Under the Tuscan Sun tour

ARRIVAL IN FLORENCE According to your flight details, you will arrive in Pisa (PSA) or Florence (FLR).The first one is at about 80 km far from the downtown, while the second is closer, 10 minutes by car according to the traffic.You will meet your driver waiting for you with a signboard, then board on your private car for the transfer to your hotel centrally located.

Overnight in Florence in a 4 star hotel for 7 nights, with breakfast and local city tax included.

FLORENCE Breakfast at hotel. Meet your private English speaking guide at the hotel lobby for a full day walking tour, including a visit to the Accademia, home of Michelangelo’s David and the Palazzo Vecchio, the town hall of the city. It overlooks the Piazza della Signoria with its copy of Michelangelo’s David statue as well as the gallery of statues in the adjacent Loggia dei Lanzi. Originally called the Palazzo della Signoria, after the Signoria of Florence, the ruling body of the Republic of Florence, it was also given several other names: Palazzo del Popolo, Palazzo dei Priori, and Palazzo Ducale, according to the varying use of the palace during its long history. The building acquired its current name when the Medici duke’s residence was moved across the Arno to the Palazzo Pitti. Enjoy a typical lunch at a local restaurant, then meet again your guide to continue the tour visiting the New Opera del Duomo museum, that reopened at the end of October, 2015 after a long period of renovation. The ticket allow you to visit also the Giotto’s Bell Tower, Brunelleschi’s dome, the Baptistery and the crypt inside the Cathedral.

LUCCA AND PISTOIA Breakfast at hotelMeet your private driver and car for a full day excursion to visit the lovely towns of Lucca and Pistoia. Once arrived in Lucca, take your rental bikes for a morning guided tour of the city. Famous all over the world for its perfectly preserved medieval walls, Lucca is a city rich in history and culture. Traces of Roman origins are still visible today, such as the Piazza del Anfiteatro Romano, where building construction in the Middle Ages closely followed the oval shape of the former Roman Ampitheater.Free time for lunch on your own then board on your private car to come back to Florence, with a stop to the town of Pistoia. Although it is not yet as visited as other towns in Tuscany, Pistoia presents a well-preserved and charming medieval city inside the old walls. The large Piazza del Duomo is lined with attractive original buildings, and is the setting (in July) of the Bear Joust (Giostra dell’Orso), when the best horsemen of the districts of the town tilt with lances at a target held up by a dummy shaped like a bear. Come back to Florence and enjoy a dinner at a typical trattoria.

SIENA AND SAN GIMIGNANO Breakfast at hotel. Another full day to discover Tuscany. Meet your private car and driver at the hotel lobby for a morning tour of Siena, where you will find your private guide who will lead you to discover the city. Siena’s heart is its central piazza known as Il Campo, known worldwide for the famous Palio run here, a horse race run around the piazza two times every summer. The Campo is dominated by the Palazzo Pubblico and its tower, Torre del Mangia, and few steps away you will find the Cathedral, a great Gothic building filled with treasures by Pisano, Donatello and Michelangelo as well as frescoes by Pinturicchio. After the tour move towards the town of San Gimignano, the town of fine towers, with a stop to a local agriturismo to enjoy a typical lunch. In San Gimignano will you have free time to walk along the main street in the historical city center and visit the many shops and little restaurants and cafè. You can enjoy a tasty gelato in Piazza della Cisterna, or climb to the very top of the Torre Grossa, the tallest tower in town, to enjoy the best view of San Gimignano ever.In the late afternoon come back to Florence for the rest of the evening

VAL D’ORCIA Breakfast at hotel. Today you will visit southern part of Tuscany: Val D’Orcia. Meet your private car and driver at the hotel lobby and travel towards Montalcino, one of the loveliest little wine villages in Italy. Montalcino is a fabulous place to visit during your tour of Tuscany’s vineyards, as it is home to the famed Brunello di Montalcino, and you will enjoy a visit to a farm wine cellary, following wine tasting and local products. Before heading to Montepulciano, make a stop to Pienza, a tiny Tuscan town with outsized Renaissance architecture and the best pecorino cheese in Italy. Montepulciano is one of the most attractive hills towns in Tuscany and is famous for not just one but two excellent wines, the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Rosso di Montepulciano. While there, you may stop in one of the many little wineries to taste this fabulous wine. After Montepulciano, board on your car to come back to Florence in the late afternoon.

BOLGHERI AND VOLTERRA Breakfast at hotel. Meet your private car and driver for a visit to Volterra, another walled town in Tuscany with medieval and Renaissance buildings, a Roman theater, and Etruscan sites. It’s one of Tuscany’s most evocative hill towns but usually has far fewer tourists than nearby San Gimignano. The main square is one of the most impressive in Tuscany. On the piazza is the 13th century Palazzo dei Priori, the oldest town hall in Tuscany. Also on the piazza are the 14th-century Palazzo Vescovile and the back of the cathedral. Free time for lunch on your own then move towards the Tuscan coast, to reach the town of Bolgheri.Bolgheri is a small village near the Tyrrhenian coast of Tuscany and famous as the birthplace of the poet Giosuè Carducci, and now even more so for its Super Tuscan wines, including Sassiccaia. You will have a visit to a winery including wine tasting with local products. After the visit, relax in the car on your way back to Florence.

FLORENCE Breakfast at hotel. This morning is completely at your disposal to spent some free time in Florence, to buy some souvenir before coming back home as this is the last day of your Tuscan journey. Have lunch at a local restaurant in the city center, then meet your driver and private car for the transfer to a Villa outside Florence for your private cooking class. At the end of the lesson, you will eat what you have prepared with your own hands!

FLORENCE (END OF TOUR) After breakfast you will find you private driver and car for the transfer to Florence airport, to take your flight back home.

Please note: All attraction opening times are correct at time of printing this website. While we will do our utmost to include all of the properties mentioned as central visits, we reserve the right to change an attraction should it become impossible to deliver a planned visit due to changes in opening days or times beyond our control.

Please note that your final day to day itinerary may fluctuate to accommodate variable opening times/days for listed attractions, special events and places of interest. Please discuss your needs with us for an individual itinerary with rate quote.

This tour itinerary is bookable via Special Group Tours, written by partner Italian Discovery