Popular Topics

Trip Report

Wine and food tour through Tuscany

Exploring Tuscan villages, amazing food and different local wines. From the medieval towers of San Gimignano to the bistecca alla Fiorentina in Florence, Tuscany has got to offer it all.

willemakker
by willemakkerAtlasGuru Contributor

EuropeItaly4 days / July 2021

Highs & Lows

Renting scooters and driving down the Chianti route is a must!

Without a drivers license it’s near impossible to visit all the different towns.

Itinerary Overview

The first week of our trip we stayed on a camping near Pisa, since there are numerous campings there located near the sea. In this first week, we visited different villages in Tuscany. If you don’t come to Italy by car, you should rent one there in order to visit al the places! The villages we visited are:

  • Pisa
  • Lucca
  • Volterra
  • San Gimignano
  • Greve in Chianti
  • Livorno

Most villages only take a few hours to explore, so you could visit two a day. I’d highly recommend to discover all the local dishes, since they can differ in every town! The 2 must sees are Lucca and San Gimignano. They are both very pittoreske and relaxing villages in the heart of Tuscany. 
 

For the second week we visited Florence. You should definitely take 3-5 days to explore everything this city has to offer you! It has a very rich history, lots of musea and some amazing restaurants. In Florence, you could very easily rent a Vespa scooter and drive down the Chianti route. On this route, all winery‘s are located and you can taste some of Italy’s best wines (but don’t forget you have to drive back!).

  • 1 Night: Lucca
    A beautiful old Italian town with lots of restaurants and shops
  • 4 Nights: Florence
    Florence has got to offer a lot of musea and beautiful gardens.

Q & A

  • What would you have changed?

    Next time I’d take another place to go camping, located more in the center of Tuscany. The beaches near Pisa aren’t that nice and I would have liked to visit Sienna, but the drive was to long for now.

  • How was the food?

    Trattoria dall’Oste, Florence - this is one of the best steak restaurants in the world and perfect for trying Bistecca alla Fiorentina. Osteria Trattoria La Pace, Volterra - one of my favorite restaurants ever. I visited it when I was a kid, and when I returned I asked for the dish I had when I was there for the first time. It wasn’t on the menu anymore, but they were more than happy to make it for me! Incredible family to host the restaurant and I had the best tiramisu of my life there.

  • What tips would you give a friend?

    Definitely try all the different local foods, also if you don’t know them. Italian food always surprises in a positive way, and almost never contains any unexpected ingredients. I’m not really into deserts myself, but in Italy I had tiramisu every single evening. It’s a lot of fun to compare all different tiramisu’s and to become a tiramisu master!

  • Transportation Tips?

    As said before, you should really travel by car to be able to get the most out of your stay in Tuscany! Another option would be to do organized day trips by bus. In that case, it would be best to find a hotel in Florence and start from there.

Lodging