• TUSCANY •

Tuscany has been the go-to place for first time visitors to Italy for centuries, sometimes sadly, to its detriment. However, if guided by passionate, knowledgeable guides, it is still possible to see Tuscany as it was at the time of the Grand Tour trips. 

In a way, time and the pace of life seem to slow down as you enjoy wine tasting, lodging in old stone farmhouses or rustic, elegant villas. Driving the adorable vintage cars winding their way through the cypress tree-lined roads you can discover the small villages and wine estates. During the summer, like a local partecipate in lively folklore festivals and events such as Siena’s Palio horse race, sitting on the  balcony of an aristocratic palazzo overlooking Piazza del Campo.

Tuscany is perhaps the most beautiful landscape of Italy, where the terrain harmonizes exquisitely with the architecture. The unique way in which the ancient villages are perched on grassy hilltops remains how the great masters of the Renaissance like Leonardo and Verrocchio captured it so many centuries ago. Tuscany is also the land of fine wines and great gastronomy, a reflection of the region’s many distinctive features and diverse inhabitants.

it is both poor and rich depending on the local specialties. The earthly gifts of the farmer’s toil, extra virgin olive oil and the typical bland bread, are the local idyllic complement to decidedly flavorful food. It becomes clear that Tuscany is one of a kind, and the locals are no different. They are known for their proud individuality  and unmistakable accents.

But more than anything, Tuscany is the land of color: the dark silhouette of the pine trees, the green of the olive groves, the burnished soil like Etruscan terracotta, the shade of grey of the pietra serena, the rolling hills of Crete Senesi and their dusty palette of indigo and purple at sunset.