Tuscany in 7 Days
This route takes you through Tuscany just as you'd wish it: across bright piazzas in the morning, through churches and museums in the afternoon, and in the evening looking out over rooftops, towers and gentle hills. In Florence, art and history crowd together along a few short walks; in Lucca and Pisa the pace eases a little. At the end, the landscapes around San Gimignano, Siena and Pienza open up wide and golden.
What makes this trip special is the interplay between great icons and smaller moments along the way. You see world-famous buildings, climb towers, walk through old town centres and keep ending up in places where Tuscany is entirely itself.
Who is this trip for?
This trip is ideal for you if you like cities, art and historic places but don't need museum air every single day. The route suits travellers who enjoy getting around on foot and want to experience many different Tuscan moods in a single week.
What to expect
Expect compact old towns, plenty of cobbled lanes and repeated climbs to viewpoints and towers. The rhythm mixes major cultural sites with open squares and quieter moments, plus several well-filled days with a lot to see over short distances.
Day 1 · Florence
Florence with a sweeping start
To begin, you head up to Piazzale Michelangelo and have Florence laid out before you as one great panorama. Afterwards it grows quieter in the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, before you land right back in the thick of city life on Piazza della Signoria. By the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore at the latest, you notice how densely this city lines up its great set pieces.
- Piazzale Michelangelo
- Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence
- Piazza della Signoria
- Uffizi Galleries
- Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore
© Rhododendrites · CC BY-SA 4.0
© Zolli · CC BY-SA 3.0Day 2 · Florence
Gardens, bridge, masterpieces
The day begins at ease in the Boboli Gardens, where paths, greenery and views show Florence from its airier side. Across the Ponte Vecchio you return to the dense heart of the city, before the grand backdrop awaits again on Piazza del Duomo. In the Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze, your gaze then turns closer and more concentrated.
- Boboli Gardens
- Ponte Vecchio
- Piazza del Duomo
- Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze
- Basilica di San Miniato
© Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0
© Ingo Mehling · CC BY-SA 4.0
© Rhododendrites · CC BY-SA 4.0Day 3 · Lucca
Lucca on the city walls
In Lucca, it's best to start on the Mura di Lucca and get an immediate feel for the clear shape of this town. On Piazza Napoleone the space opens up, then the Duomo di San Martino draws your eye back to fine details and old stone. Later, Piazza dell'Anfiteatro shows how distinctive and at the same time relaxed Lucca feels.
- Mura di Lucca
- Piazza Napoleone
- Duomo di San Martino
- Guinigi Tower
- Piazza dell'Anfiteatro
- Basilica di San Frediano
© Kasa Fue · CC BY-SA 4.0
© Myrabella, edited by MenkinAlRire · CC BY-SA 3.0Day 4 · Pisa
Pisa, concentrated
The day in Pisa has a clear centre: in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo you get close to the story of the ensemble, before the Tower of Pisa stands right there in front of you. Around the Cattedrale di Pisa, the Piazza del Duomo feels almost like a stage of stone and lawn. With the Battistero di San Giovanni, the impression stays bright, rounded and surprisingly calm.
- Museo dell'Opera del Duomo
- Tower of Pisa
- Cattedrale di Pisa
- Piazza del Duomo
- Battistero di San Giovanni
- Monumental Cemetery of Pisa
© Arne Müseler · CC BY-SA 3.0 deDay 5 · San Gimignano
Towers and alley views
San Gimignano shows itself compact and full of character right from the start, for instance in the Chiesa di Sant'Agostino with its quiet atmosphere. From the Parco della Rocca the view opens across the landscape, before art takes centre stage again at the Duomo di San Gimignano. Later it gets lively on Piazza Della Cisterna, among stone, the well and all the lines of the medieval town.
- Chiesa di Sant'Agostino
- Parco della Rocca
- Duomo di San Gimignano
- Palazzo Comunale, Pinacoteca, Torre Grossa - San Gimignano Musei
- Piazza Della Cisterna
- Porta San Giovanni
© Chensiyuan · CC BY-SA 4.0
© Deror avi · CC BY-SA 3.0Day 6 · Siena
Siena in brick tones
With the Basilica Cateriniana di San Domenico, Siena begins serious and impressive, almost a little stern. Then comes the Siena Cathedral, one of those moments when you automatically slow down and look more closely. Down at Il Campo the mood shifts: wider, more open, more human — and from the Torre del Mangia the city arranges itself anew once more.
- Basilica Cateriniana di San Domenico
- Siena Cathedral
- Facciatone
- Palazzo Pubblico
- Il Campo
- Torre del Mangia
© Raimond Spekking · CC BY-SA 4.0
© MarkusMark · Public domain
© Ricardo André Frantz (User:Tetraktys) · CC BY-SA 3.0
© David McSpadden from Daly City, United States · CC BY 2.0Day 7 · Pienza
Pienza and the Val d’Orcia
To finish, the trip grows wider and more rural: at the Chapel Vitaleta, landscape and architecture stand in exactly the proportion Tuscany is so famous for. In Pienza it all condenses again into a harmonious town centre around Piazza Pio II and the Pienza Cathedral. At the Belvedere and later at Podere Il Casale, what stays with you above all is that feeling of space, light and calm.
- Chapel Vitaleta
- Palazzo Piccolomini, Pienza
- Piazza Pio II
- Pienza Cathedral
- Belvedere
- Podere Il Casale
© Pierreci · Public domain
© Beckstet · CC BY-SA 3.0
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