Tuscany attractions

Siena’s National Art Gallery houses a large collection of paintings from the Sienese School, an artistic movement from the 13th and 15th centuries. Peruse paintings and sculpture from the late Middle Ages through the Renaissance at this museum.

Dedicated to one of the greatest minds of the Italian Renaissance, the Leonardo da Vinci Museum (Museo Leonardiano di Vinci) is located in the artist’s Tuscan hometown, Vinci. Interactive exhibits detail his many talents and discoveries, from his influential drawings of the human form to his innovative designs for weaponry, clocks, and flying machines. Nearby, you can visit the countryside house where da Vinci, the original Renaissance man, was born in 1452.

Overlooking Cortona is one of this lovely Tuscan Hilltown’s many architectural treasures, the Santa Margherita Basilica (Basilica di Santa Margherita). The church, with a history dating to the 13th century, boasts an imposing neo-Gothic façade and lavish interior, and the preserved body of its namesake, St. Margaret, still rests within.

The Cathedral complex is among Siena’s top attractions, and it includes both the Duomo and adjacent Baptistery of San Giovanni (Battistero di San Giovanni). Echoing the Cathedral’s Gothic architecture, the stripped-down facade of the baptistery belies its sumptuous interiors, decorated by some of the 15th century's most important artists.

One of Tuscany’s most beautiful sights, the Abbey of Sant'Antimo (Abbazia di Sant'Antimo) is a 12th-century Romanesque church and monastery set deep in the rolling olive groves outside the hilltown of Montalcino in the Val d'Orcia. The abbey is a popular stop during wine tours or day trips through the Tuscan countryside.

Palazzo Davanzati is a mansion-turned-museum in Florence that models what life was like in medieval Italy. Built in the 14th century, the palace contains more than 10 rooms beautifully and carefully decorated with period furniture and frescoes, as well as a courtyard and original stone and wood staircases.

Though Milan is considered Italy’s fashion capital, Florence is home to some of the most historic fashion houses in the country, including shoe designer Salvatore Ferragamo. You don’t have to be a fashionista to appreciate the Ferragamo Museum, where the beauty and craftsmanship of the iconic shoes classify them as works of art, rather than simply footwear.

The Siena Civic Museum (Museo Civico di Siena), housed in Palazzo Pubblico on Piazza del Campo, is one of the most important museums in Siena, with a large collection of frescoes, paintings, and sculptures from the Sienese school and others. The most significant is Ambrogio Lorenzetti's massive 14th-century fresco cycleThe Allegory of Good and Bad Government.

Bustling Via Cavour (officially Via Camillo Cavour) is one of the main thoroughfares in the historical center of Florence. Located just north of the Duomo, the street is lined with restaurants, shops, and important landmarks like Palazzo Medici Riccardi, the Museum and Convent of San Marco, and the Leonardo Da Vinci Museum.

The 15th-century Ospedale degli Innocenti is one of Florence’s most moving landmarks. This Brunelleschi-designed building was home to an orphanage for centuries, and today houses a museum dedicated to the institution’s long history and a collection of works by masters including il Ghirlandaio, Botticelli, and Della Robbia.

The Sanctuary of Monte Senario, one of Tuscany’s most important religious complexes, sits high on a hilltop overlooking the lush Mugello Valley and within the Monte Senario Nature Reserve. Experience the Vaglia woodland and the holy sanctuary, where monks have lived and worked since the 11th-century, on a serene day trip from Florence.

Livorno, one of Italy’s most important seaports, is also home to an excellent aquarium. Kids and adults can enjoy watching marine creatures like zebra and blacktip sharks, Napoleon and angel fish, rays, seahorses, tortoises, and other species of marine wildlife in tanks, tunnels, and touch pools.

Pick up a guidebook of Tuscany’s wild escapes, and you’ll likely come across pictures of Saturnia Hot Springs—also called the Cascate del Mulino or Waterfalls of the Mill—perhaps Italy’s most photogenic natural hot springs. Not to be confused with the spa resort up the road that shares a name and waters, these thermal cascading pools are free to visit.

Located on the Serchio River some 15 miles (24 kilometers) north of Lucca, the Devil's Bridge (Ponte del Diavolo or Ponte della Maddalena) is one of the region’s most striking landmarks. The stone, pedestrian-only bridge dates to the 11th century and was used by religious pilgrims. It’s recognizable for its irregularly shaped arches.

The Church of San Sisto (Chiesa di San Sisto) is one of the oldest in Pisa, and its simple stone facade is an excellent example of early Pisan-Romanesque architecture. Contrast this modest masterpiece with another of Pisa's attractions, the ornate Gothic Duomo, by taking a guided tour of both.

Florence’s central San Lorenzo Market includes two separate markets. One is the Central Market (Mercato Centrale), an indoor food market with a trendy upstairs gourmet food market and stalls selling everything from seasonal produce to Chianti wine and Tuscany's famed olive oil on the ground floor. The other is an outdoor souvenir market that has as many trinkets and affordable souvenirs as leather goods and other Florentine crafts for which the region is known.

One of Europe’s first hospitals, Santa Maria della Scala was endowed by Siena’s wealthiest medieval families, who also commissioned artworks to decorate the building. View the original frescoes and altarpieces inside the chapels and oratories of this historic hospital, now a museum, on a tour of Siena’s most important sights.

Set just off Tuscany’s coast, Giglio Island (Isola del Giglio) has long attracted visitors to its idyllic beaches, quiet coves, and scenic hiking trails. The island, which covers 9 square miles (24 square kilometers), has three small towns and a serene countryside that offers respite from the crowds on the mainland.

Florence’s soaring 19th-century Great Synagogue, or Tempio Maggiore, is one of the largest in Italy and the focal point of the local Jewish community. An architectural marvel, the building features Moorish, Byzantine, and Romanesque decorative elements, plus a striking copper-clad dome that dominates the Florentine skyline. Inside, colorful mosaics and frescoes, ornate marble floors, and stained glass windows make this one of the most unique buildings in the city.

Arezzo is famous for its monthly antique market, the oldest in Italy, that takes over the sweeping Piazza Grande in the heart of the old town. Even those who aren’t on a hunt for antique treasures will enjoy visiting this medieval public square lined with handsome palaces and loggias dating from the 13th to the 16th centuries.

San Frediano is one of the most up-and-coming neighborhoods in Florence’s trendy Oltrarno district, which sits on the opposite side of the Arno River from the Duomo, Uffizi Gallery, and Accademia. Home to the 17th-century Church of San Frediano in Cestello, the quarter is known for its traditional artisan workshops and vibrant food scene.

The 13th-century Torre delle Ore is Lucca’s tallest clock tower, soaring above the historic center and marking the time each quarter hour. Originally a medieval tower house, or private defensive residence, the structure was later acquired by the city and you can now climb its 200 steps for views across the rooftops of Lucca.

Every year in July and August, the shell-shaped Piazza del Campo square in Siena hosts the raucous Il Palio, a historic bareback horse race between Siena’s 17 contrade (town districts), each of which has its own colors, flags, and emblems. The festivities also encompass religious services, pageants, and banquets, which celebrate this age-old Italian tradition that dates back to the early 17th century.

One of Italy’s most famous composers, Giacomo Puccini, was born in Lucca, and his childhood home has been converted into a museum dedicated to his life and work. Music lovers enjoy perusing the collection of photographs, librettos, awards, correspondence, and costumes displayed among the home’s original furnishings.

The Tuscan town of Collodi was the birthplace of Carlo Lorenzini, the writer who dreamed up the world’s most beloved wooden boy. The town is also home to an old-school theme park dedicated to the adventurous hero Pinocchio, which welcomes younger tots with vintage rides and other gentle pleasures from the bygone days of fairy tales.

Set in the heart of Chianti’s wine country, the 13th-century Castle of Meleto is one of a string of defensive castles that once guarded Gaiole in Chianti. The fortress was originally the property of the powerful Florentine Ricasoli family, and today you can tour its frescoed halls and taste Chianti Classico produced in the estate’s vineyards.

Just opposite Lucca’s Cattedrale di San Martino, the Cathedral Museum Complex is home to some of the church’s most precious works of art, from early Renaissance paintings to jewel-encrusted crowns. A must for art enthusiasts, this dazzling collection is testimony to the history and wealth of Lucca’s most important church.

World War II history buffs will be particularly drawn to the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial, one of 26 American military cemeteries on foreign soil around the world. Framed by forested hills, the 70-acre (28-hectare expanse pays tribute to more than 4,000 American soldiers who lost their lives in wars in Italy.

Near Florence’s historic center, this eclectic museum contains Wunderkammer-like collections of art and artifacts amassed by 19th-century antiques dealer Frederick Stibbert. Peruse dozens of rooms stuffed with paintings, tapestries, furnishings, and armor.

Siena is one of Tuscany’s most striking medieval cities, with soaring Gothic churches and lively piazzas—including the historic Piazza del Mercato. Site of the city’s market for centuries, this important square behind Piazza del Campo offers some of the best views in the city center over the surrounding countryside.