Posts Tagged ‘websites’
Wine Travel Guides comes to Tuscany: a review
If you’re an enthusiastic wine-tourist, or would like to be, you need to meet Wine Travel Guides. The venture was launched in 2007 to offer wine lovers the essential information for planning a private wine tour. There are now 50 regularly updated micro-region guides to download or view online, including 2 new ones on Tuscany. It’s a well-timed expansion: the region was recognised this month for excellence in wine tourism.
An annual subscription offering unlimited access to all 50 guides is £49, or download a single guide for £7.50.
The two Tuscany mini-guides are packed with just the sort of detailed wine tourism information likely to be missing from a mainstream guidebook. Author Michèle Shah has an impressive pedigree in Italian wine, and shows it off with plenty of winemaking and DOC(G) knowledge. There’s just the right portion of technical nuggets for a proper enthusiast. Read the rest of this entry »
What to do in Florence
Giotto's campanile, Florence
It’s easy to get overwhelmed in a city like Florence when you touch down for the first time. A top-10 hitlist is a great way to ease the inevitable sight-anxiety, and one of these days I’ll get round to writing one. While you’re waiting, check out the Top 10 Things to Do in Florence at WhyGo Italy.
Of course, I disagree with many of them. For starters, I never leave town without at least one trip up to the Romanesque basilica of San Miniato al Monte. The place is one of Florence’s (rare) contemplative corners, and plugs right into my love of all things pre-Renaissance. I blame Ruskin’s The Nature of Gothic (well worth a read, by the way, for anyone interested in Tuscan architecture).
Visiting (and discussing) Florence is like that. It’s impossible to agree on the ‘best bits’, and no matter how long you’ve allowed for your stay, you’ll depart with the feeling you’ve missed something amazing—and you probably have. But you can always come back.
Mind the gap: Tuscan rail stations to avoid
Like much of Italy, Tuscany is well served by the state railway system (Ferrovie dello Stato). One of the tours in my new guidebook shows you how to see the best of it by rail in a week or so. But there are a few stations where you definitely don’t want to get off the train.
1 Pisa Centrale
Okay, that’s a little unfair… Pisa Centrale is the place to alight if you’re heading into central Pisa (and there’s much to recommend it). But if you’re planning a quick turismo tour of Piazza del Duomo—a.k.a. the Campo dei Miracoli—you’ll find yourselves with a long, hot walk to reach first base. Get off at Pisa San Rossore instead and you’re just a couple of minutes away.
2 Prato Centrale
Tuscany’s second city is a perfect day-trip from (or antidote to) Florence, but don’t get off at Prato Centrale for the sights clustered round the Duomo. Alight at Prato Porta al Serraglio station, and the Lippi frescoes, the Virgin’s Girdle and the rest of it are just a couple of minutes’ walk down Via Magnolfi.
3 Firenze Campo di Marte
Unless you’re heading to a Fiorentina game, there probably isn’t any reason for you to be at Florence’s suburban station. Almost everything to see in the city is accessible from Firenze Santa Maria Novella. If you find yourself at Campo di Marte (say, off the night train from Paris), take any of the short rail interconnections, or city buses 12 or 33 from the street outside.
4 Montepulciano
Tuscany’s highest hill-town supposedly lies “on” the Siena–Chiusi secondary rail line, but the station is nowhere near Montepulciano (about 6 miles away). There’s a local bus connection that theoretically hooks up with the train timetable, but, hey, this is Italy… If you’re heading to Montepulciano (and you should), take the Tra.In bus.
5 Siena
The Gothic city of Siena is another that you’re best visiting by bus, especially from Florence. Trains are regular, but long and slow, and sometimes require a change at Empoli. Then they dump you in Piazza Rosselli, 15 minutes by bus north of central Siena. Use the rapido bus operated jointly by Tra.In and SITA and alight at Piazza Gramsci, 5 minutes’ walk north of the Campo.
There are, though, plenty of Tuscan towns that are ideal for rail-tripping. Aside from Florence, obviously, Lucca and Viareggio have good connections combined with stations just a short walk from the action. Arrive at Arezzo and you’re just a short stroll downhill from the Piero della Francesca frescoes.
If you’re travelling by rail, remember to validate your ticket before boarding, by inserting it into the yellow machines marked “convalida” on every platform. Local trains are cheap: if you’re touring just in Tuscany for most of your trip, you won’t get value from a pre-paid rail pass. Ticket machines are (almost) idiot-proof, and trips are easily planned in advance on the superb Trenitalia website.
Enjoy.
UPDATE: My Bella Vita has more tips on hassle-free Italian rail travel.
Trip-planning feedback for Tuscany and Umbria
It’s always pleasing to hear that our book is filling the trip-planning holes we intended. Of course, it was very nice to be judged the Best Guidebook of 2008 by travel industry insiders. And it’s equally nice to be written about by a real family planning an actual trip to Tuscany this summer:
They [the With Your Family series] have … all of the family friendly travel information you require. They give star ratings for attractions plus recommended ages (and I’m impressed by the fact that they have suggestions right from babies through to teenagers). There are highlights and must-see attractions. There are accommodation options for families from ultra-expensive through to economical (for which they provide price guidelines not just $$$ or $). I love the special icons they have – find, moment, value, overrated and green. Plus they include reviews of playgrounds and parks which are very important to families!
That’s all true. There are some great books in the series. I’ve found Rhonda Carrier’s companion guides to Brittany and Normandy especially handy. For Frommer’s Tuscany and Umbria With Your Family, we considered every single one of those factors when researching and writing the book. Much of my (grown-up) research was then road-tested by unforgiving under-5s. It’s gratifying that family travellers are finding it a useful tool in planning a trip to Tuscany and Umbria. I’m always pleased to hear from readers. Your feedback can help make any future new edition, of this and my other books, even better. Thanks.
Taking You Back to Tuscany
Just back from Tuscany? Pining for the place? Not even a little? I know I am.
This website combines Google Maps and 360 degree panoramic photography to give you a real sense of being in 15 different spots across the region. There’s even a bit of Umbria – Perugia and Assisi – thrown in for good measure.
I especially love this internal panorama of the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte, in Florence. The Romanesque basilica, just uphill from Piazzale Michelangelo (see the book, p. 61), is one of the few city spots you can find a bit of peace, even in high season. On p. 63 of the book we recommend a family Oltrarno walk, from the Giardino di Boboli, that’ll guide you all there.
Okay, so a bit of surfing doesn’t quite match basking under a Tuscan sun for yourself. But, from my desk in East London, it’s as close as I’m getting for now. Alas.
