How to Spend One Week in Tuscany
One week is not nearly enough time to fully experience a region as large and culturally rich as Tuscany, but oftentimes it’s hard to escape the office for much longer than seven or eight days. While you can’t visit all the medieval villages or taste all of the best wines in one week, if planned well, you can put together an unforgettable itinerary.
Choose a Home Base in the Tuscan Countryside
Many people will choose to jump around from town to town, staying in multiple different hotels/Airbnbs over the course of a week, and that’s a perfectly fine strategy. Spending the night in multiple locations allows you to stay out later and more deeply experience each place you stay. It also involves constantly packing/unpacking, checking in/out of hotels, so you never feel 100% settled. We’ve done our fair share of these types of always-on-the-move road trips, and they’ve always been great, but the Tuscan countryside is really the perfect place to settle in and call home for a week. We found that choosing a centrally-located home-base in the countryside allowed us to see and do everything we wanted via day-trips and outings, while also giving us an incredibly scenic, relaxing place to retreat to each afternoon/evening.
We stayed about 30 minutes south of Siena in the small town of Murlo, on the edge of the beautiful Val d’Orcia. This area is quintessential Tuscany, with rolling hills lined with grape vines, medieval farmhouses, and cypress trees. Siena is more or less the geographic epicenter of Tuscany, so nothing was outside of a reasonable driving radius from our remote Airbnb. The farthest we ever had to drive was 1.5 hours to Florence, but most of our outings were within an hour drive. While some of the roads (particularly those near our Airbnb) were winding and narrow, overall the driving was very manageable…except for that one time when we got temporarily stuck in a ditch while pulling over to take a picture of a sunflower field, but that’s another story for another time.
On days that we spent in some of the busier tourist spots like Florence and San Gimignano, it was nice to come home to a quiet, private farmhouse, complete with our own swimming pool and incredible sunset views over the Tuscan hills. The Airbnb host even cooked us dinner a couple of times, and the food was as good if not better than anything we ate in Italy. It made for what felt like a more authentic Tuscan experience than staying in a hotel. Not to mention, if you’re traveling in a group, renting out one of these rural villas or farmhouses ends up being very cost effective.
Spend (at least) One Day in Florence
No trip to Tuscany is complete without a visit to the region’s capital city. As the birthplace of the Renaissance, few places in the world can boast Florence’s depth of artistic and architectural history. You really need a few days to fully appreciate all that Florence has to offer, but one day is enough time to realistically visit the famed Uffizi Gallery, tour the Duomo, and spend some time exploring the city.
Spend a Day in Siena
While not nearly as large or busy as Florence, Siena is one of the other must-visit cities in Tuscany. Wandering the narrow alleyways between medieval buildings dating back to the early 14th century is like stepping back in time. The Piazza del Campo is the heart of the city and makes for the perfect place to relax and have lunch or a glass of wine. If you aren’t afraid of heights and are up for a bit of a workout, climbing the Torre del Mangia is the best way to view the city and surrounding countryside from above.
Experience the Local Cuisine with a Cooking Class
Out of all of our amazing experiences in Tuscany, the cooking class we booked through Airbnb Experiences might have been the highlight. Hosted by Cristiana and “Mama Nora” at their beautiful home outside of Siena, the cooking class was an unforgettable experience from start to finish. Using fresh ingredients from their garden, we made homemade ravioli, tagliatelle, bruschetta, and tiramisu…and it was all delicious. While a full-day cooking class may sound too long, there was never a dull moment and Cristiana was an extremely fun and entertaining host. A cooking class (particularly this one) was the perfect way to experience the local food and culture in a more genuine and intimate setting than simply eating at a restaurant.
We noticed that many locals are starting to catch on to the Airbnb Experiences trend and offering classes that allow visitors to get to know the local culture. We booked a truffle hunting class in Chianti which unfortunately got rained out, so we ended up replacing it with a pecorino cheese making class at a farm just outside of Grosetto. If you have the time, these types of experiences are a great way to learn more about the culture and interact with local families.
Visit Some of the Medieval Towns
This is where you’ll have to make some choices. Tuscany is full of medieval towns and villages, each of which offers its own unique perspective on the region’s history and culture. Unfortunately one week is not enough time to visit them all. Besides, if you try to visit too many of them in such a short period of time, they’ll start to blend together in your head at a certain point. It’s best to pick a few to focus on. We visited and can recommend the following:
Montalcino: Stunning hill town located in the Val d’Orcia, surrounded by a sea of vineyards and wineries. The area is known for its Brunello and many enotecas in town offer wine tastings. Not quite as busy as some of the other popular towns in the region but just as beautiful and interesting.
San Gimignano: Known for its stately medieval towers, San Gimignano is one of the most popular spots in Tuscany after Florence and Siena. While it can get very crowded in the summer, it is an incredibly impressive city that is absolutely worth visiting. Like Montalcino, the surrounding area is full of vineyards. On a hot summer day, you can stop for some world-champion gelato (literally) at Gelateria Dondoli. You might need to wait in a long line, but it’s worth it.
Monteriggioni: The walled town of Monterigionni is small and relatively quiet compared to the likes of San Gimignano. Due to its size, it only requires a short visit. The highlight is walking along the top of the walls that surround the town.
Other towns that we did not visit, but that are widely considered to be in the upper echelon of Tuscan towns include Montepulciano, Lucca, Cortona, Pitigliano, and Volterra.
Do a Wine Tasting
If you can’t find good wine in Tuscany, then I don’t know what to tell you. You can’t go wrong in Montalcino, Chianti, or Montepulciano…or really anywhere in Tuscany for that matter. Many of the larger vineyards offer organized tours and tastings, but we’d recommend simply popping into random vineyards along the road outside of towns like Montalcino or San Gimignano. The scenery is tough to beat and the smaller less commercial vineyards offer a much more laid back wine tasting experience.
*We obviously do not condone drinking and driving. We always made sure to have a designated driver in our group, and would encourage others to do the same. There are also several organized wine tasting tours that will drive you to various vineyards.
Take in the Scenery in the Val d’Orcia
The Val d’Orcia is what everyone thinks of when they picture Tuscany. The valley extends from Monte Amiata to the hills just south of Siena. This area, known for its picturesque landscape, is the perfect place to stay in the Tuscany countryside, but it also makes for a scenic drive if you’re just passing through.
Itinerary
We’d recommend not overplanning or trying to cram too much into one week. Part of the beauty of Tuscany is the relaxing atmosphere, so it’s best not to ruin that by spreading yourself too thin. A rough itinerary could looks something like this:
Day 1: Settle in and explore the area immediately around where you are staying; find some good wine and food and relax
Day 2: Full day in Siena
Day 3: Cooking Class
Day 4: Visit Montalcino and some of the nearby vineyards
Day 5: Visit Monteriggioni and San Gimignano
Day 6: Full day Florence
Day 7: Free day; Do whatever you feel like you’ve missed. Maybe you haven’t done enough wine tasting or you want to visit another medieval village…or spend a second day in Florence