Toskane

About the destination: The city of Pisa once rivalled Genoa and Venice as a maritime power, emulated Padua and Perugia as a university town, and developed a distinctive style of Romanesque architecture. Today, the city draws its fame from an architectural project gone terribly wrong and relies on the tide of tourists who flow into the city every day. The most important monuments are concentrated in the piazza del Duomo. The baptistery, cathedral, Leaning Tower, and Camposanto shine like carved ivory, rising out of a broad expanse of emerald green grass. The duomo contains Giovanni Pisano’s masterful pulpit, with its violently dramatic Gothic reliefs. You can make your unbalanced way to the top of the Torre Pendente, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, from which local boy Galileo Galilei dropped a variety of objects in his attempt to understand gravity. Education has fuelled the local economy since the 1400s, and students from across Italy still compete for places in its elite university and research schools and help keep a vibrant and affordable cafe and bar scene. This metropolis of a hundred thousand inhabitants is much more than a tower, is a city full of art and history.

About the destination: Florence is as vital and beautiful today as when its wool and silk merchants and bankers revolutionized the economy of 13th century Tuscany, and the art of Dante and Michelangelo stunned the world. Florence was the centre of the Italian Renaissance. The fruits of the city’s rebirth are still evident in its seemingly endless array of museums, churches and palazzi. With its historic centre classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Duomo, the elegant and beautiful cathedral, dominates the city and is an unmistakable reference point in your wanderings. The River Arno, which cuts through the oldest part of the city, is crowned with the Ponte Vecchio bridge lined with shops and held up by stilts. Dating back to the 14th century, it is the only bridge that survived attacks during WWII. Standing by the river at night, when the city is illuminated with a myriad twinkling lights, is unforgettable. But more remains of Florence’s incomparable heritage than stones and paint, the city’s indomitable spirit has also survived the centuries, ensuring Florentine life today its liveliness and sophistication.

About the destination: Chianti in Italy also referred to as Monti del Chianti ("Chianti Mountains") or Colline del Chianti ("Chianti Hills"), is a mountainous area of Tuscany in the provinces of Florence, Siena and Arezzo, composed mainly of hills and mountains. It is known for the wine produced in and named for the region, Chianti. The Chianti region in Tuscany is one of the most beautiful and renowned areas of Tuscany around the world, with all its green, its forests, castles, vineyards, and scenic cypress trees. Chianti is the region of wonderful vineyards and charming hill top towns that stretches from Florence to Siena on to Arezzo.

About the destination: Tuscany is located in central Italy and stretches from the Apennines to the Tyrrhenian Sea. Its landscape, artistic heritage and stand-out cities - first among them Florence - make Tuscany an unquestioned protagonist of international tourism. In this region, nature has many different facets, starting from the coast that alternates long and sandy beaches, like the Versilia beach, with rocky cliffs and steep headlands. The islands of the Tuscan Archipelago, surrounded by Mediterranean vegetation, a crystal-clear sea and rich seabeds, are peerless. You can admire sceneries of uncontaminated nature in the Apuan Alps and in several protected areas, such as the Orbetello Lagoon, home to many species of migrant birds, including pink egrets. However, the most typical sceneries of the region are those that merge the beauty of nature with the millenary work of man. The amazing Gulf of Baratti and the sites of Vetulonia, Vulci and Pitigliano guard necropoli and vestiges of the Etruscan civilization, while Roselle and Cosa evoke memories from the Roman Age. Medieval villages, historical towns, castles and defense systems, country churches (the so-called pievi) and beautiful abbeys, like the one of Sant'Antimo, are scattered all over the territory and their profiles stand out in the landscapes of the Crete Senesi, Orcia Valley, Garfagnana, Chianti and the Maremma. Finally, Tuscany is full of spas: Montecatini, Saturnia, Montepulciano, Monsummano and Bagno Vignoni, which offer relaxing holidays thanks to their thermal waters and well-equipped facilities for all types of treatments. The provinces of the region are: Florence (regional capital), Arezzo, Grosseto, Livorno, Lucca, Massa Carrara, Pisa, Pistoia, Prato and Siena.

About the destination: The city of Pisa once rivalled Genoa and Venice as a maritime power, emulated Padua and Perugia as a university town, and developed a distinctive style of Romanesque architecture. Today, the city draws its fame from an architectural project gone terribly wrong and relies on the tide of tourists who flow into the city every day. The most important monuments are concentrated in the piazza del Duomo. The baptistery, cathedral, Leaning Tower, and Camposanto shine like carved ivory, rising out of a broad expanse of emerald green grass. The duomo contains Giovanni Pisano’s masterful pulpit, with its violently dramatic Gothic reliefs. You can make your unbalanced way to the top of the Torre Pendente, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, from which local boy Galileo Galilei dropped a variety of objects in his attempt to understand gravity. Education has fuelled the local economy since the 1400s, and students from across Italy still compete for places in its elite university and research schools and help keep a vibrant and affordable cafe and bar scene. This metropolis of a hundred thousand inhabitants is much more than a tower, is a city full of art and history.