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Area Fiorentina, the Surrounding Area of Florence

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Mugello Area Fiorentina, the Surrounding Area of Florence

Covoni in Mugello. CC Image by Giuseppe Moscato (Flickr).

By ALEIX GWILLIAM

Travelling to Florence is not just about seeing the city itself but the whole region that surrounds the city, also known as Area Fiorentina. Aside from Florence itself, the Area Fiorentina is comprised of five regions with plenty of different cultural, historical and gastronomical attractions. Mugello, Montagna Fiorentina, Valdarno, Chianti and Empolese Valdelsa are easy accessible by car or bus from many Florence apartments.

Mugello is a valley in the northeast of Florence filled with beautiful little towns surrounded by gorgeous green landscapes. This is the original land of the Medici family, loved among those who look for silence and countryside. The towns of Borgo San Lorenzo and Barberino di Mugello are particularly worth a visit due to their beauty and buildings of cultural and historical interest. Lake Bilancino is also a highlight of this area along with Trebbio Castle. Expect for these places, long walks in the countryside and forests make it a joy for nature lovers.

East of Mugello is Montagna Fiorentina, an area that stands out for its beautiful natural landscape. Vineyards and olive trees in the valleys of mountains and hills make this an excellent place for nature enthusiasts. The Foreste Casentinesi National Park and the Forest of Sant’Antonio have beautiful walking paths that attract hikers.

Further south is the smallest region of Area Fiorentina, Valdarno, which follows the river Arno along the valley. The town of Figlino de Valdarno is a 12th century town with beautiful roads that border the river. Religious tourism is the main attraction of Valdarno, with small churches and parishes dating from the 11th to the 16th century, such as those in the town of San Giovanni Valdarno or Incisa.

Tuscany Area Fiorentina, the Surrounding Area of Florence

A Tuscany delight. CC Image by Edgar Barany (Flickr).

To the west of Valdarno is Chianti, a name that will ring a bell to wine lovers, since this is the origin of Chianti wine. Of all the regions, Chianti is possibly the most beautiful with all the picturesque towns surrounded by vineyards. Castles, churches, monasteries, cottages and villages line the roads that lead to Florence, the old roads taken by pilgrims that arrived in the city from Italy and other parts of Europe. Tuscan cuisine is especially good in Chianti, so sample it in the villages of San Casciano or Impruneta.

Finally, there is Empolese Valdelsa, southwest of Florence, a land of castles and romanesque and renaissance architecture, with many castles and churches scattered across the green landscape. Medieval towns filled with buildings and museums of historical and gastronomical importance, such as Certaldo, Castelfiorentino or Montespertoli, make this part of Tuscany ideal for history lovers.

Although you’ll be on the road discovering the beauty of Tuscany and Area Fiorentina, it will pay off to choose one of the price-worthy apartments in Florence as a base for your trip.

The Via Aurelia, from Rome to Pisa

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Civitavecchia The Via Aurelia, from Rome to Pisa

Pirgo by Night. CC Image by Daniele Liberati (Flickr).

By ALEIX GWILLIAM

Rome provides a great starting point for various day trips that take you to places with a lot of history as well as offering a beautiful landscape. One drive is to follow the old Via Aurelia, the road from Rome to Pisa, built in the year 241 BC. The road goes along the Italian West Coast, a beautiful 200 mile trip, and today, the Italian motorway SS1 uses the same route. The Via Aurelia is an excellent choice for a day out during your stay in Rome apartments.

The road leaves from the Western part of the city, not far from The Vatican. After 18 miles you come across the town of Cerveteri, which was one of the most important Mediterranean commercial centres for over 200 years, from the 7th to the 5th centuries BC. Cerveteri was an Etruscan village, and although it’s not by the sea today, it used to be at the time. In Museo Nazionale di Cerveteri you can see all sorts of Etruscan remains and treasures that were taken from the Banditaccia Necropoli. The necropolis is laid out as a village with Etruscan huts and tombs.

Past the port of Civitavecchia, where you can get ferries to Spain, Sardinia, Corsica and France, you will find Tarquinia, another famous Etruscan centre, which holds one of the best archeological museums in Italy. The town is alleged to have been founded in the 12th century BC, and it also holds a necropolis. After Tarquinia, the road goes a bit inland and you can enjoy the change of scenery before it returns to the coast at the town of Orbetello.

The combination of Italian countryside and sea with villages on cliffs and tempting beaches makes the road a real joy to drive. If hunger kicks in, you can drive a few miles up the road to the town of Grosseto. Ideal for lunch to sample delicious Tuscan cuisine and try the typical schiaccia, an oven-baked bread with herbs. In Grosseto you can also visit its famous Medicean Walls, its 13th century cathedral or its many beautiful palaces.

After lunch, the beautiful drive up to Pisa goes past beaches such as Follonica and quiet towns like Castagneto Carducci, perfect for an afternoon’s coffee in the shadow of its cobbled piazzas. Less than an hour up the road you get to Pisa and its famous tower.

Consider renting apartments in Rome before your trip, then get behind the wheel and enjoy the western coast of Italy.

Aleix Gwilliam is a 24-year-old from Barcelona who looks English but thinks like a Catalan. He enjoys travelling, especially on old Czech trains, and trying to start conversations in Hungarian with people at Pecs station, even though his Hungarian is as good as his Bulgarian, in other words, not very good. He’s a trier.

The Beauty of Italy: From the Alps to Amalfi

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Before visiting Rome, consider Rome City Apartments to make the most of the Italian capital.

Dolomites The Beauty of Italy: From the Alps to Amalfi

View of the Dolomites in north-eastern Italy.

By NISHA BASHIR

Nature has graced Italy with a natural beauty, from its majestic snowcapped mountains to its exquisite white sand beaches, lush rolling hills and plains, and stunning sea vistas. Steeped in history and culture, from antiquity through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to modern times, Italy is a country that is rife with unparalleled art and architectural masterpieces. Italy boasts forty-four world heritage sites, more than any other country in the world, twenty-three national parks, nearly five hundred nature preserves and over seventy-six hundred miles of shoreline hugging the peninsula and the islands.

As you travel through Italy, you’ll discover that each region has its own unique beauty, charm and culture. In the country’s northern regions lie the awesome mountain peaks of the Alps and the Dolomites interspersed with alpine valleys dotted with ancient castles. In this part of the country you’ll find breathtaking glacial lakes including the jewel-like Lake Como, surrounded by elegant villas, terraced gardens and picturesque towns. The cities of Bologna, Milan, Turin, Verona and Venice are all located in the north, the county’s most populous area. Considered by many to be the most beautiful city in the world, the floating city of Venice sits on a collection of one hundred and seventeen tiny islands in the Venetian Lagoon; its buildings are architectural wonders amid a network of waterways.

In Central Italy lies the region of Tuscany. With its fertile land, craggy, winding paths and terraced vineyards, it is the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance. It gave the world such great talents as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli, Puccini, Galileo, and Dante. Tuscany’s walled city, Lucca, is a bastion of medieval charm which dates back to the dark ages. In the middle of the country you’ll also find the cities of Florence, Siena, Pisa, Lucca and Italy’s capital, Rome. In this area lie the majestic remnants of the great Roman Empire, which ruled much of the world for hundreds of years. With more than twenty-five hundred years of history, Rome is a treasure trove of historical sites; the Coliseum, the Parthenon and the Via Appia, where you can stroll along the road where the Roman armies marched two millennia ago. There are frescoes, paintings and statues everywhere, not in the least of which is Michelangelo’s masterpiece that adorns the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City.

Amalfi coast The Beauty of Italy: From the Alps to Amalfi

The Amalfi coast.

Southern Italy sports some of the country’s most beautiful beaches and the romantic Amalfi coast. Here you’ll find the Mt. Vesuvius, Italy’s active volcano along with the ruins of Pompeii, the city that lay buried under ash for fifteen centuries. The city of Naples, originally a Greek colony, has witnessed the rise and fall of many civilizations, evidence of which can be found in the city’s art and architecture. Off the coast, you’ll find many islands, the largest of which are Sardinia and Sicily.

Italy is a country of contrasts and spectacular beauty that charms all those lucky enough to visit and keeps them coming back time and time again.

Nisha Bashir works as the editor for Holiday365 and has been representing the business for the last two years now. Holiday365 offers some great deals in the UK, why not pay them a visit to see the latest deals, holiday365.co.uk.

A Luxurious Tuscany Vacation

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By ESCAPIO.COM

Tuscany is one of the most culturally rich areas in the world with no end of entertainment choices. Along with an exciting mix of culture, sights and activities, there’s plenty of space to get away from it all and relax, and it’s no wonder there are so many fabulous Tuscany hotels ensuring it remains a firm favorite year after year.

Argentario Junior Suite A Luxurious Tuscany Vacation

Argentario Golf Resort and Spa

A wonderful, independent, true haven for the sophisticated traveler in search of that perfect Tuscan experience. Located near Porto Ercole, this five-star resort is 160 km from Rome and surrounded by traditional Italian olive groves. You enter this designer hotel through a stunning reception area, where a spiral staircase winds upwards into a glass dome. The rooms provide a breathtaking vista over the waters of the Ortabello Lagoon and the whole hotel is swathed in original photographic, picturesque and design art – it’s quite a feast for the eyes! The hotel has its own 18 hole championship golf course, fully equipped spa and luxurious gourmet restaurant. The Feniglia and Gianella beaches are close by, or maybe you fancy a trip to a local vineyard. One of the best ways to enjoy a relaxing and enchanting tour of the local area is to ask reception to book you a ride in a horse drawn carriage.

Borgo Bagnia A Luxurious Tuscany Vacation

Borgo La Bagnaia

This independently owned five-star establishment is nestled in the green, rolling hills just 12 km from the beautiful hill top town of Siena. The spa hotel has 71 rooms and prestigious clientele return here year after year to take advantage of the luxurious comfort, fine cuisine and superb personal service. If you feel like splashing out, how about staying in the Presidential Suite which offers accommodation on two floors and unparalleled views of the verdant Tuscan countryside. There is an on-site stable, a fully equipped spa and the hotel hosts regular medieval banquets. Make sure you don’t miss the stunning, visual experience of the city of Siena. In mid August they hold The Palio, a frantic horse race which gallops to its frenzied conclusion in the main town square.

These are just a couple of the many delectable hotels, agriturismos, B&Bs to guarantee a stylish and revitalizing stay surrounded by the beautiful Tuscan landscape.

On Escapio.com, these Tuscany hotels are amongst the unique luxurious and historic hotels in Italy and beyond available for booking online.

Escape to Tuscany

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tuscany hills Escape to Tuscany

World-renowned for its natural beauty, Mediterranean climate and rich cultural past, Tuscany on central Italy’s west coast is one of the countries most popular tourist regions. Tuscany holidays invite the traveller to a region which is considered in one breath with the Italian Renaissance and can boast of immense historical significance, particularly in the context of the arts and sciences. It enjoys enduring popularity with visitors who love culture during the day and traditional Tuscany accommodation at night.

Having been home to arguably the most famous collection of artistic and scientific talent the world has ever seen, including Michaelangelo, Botticelli, Dante, Leonardo Da Vinci and Galileo Galilei, when taking Tuscany holidays one can delight in a cultural experience that is second to none. The region’s immense cultural and artistic heritage is expressed in its countless churches, palaces, art galleries, museums, villages, piazzas and, of course, the unique Tuscany accommodation. On Tuscany holidays there is much to see in the main cities of Florence and Siena, but also in smaller surrounding villages such as San Gimignano.

Florence receives an average of 10 million visitors a year, making it one of the most visited cities in the world and a favourite amongst those on Tuscany holidays. Alongside the city’s historic centre, which has been designated a World Heritage Site, the region around Florence contains museums and art galleries housing some of the world’s most famous and valuable works of art. Such museums include; the Uffizi, which holds the best collection of Renaissance art in the world, including Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, the Pitti Palace and the Bargello. The museum also hosts entrancing street performers at night.

The original statue of David, Michelangelo’s unique masterpiece, is in the Galleria dell’Accademia delle Bella Arti in Florence. For those visitors who are more interested in science, the Institute and Museum of History of Science, located on the Piazza dei Giudici, contains 5,000 items from the Medici collection of apparatus and scientific instruments. When visiting Tuscany, accommodation in Florence is easy to arrange, with the city boasting great hotels and idyllic farmhouse properties found just outside in the rolling Tuscan landscape.

Many of Tuscany’s frescos, sculptures and paintings are also held in the region’s churches and cathedrals, concentrated in Florence, Siena and Pisa, which also boasts the infamous leaning tower and the Collegiata di San Gimignano. The small rural town of San Gimignano boasts a beautiful church square surrounded by ancient towers visible from miles away. When searching for Tuscany accommodation, one can stay in quaint old hotels or book a farmhouse or villa in the surrounding countryside. Tuscany is also famous for its outstanding wine, including the well-known region of Chianti along with nearby Montalcino and Montepulciano. When considering how to book Tuscany accommodation outside of the main cities, many visitors find renting rooms or properties in the countryside to be a great option and easily found online.

8 Sights to Visit in San Gimignano

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Gimignano 8 Sights to Visit in San Gimignano

By VICTORIA IME

San Gimignano has very ancient origins. The city already existed in Etruscan times, a few centuries before Christ, and was called Velathri. In the following centuries the city was conquered by the Romans and then by the Lombards. But the heyday of San Gimignano was the Middle Ages. It was indeed located in a strategic position on the Via Francigena, which was the main way for travelling at the time. In this period the city reached its zenith, and the famous towers that today constitute the symbol of the city were built.

Recently, art treasures and the beauty of the city have been rediscovered, making it important enough to be recognized as World Heritage by UNESCO. To truly appreciate the city, consider these top sights:

A Walk Through the City

1. Piazza del Duomo

San Gimignano has over the centuries retained the ancient medieval structure. The main square, Piazza del Duomo, is overlooked by buildings of great architectural and artistic value such as the Duomo, the Twin Towers, the Palazzo del Podestà, the Tower “Rognosa” and the Town Hall. A short walk from Piazza Duomo is the Piazza della Cisterna, a square named after the octagonal well in travertine which is located in the centre of the square. In the Middle Ages, this square was the shopping and entertainment centre of the city and housed shops and taverns.

2. The Duomo or Collegiate Church of San Domenico
Built around 1100, this building contains so many works of art that it can be considered a proper museum. The church has three naves, decorated with frescoes of the Sienese and Florentine schools, with authors such as Benozzo Gozzoli, and adorned with precious statues and sculptures, including some of Jacopo della Quercia. In the Chapel of Santa Fina Domenico Ghirlandaio, a famous Florentine painter painted the “Comunicazione della morte” and the “Esequie di Santa Fina”.

3. The Towers of San Gimignano

In medieval times San Gimignano had over seventy towers of which today there remain only 15. The most important include the tower called “Rognosa” in the Palazzo del Podesta, the twin towers of Ardinghelli, and the tower “Grossa” in the Palazzo del Popolo. This is the highest tower in the city and offers a splendid panorama of the Elsa valley and the Apuan Alps to the mountains of Pistoia.

4. The Town Hall

Formerly the mayor housed the Town Hall. It now houses the civic museum and the art gallery, full of masterpieces by Pinturicchio, Benozzo Gozzoli, Pier Francesco Fiorentino, and many others. The Town Hall houses also the room containing the Majesty of Dante by Lippo Memmi.

5. The Rock of Montestaffoli
The Rock Montestaffoli was built on the hill Montestaffoli around 1350. The fortress was built with the same stone used for the walls and has an irregular trapezoid shape. The tip of the trapezoid is outside the walls and the still existing two square towers offer a wonderful landscape.

In the Surroundings

San Gimignano is a city completely surrounded by the countryside, planted with olive groves and vineyards and dotted with villages of ancient origin.

6. Castellina (in Chianti, 29 km)
 Castellina, one of the most important villages of Chianti, is of medieval origin and famous for producing wine and oil.

7. Radda (in Chianti, 40 km)
Radda in Chianti is a medieval town that still retains its imposing walls. The village preserves the medieval layout with narrow alleyways.

8. Monteriggioni (25 km)
Monteriggioni is a castle that hasn’t changed over the centuries. Entering the main door means going back a thousand years. There is a large square overlooked by a little Romanesque church, a few houses, some artisan shops and restaurants. The second door of the castle is actually a vantage point among the finest in the area. Even this view is worth a visit.

Victoria Ime works for magicoftuscany.com, a travel site dedicated to holidays in Tuscany. She likes travelling around Italy and writing something about visited places at the end of each trip. Another great passion is reading travel tips by fellow travelers.

Where the Wine is Divine: Top 10 Grape Destinations

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grapes Where the Wine is Divine: Top 10 Grape Destinations

TripAdvisor®, the largest travel community in the world, recently announced the top ten wine destinations in the world. Bordeaux, Napa Valley and Tuscany secured the top three spots, followed by Champagne-Ardenne and Australia’s Barossa Valley.

“In addition to supplying some of the finest wines to the world, these destinations offer visitors outstanding hotels, restaurants and wine tours,” said Michele Perry, vice president of global communications for TripAdvisor.

1. Bordeaux, France

An incredible wine-tasting experience awaits visitors to France’s Bordeaux region, one of the world’s most sough-after wine destinations. Its vineyards produce everything from table wines to the costliest bottles in the world.

2. Napa Valley, California

Each year, millions of wine enthusiasts travel to Napa Valley to enjoy sensational wine and stunning scenery. With an ideal Mediterranean climate, the valley is home to nearly 400 wineries that offer a variety of grapes, from Zinfandel to Cabernet Sauvignon.

3. Tuscany, Italy

A magical location to taste the local “vino”, the Tuscany province of Italy combines natural and historic beauty with unique vineyards and cuisine. Renowned for its reds like Montalcino and Chianti, Tuscany is one of the most renowned wine destinations and a true delight for the senses.

4. Champagne-Ardenne, France

With carefully tended vineyards in the midst of a striking landscape, the Champagne region is famous for the much-loved sparkling white wine that shares its name.

5. Barossa Valley, Australia

Highly praised for its beautiful surroundings and robust varieties of red wine including Shiraz, Barossa Valley in Southern Australia is a terrific destination for both sightseers and wine connoisseurs.

6. La Rioja, Spain

Because of the delicious vanilla flavors and the oak aging, Spain’s most well-known wine region offers especially characteristic wines. Acknowledged for its exceptional reds, La Rioja is divided into three areas: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa, and Rioja Baja.

7. Sonoma Valley, California

Featuring picturesque towns, gorgeous surroundings and well-attended vineyards, the Sonoma Valley was nicknamed the “Valley of the Moon” by once Sonoma local and celebrated writer Jack London.

8. Valle Central, Chile

The Curicó’s chardonnays and the Maipo Valley’s cabernets attract wine lovers from both near and far away. Set among the Andes Mountains and Pacific Ocean just outside the capital Santiago, the Valle Central is an internationally acclaimed wine destination.

9. Stellenbosch, South Africa

With more than 100 wine cellars to visit, Stellenbosch belongs to the Cape Winelands region and is home to one of South Africa’s most popular wine routes.

10. Marlborough, New Zealand

Recognized for its adorable Sauvignon Blancs, Marlborough is widely seen as New Zealand’s birthplace of winemaking.