Italy is one of those countries that you would never get tired of visiting. It has everything! Amazing history, amazing wine, amazing food, people, cities, views, but most importantly its amazing essence! There is something extremely beautiful about walking along ancient streets that feel untouched by modern society, yet still exceed modern day expectations. 

We knew that one of the ways to experience the countries splendor was to take a drive through its Tuscany region. So we started our adventure in Pisa and worked our way south through the region, to end in Rome. 

Pisa is mostly known for its Leaning Tower, but the rest of the city is great to explore as well. We flew into Pisa and took an easy shuttle to our hotel in the city center. There, we were centrally located to walk the entire town, which can easily be done in one full day.  

After shopping in Corso Italia, we followed the road to the Piazza dei Miracoli, the Square of Miracles. As you approach it, you will get the chance to catch sight of this marvellous place with its Leaning Tower and the other beautiful buildings that surround it - the Baptistery, the Cathedral and the Monumental Cemetery (representing the cycle of life). 

Here is a link to the walking tour that we used. It’s easy to follow and touches the highlights of the city. http://www.discovertuscany.com/pisa/one-day-itinerary.html

After enjoying the beauty of Pisa, we visited Lucca, which is a short 25-minute drive. Lucca is known for being the city of 100 churches, but what’s cool about it is that it’s still surrounded by its old city walls. Cars are forbidden to enter the city, so you just park outside the city walls and walk in. The best views of the city are along the city walls, and since we only had half a day to visit, we jumped on a horse and carriage that took us around. You can also ride a bike if you prefer, but the horse and carriage was super romantic. 

Here’s a link to the one day walking tour we followed in Lucca: http://www.discovertuscany.com/lucca/one-day-in-lucca.html

Since we wanted to spend more time in Florence, we drove there that night, which is less than a two hour drive from Lucca. The best and cheapest way to see Florence is to download the Rick Steves app and follow his walking tours. He has three separate tours that cover the highlights of Florence. We spent two full days there and were able to cover all of it. 

These are the tours we followed, the beauty of these tours is that you can skip along if something is not interesting. We loved this flexibility!

Tour #1: The Accademia, which houses Michelangelo’s David

Tour #2: Florence Renaissance Walk. This is a walking tour of the entire city of Florence with historical commentary on the important parts of the city. This covers the Duomo, which you must buy tickets for. The view from the top is spectacular and worth the climb up. 

Tour #3: Uffizi Gallery: One of the most popular museums in the world. Here you can see art by the greats such as Botticelli, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael. 

We also booked a wine tour in Florence that took us to the Chianti region, loved for its deep-red wine and breathtaking scenery. It was a 6 hour wine tour, so we opted out of driving to truly enjoy the experience! We highly recommend this option if you’re a wine lover as well.

After enjoying the splendor of Florence, we drove to Siena. Another really cool city that looks and feels like the way it did when it was built centuries ago. It maintains its city walls, therefore, cars are not allowed in either, so you park outside and find your way in on foot. 

We spent a day and a half in Siena, which was enough to see the highlights, stroll through the streets and enjoy some shopping, wine, food and people watching (which is a formal pastime).

We covered Siena with two walking tours that you can find in this link http://www.discovertuscany.com/siena/walks-in-siena.html, both walking tours are just about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) long. 

You can learn more about Siena and what there is to see here http://www.discovertuscany.com/itineraries-in-tuscany/one-day-in-siena.html

Our last stop in Tuscany was in Montepulciano. I first heard of this city because of its famous red wine “Vino Nobile di Montepulciano” and boy was it amazing! It is one of the best red wines we have ever tasted! 

Montepulciano is a great city to get lost in. It’s high up in the mountain with spectacular views almost everywhere you go. But if you like to be organized like me, here’s a great walking tour that we “kind off” followed: http://www.discovertuscany.com/montepulciano/what-to-see-in-montepulciano.html

Last but not least, we ended our trip in Rome. It’s a city that is large and you can easily spend two full weeks there and still not see and experience everything. If you’re short on time, like we were, my recommendation is to have in mind what you absolutely want to see and organize your schedule around that.

We really wanted to attend the Pope’s public mass, which to our surprise was a complete cultural event. There were people dressed in traditional Italian clothing, playing instruments and marching in. This was great to see! 

Then we scheduled a tour of Vatican City. Which is its own city, with its own zip code, so make sure you stop by the post office near St. Peter's Basilica and mail yourself a postcard. It will be the only place in the world where you can get a stamp like this. The tour included the Vatican Museum with St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. If you book a tour that doesn’t include the entrance fees, make sure to purchase the tickets in advance to skip the line, because even in low season, it’s still pretty busy.  

We closed our trip by visiting the Roman Colosseum. We didn’t just want to see the top views of the Colosseum, which is what’s included with the basic ticket entrance, so we purchased a special tour that took us to the underground chambers and the arena floor. It’s a rare opportunity to walk the tunnels, see where the animals where held and stand where gladiator stood. This was super cool to experience! 

There's much, much more to see in Rome. These are just some highlights from our trip. Email me and I can give you a good list of other things to see when in Rome! 

Our itinerary went like this:

Th: 4/9 – Arrive Pisa and spend night there
Fri: 4/10 – See Lucca and spend night in Florence
Sat: 4/11 – See Florence and spend night there
Sun: 4/12 – Arrive in Siena and spend night there
Mon: 4/13 – See Montepulciano for first ½ of the day / Return to Siena for second ½ of the day / Spend night in Siena
Tue: 4/14 – Arrive Rome
Sat: 4/18 – Leave Rome

If you’re wondering how easily this can be done, how much it costs and who I used, I can send you my full itinerary. Just email me for the details. 

My itinerary includes: 

• Tour company used for Colosseum and Vatican City
• Travel visa requirements – who needs what and where to get it
• Hotel, wine and restaurant recommendations in Tuscany and Rome
• Currency tips
• Best time of year to visit 
• What to pack and wear
• Other cities to visit in Tuscany and popular highlights to visit in Rome if you have more time
• Tips when driving through Tuscany 
• Unlimited amount of questions you can ask me for your travel