Tuscany attractions

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.

Science buffs of all ages marvel at the array of scientific and mathematical instruments at Florence’s Galileo Museum (Museo Galileo). Check out clocks, globes, and barometers commissioned by the Medici family, as well as the telescope that Galileo Galilei used to make some of his most important discoveries. Interactive exhibits demonstrate these objects’ inner workings and their lasting contributions to science—all in an 11th-century palazzo overlooking the Arno River.

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.

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.

In most Italian cities—and even some outside of Italy—you’ll find a Via Cavour, named for Camillo Benso di Cavour: a key architect of Italian unification and the modern Italian state. Florence is no exception, and its Via Cavour runs from just north of the Florence Duomo (Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore) past the San Marco Museum to Piazza della Libertà. The street is a practical route linking the Duomo and the northern areas of Florence, featuring a mix of shops, cafés, and historic architecture.

Palazzo Davanzati is a mansion-turned-museum in the heart of Florence, offering a glimpse at 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. Daily guided tours are included within the admission price.

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.

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.

It’s shoes, shoes, everywhere in the small basement museum of Palazzo Spini Feroni, the historical HQ of the Ferragamo designer. Floor-to-ceiling displays flaunt original Ferragamo shoes that have become works of art in their own right, and collectively tell the story of the shoemaker-stylist and his brand’s influence on footwear around the world. Highlights include décolleté stilettos made for Marilyn Monroe, and an original cork wedge heel, patented in the 1930s.

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.

Italy is famous for its fashion and design, and some of the world’s most popular luxury clothing and home decor brands come from this stylish country. If you love Italian style, visit Tuscany’s Barberino Designer Outlet to shop for designer brands from Italy at a deep discount. Just 30 minutes from Florence, you’ll get all the names you covet for up to 70 percent off.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

South of the Arno River, across the river from splashy big-ticket attractions like the Duomo, Accademia, or Uffizi Gallery, Florence gets quieter and a whole lot more beatnik. Throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods, the Oltrano neighborhood was known for its craftspeople and artisan workshops. Today, it holds onto that legacy with art galleries and studios, antique shops, and vintage clothing boutiques. San Frediano in particular is where Oltrano veers off the beaten track.

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.

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.

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.

This cemetery in the Tuscan hills, spanning 70 acres (28 hectares), is the final resting place of more than 4,000 US soldiers who were killed during World War II. Its central area is covered with white crosses and small flags that mark the graves of the fallen, who mostly lost their lives in northern Italy and the Apennines after the 1944 liberation of Rome.

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.

Florence’s San Lorenzo Market includes two separate markets. One is the Central Market (Mercato Centrale), an indoor food market with a trendy gourmet food court upstairs 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 market brimming with touristy trinkets and affordable souvenirs as well as high-end leather goods and other Florentine crafts.

Filippo Brunelleschi, a founding father of Renaissance architecture, designed the loggia of the Ospedale degli Innocenti before completing the famed Florence Duomo, giving the hospital a legitimate claim as the “first” building of the Renaissance. Originally conceived as Europe’s first orphanage, the Ospedale now hosts a museum dedicated to its history, featuring its own frescoes and artworks, along with a rooftop terrace café. Often nearly deserted, it remains one of Florence’s most underrated attractions.

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.

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.

The Livorno Cruise Port (Livorno Terminal Crociere), a busy shipping terminal set on the Tuscan coast, serves as a gateway to this famous Italian region and its capital city of Florence. With few attractions of its own, the port city of Livorno is primarily a jumping-off point to explore the Tuscan cities and countryside.