exploring the beaches, though a scooter suffices for the east coast. Two to three days is ideal for a first visit.

Suggested Itineraries

3-Day Tuscany: The Essential

• Day 1: Florence — Uffizi (morning), Duomo climb (afternoon), aperitivo at Ponte Vecchio
• Day 2: Day trip to Siena — Piazza del Campo, Duomo, lunch on the piazza
• Day 3: Pisa (morning, Leaning Tower) and Lucca (afternoon, cycle the walls)

7-Day Tuscany: The Classic Tour

• Days 1-3: Florence — Uffizi, Accademia (David), Duomo, Oltrarno, Fiesole viewpoint
• Day 4: Chianti wine route — Greve, Radda, Castellina, wine tasting, countryside lunch
• Day 5: Siena — Piazza del Campo, Duomo, evening stroll through the contrade
• Day 6: Val d'Orcia — Pienza, San Quirico cypresses, Montepulciano wine tasting
• Day 7: San Gimignano (morning) and Lucca (afternoon), or Pisa to close the loop

14-Day Tuscany: The Full Experience

• Days 1-4: Florence with day trip to Fiesole or a Chianti wine tour
• Days 5-7: Chianti countryside — base in Greve or Radda, explore villages and wineries
• Days 8-9: Siena — two nights to experience the evening piazza
• Days 10-11: Val d'Orcia — Montalcino, Pienza, thermal springs, cypress landscapes
• Days 12-13: Maremma coast or Elba Island — beach time and seafood
• Day 14: Return via Lucca and Pisa, or fly from Pisa Airport (PSA)

Frequently Asked Questions