Winter time is the very best time to appreciate the history and culture of Tuscany without the crowds. If you are staying for a short break the city of Florence is a must, however it is still almost invariably cheaper and easier to fly in to Pisa than Florence airport and take the train or a cheap bus transfer into Florence (about an hour).
Whilst accommodation is cheaper in Florence during the winter, it is still expensive compared to the surrounding regions. If you are staying for more than a couple of days it is better value and more fun to rent a car and a holiday home in Pisa or one of the surrounding villages. Bear in mind the evenings are longer in the winter so consider renting a home with a real fire, and well equipped kitchen where you can try out your culinary skills with fresh local ingredients.
Between November and March it rains heavily in region, although rainy days are usually punctuated with fresh clear chilly days. Check the weather forecast regularly and be prepared to be flexible with your itinerary.
Florence
The Uffizi gallery holds one of the finest collections of paintings in the world. Book well in advance online and exchange your online voucher for a ticket at a separate booth before you join the queue. Allow a day for a first time visit. A cafe is conveniently situated half way round as your feet will need a break.
The Galleria dell'Accademia houses Michelangelo's David and a collection of other paintings less grand than the Uffizi, but still impressive. Again book well in advance online and exchange your online voucher for a ticket before you get into the queue.
The Cathedral
The Cathedral is free to enter. Check the opening times online in advance (no tourist visits are permitted during mass). Take the time to appreciate the unique grand exterior before joining the short tourist queue. The interior is surprisingly plain contrasting the grand exterior. Look up as you leave for the one handed liturgical clock. If you are fortunate the organist may be playing.
In addition to the Cathedral you can visit the Dome, the Bell Tower, the Baptistery, the Crypt and the Opera Museum for a combined ticket price of Ten Euros (At the time of writing the Opera Museum is closed for refurbishment). The Bell Tower and the Dome require the visitor to climb a lot of stairs. Since all must be visited within 24 hours for the combined ticket to be valid, start early and consider packing some provisions which you can eat in the square, since restaurants around the Cathedral are mostly over priced and aimed squarely at the tourist.
Museo Galileo
The history of science museum is a worthwhile visit although likely to appeal to the more technically minded and contains a vast collection of priceless ancient technical instruments in superb condition.
Ponte Vecchio
One of the most iconic sights in Florence; take some time to view the bridge from the side before you cross and appreciate the intriguing construction of the shops, dangling over the water.
Piazzale Michelangelo
If the weather is fine an impressive view of the city is available from Michaelangelo square. The Piazza is visible from the riverside. Cross one of the many bridges and the route is signposted. The walk is steep but should be possible if undertaken slowly by all by the most unfit. At the top is a viewpoint and café. If you are on a budget take your own food since prices are steep.
Tuscany in winter
Pisa
Pisa is famous for its tower but the accompanying Cathedral is much under-rated. Whilst the outside is less glamorous than the Cathedral in Florence, is it arguably more sublime and the inside is truly spectacular. Visiting the site on a clear evening is particularly romantic since the white stone glistens in the moonlight and since the site is not a throughfare like Florence, in the evenings it is almost free of tourists.
It is possible to visit just the Cathedral for free, but if you have a bit more time you have options to visit four other monuments: Baptistery, the Monumental Cemetery, the Opera del Duomo Museum and the Sinopie Museum. You can climb the leaning tower for 18 Euros (book ahead) but you may feel that, given the price, viewing from outside is sufficient. The other monuments can be booked on a more reasonably priced combined ticket. Simply indicate at the office which monuments you wish to visit. The cemetery and the baptistery are particularly impressive.
The Jewish cemetery lies just outside the walls, a short walk from the Tower and is one of the most ancient burial grounds still in use. It is open Monday mornings and Wednesday afternoons.
On the other side of wall beyond the Cathedral site is a cluster of restaurants designed with tourists in mind. Unless you are truly famished, save your money for some of the excellent restaurants in the centre of Pisa, bear in mind however that most local restaurants have well defined opening hours - for lunch about 12-2 and for an evening meal from 7-10. Outside of these hours snacks are available but any meals served are likely to be aimed squarely at tourists.
Marina di Pisa
The Pisa Marina, set some distance from the town and best reached by car is deserted during the winter, although you will find one or two cafes and a restaurant on the front open at lunchtime serving local workers. On windy days the front is lashed with spectacular waves which, combined with the wide empty streets of attractive shuttered houses make it an atmospheric spot for contemplation.
Viareggio
Viareggio, Tuscany's seaside resort, holds a Carnival on diverse days in February and has a good range of clothes stores which make it worth a visit just for shopping, even in the rain. In January the sales are very aggressive and it is possible to get a bargain on quality winter wear since Italians want to look stylish even when wrapped up warm. The wide promenade is well populated even in the winter and a walk on the beach can be pleasantly bracing.
San Giuliano Terme
If the weather is truly awful, a day spent at the thermal baths between Pisa and Lucca is a good choice. You can choose from afternoon (30 euro) or evening sessions (40 euro), the afternoon sessions tend to be less crowded.
Basilica of San Piero a Grado
The church is held to be on the site where the Apostle Peter landed on his trip from Antioch to Rome and where the first altar on Italian soil was built. Numerous frescos can be seen inside. It contains a rebuilt altar to Saint Peter.
Villages
Take a drive through the villages of Buti, Calci, Cascina, Vecchiano and Vicopisano, situated a short drive from Pisa. Each has beautiful and ancient architecture. You can visit all of the villages in one or two days, but they are best seen in clear weather.
Cinque Terre
A day trip out of Pisa is the cinque terre, 5 picturesque costal villages, built into the hillside. The villages are unreachable by road - either take a train from Pisa, or park at La Spezia and take a train. It is possible to hike above the villages but only recommended in good weather. The whole area is a UNESCO world heritage site.
General tips for your trip to Tuscany in the winter:
-Check the weather reports regularly and plan inside and plan your itinerary accordingly.
-Wrap up warm and bring an umbrella
-Drink Italian thick hot chocolate which is truly superb.
-Remember that it will get dark early, so plan your evenings in advance.
-Bring a good camera
-Remember that good Italian restaurants tend to be open 12-2 and 7-10, anywhere open outside these hours is likely to be for tourists.
After visiting Tuscany, nothing will ever be the same
Tuscany is the term of comparison for future travel stories. Here's a story that you feel you have to live out for many years after you've left, that's where nostalgia was born.
Tuscany in winter
If we had to write an entire article just about Pisa, we would find it in great difficulty. But we can summarize this phrase: in Pisa you find a Dome Market, where there is a white marble cathedral and a tilted tower, a Knights Square, and a Santa Maria della Spina Church, but if you want to get your pictures well In which you try to turn the tower, it is good to visit Pisa early in the morning, maybe the very last day, on your way to the airport, otherwise it will be hard for you to be the only Hercule in the picture.
About Florence there are many things to say. First, it is an ultraturistic city, being also the capital of the Tuscan region, but also of the Italian Renaissance. Although, despite the fact that the tourists with the cameras on either the Arno River or the Duomo bridges in all parts, there is still something in the medieval air of the city. And that, however much you want to avoid crowded places, the historic center of Florence deserves to be step by step.
Perhaps the most beautiful city views you can admire from the Duomo Santa Maria del Fiore, the definition of the Gothic architecture, made by Filippo Brunelleschi. Here, on the Dom, lovers are kissing behind, with a backdrop of vision, but they are not too much state because they are so much to visit in Florence. Of course, it's the famous Galleria degli Uffizi and the Galleria dell'Accademia, the museums that make it look like true art is no longer just for the privileged, that the access to the works of some of the greatest Renaissance painters and sculptors is a bagatelle.
Wherever you go, you have a Giotto with Ognissanti Madonna, a Masaccio, and the birth of Venus, Botticelli, a da Vinci, a Titian (all at Galleria degli Uffizi) And, of course, Michelangelo's agony and ecstasy: David (at the Galleria dell'Accademia).
One of the moments when you congratulate you for renting a car is when you want to visit the authentic medieval village of San Gimignano, full of history and a fascinating architecture. That's because there is no station in San Gimignano, a village in the province of Siena, and to get here you have to change several means of transport.
Walking on the streets of the fortress, among the 14 towers of stone, of different heights, gives you greater satisfaction at sunset, when the sun is no longer hot, when every corner, however hidden, smells of fresh flowers and when the local specialties flavors It stimulates more than ever the hormone of hunger. At the time, the dinner deserves to get to Volterra, a mountain town in the province of Pisa. The car leaves it outside the city and then you go up to the historic center, but it will not hurt you.
From the entrance, Volterra welcomes you with one of the most picturesque buildings: one-story buildings with brick roofs that seem to look at the valley 555 meters below them. Then you are immersed in the old, winding streets of the Etruscan times, and you can even have some of the walls surrounding the fortress built in the 5th-4th centuries before our era, including Porta dell'Arco and Porta Diana, and the Acropolis, which houses The foundations of two ancient temples. Palazzo dei Priori is the oldest town in Tuscany, the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta houses other works of art by Andrea della Robbia, Mino da Fiesole, Benozzo Gonzzoli and Andrea Sansovino, and the Ecomuze demonstrates why Volterra is also called the alabaster city .
Also on the streets of Volterra were several scenes from the series with great success to the audience "Twilight" / "Twilight". On a terrace like Ristorante da Beppino you can eat a unique specialty: pappardelle alla lepre, pasta with rabbit meat, drink a glass of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo (if there is time, you can also visit the town of Montepulciano in southern Tuscany, Famous for cheese and pork specialties here, but also for world-famous vineyards).
Probably all the stories that start with "It was Once ..." were inspired by life in Siena. There is no other way. Sure, and the center of Siena, declared by UNESCO World Heritage Area, is one of Italy's most important tourist attractions, annually visited by more than 150,000 tourists. Still, especially if you visit Siena during the week, you will not feel overwhelmed.
You will be able to eat the best pizza right in the central square, Il Campo, at a reasonable price, and make friends with the Romanian naturalized staff from the terraces in the area. Even the beginnings of this magnificent city are shrouded in a story: it seems to have been founded by Senius, the son of Remus, one of the two founders of Rome, explaining why the symbol of Sheena is the wolf. But Siena is a whole dictionary of symbols. The city on three hills has in its heart the former Roman Forum, Il Campo, paved with red brick arranged in such a way to suggest the Virgin Mary's cloak that protects the place. This top canvas is best seen on the Torre del Mangia, part of the Palazzo Pubblico (the city hall of Siena), or on the Duomo di Siena.
The rivalry of the 17 contractors Ripped like any form of modern organization, Siena is divided into neighborhoods, the so-called "counter". Each contractor has its own flag, represented by an animal or a mascot, has distinct borders and identity. The symbols of the contradictions are found everywhere in each neighborhood, on the walls, on the lanterns. But in cathedrals and churches, the area of each counter is well-defined with colored flags. There are 17 contractors in Siena, of which we mention only a few: Aquila / Eagle, Bruco / Omida, Chiocciola / Snail, Giraffa, Leocorno / Unicorn, Lupa / Lupoaica, Oca / Gâsca and Torre / Turnul.
Contrades were born in the Middle Ages, when Siena had to supply troops of soldiers committed to defending the city's independence in front of Florence. Each neighborhood has its own museum, its own well, motto, an ally (only the Goose has no ally) and an opponent. The rivalry between Siena's neighborhoods is never more intense than during the Il Palio horse race. Twice a year, July 2 and August 16, Il Campo competes against the best jockeys of each contractor. She dresses in the colors of the neighborhood, climbs on a horseless saddle, and encircles at the dizzying speed of the Virgin Mary's cloak.
The competition consists of three rounds of Campo, which usually last no more than 90 seconds. Not many times, the jockeys are thrown aside by harsh horses, and even the tourists who are gathering in a very large number can be injured. The first rider who finishes the race receives a silk banner painted by local artists, called "palio". As a rule, the winning contractor celebrates in bars for one month thereafter. The loser is not considered the last jockey, but the one who came second.
The most successful contractor at Palio is Goesca, with 63 wins, followed, paradoxically, by Melc and Turtle. Outside of the competitive season, one can observe the traditions of all contradictions in religious processions. Each neighborhood has one or more young representatives, wearing the colors of the counter and waving the flag, but also shouting the specific motto.
Beautiful places in Italy
Italy enjoys both a great natural wealth and a spectacular architecture and the combination of the two makes "boots" a highly acclaimed tourist destination. We present the following lines some of the most beautiful places in Italy .
Tuscany in winter
beautiful places in Italy: Positano, Campania
High on the Amalfi Coast, Positano town is one of the favorite tourist resorts in Campania, not least because it offers exceptional landscape
beautiful places in Italy: Cinque Terre
Italian Riviera offers many beautiful landscapes, but a special place Cinque Terre - a formation of five cities built on the coast that are protected by UNESCO.
beautiful places in Italy: Venice
One of the most visited tourist destinations in the world, Venice is almost magical at sunset, especially if seen from a gondola.
beautiful places in Italy: Florence
Florence she probably does not need too many entries, but the view from the vantage point of Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral city architecture show in all its glory.beautiful places in Italy: San Pellegrino PassIn northeastern Italian Alps San Pellegrino Pass is located, where you can find facilities for skiing and climbing and breathtaking landscapes
beautiful places in Italy: Erice, Sicily
On Mount Erice in Sicily is a homonym little village full of medieval ruins. The landscape is changing rapidly from the mountains to the coast in an impressive show of the Sicilian landscape.
Places in Italy: San Gigmignano, Tuscany
Tuscan town is, in fact, a common medieval high on a hill - and the scenery on offer is impressive. Inside the village, surrounded by an old rampart, there are many tourist facilities
