Tuscany, with its spectacular hill towns and scenery, is one of Italy's top vacation destinations. Tuscany's travel attractions include historic cities and art, great wine and food, medieval hill towns, beaches, and beautiful countryside.
Florence - Firenze
Florence Picture: Ponte Vecchio by Martha Bakerjian
Florence is one of the most important Renaissance architectural and art centers. Its Duomo and Baptistery are magnificent but crowded with tourists as is their large piazza. Florence has several interesting museums with many famous paintings and sculptures. There are also Medici palaces and gardens.
Siena
Siena Picture: Piazza del Campo by James Martin
Siena is a classic medieval hill town in Tuscany famous for its large fan-shaped piazza, Piazza del Campo, and summer horse-race, known as Il Palio. Siena's tall bell tower, Torre del Mangia, dominates the Piazza del Campo. Siena offers other good tourist sites including its cathedral and museums.
San Gimignano
Tuscany Picture: San Gimignano by James Martin
San Gimignano, known as the City of Beautiful Towers, is a classic medieval walled hill town in Tuscany, famous for its 14 surviving medieval towers creating a beautiful skyline visible from the surrounding countryside.
Lucca
Tuscany Picture: Lucca by Martha Bakerjian
Lucca is a walled city with one of the best-preserved walls in Italy. Atop the walls are walking and bicycling paths and gardens, allowing you to walk completely around Lucca's historic center. Lucca has several well-preserved towers from where you can get fabulous views of the city by climbing to the top. Lucca is a good city for food shopping and restaurants.
Pictures: Lucca from Giunigi Tower
Pisa
Tuscany Picture: Pisa's Baptistery by James Martin
Pisa, in northern Tuscany, is famous for its leaning tower but Pisa has much more to offer the traveler, including its medieval center, beautiful Duomo and Baptistery, parks, statues, the homes of Lord Byron and Shelley, and a walk along the river.
Cortona
Tuscany Picture: View from Cortona by James Martin
Cortona is the Tuscan hill town made famous by Francis Mayes in her book Under the Tuscan Sun. Cortona is surrounded by Etruscan walls, around 3000 years old, and retains much of its history through its architecture, layers of history built upon the Etruscan core. Cortona has stately buildings, interesting medieval architecture, beautiful views, and a large ex-pat community so you'll find lots of English spoken.
