TUSCANY TRAVEL VLOG || BEST THINGS TO DO IN TUSCANY || TUSCANY TRAVEL GUIDE

Hi friends! We finally made it to Tuscany and in this video I'm going to show you some of our favorite activities and things to see when visiting, where to stay, and of course where to taste all of the best wine. So come along with us as we explore our way through the Tuscan countryside. Okay so we were starting out this leg of our road trip coming from La Spezia so on our way over we actually passed right through the city of Pisa and knew that we had to stop to see the Leaning Tower which is actually one of the seven wonders of the world. And for most of the cities in Tuscany you have to park on the outskirts and then walk into the towns which is usually only a five to ten minute walk and it was really cool to see the massive medieval wall that was built to protect the city. So after a short walk we made it to the tower and cathedral and truly this was something so incredible to see in person. You know I'd seen pictures before but I felt like it looked to be leaning a lot more in real life and we obviously had to get our tourist pictures holding up the tower and it was great because we were there right around 8 a.m and there weren't many crowds or a ton of people so it was just nice to relax and take it all in. But we did have to get back on the road pretty quickly because our next activity started at 10 30. So we drove over to the Aragone vineyards right outside of San Gimignano and here you can pre-book your tastings online which I really liked. It just made things super easy when I was planning out this trip and the winery grounds themselves are stunning. From the vineyard you can see the medieval town of San Gimignano over up on the hill and the rolling hills and countryside just look like they were made for a movie set. It is so so beautiful. We started out with a tour of the vineyard learning a little bit more about their process and seeing how they produce their wines. This specific machine was actively making their rosé wine and here you can book different wine tasting experiences but we opted for the Chicnique which is basically a private picnic and you get to pick your bottle of wine that you want to try. They definitely had a lot to choose from and then we were brought over to this shaded spot of the vineyard for our picnic. Okay so how cute is this picnic spot? Mike is already having fun on the swing but you have a view of San Gimignano right up there on the hill and are you kidding me? Like this is so cute. We have some grapes, these little chocolate desserts, some meat and cheese, pizza and then you get to pick your wine that you want to taste. So we picked this red one this is aged in their smallest barrel so according to what she said you really get to taste the barrel and like the oak and the wood flavors right? It was her favorite. It was yes it was the lady who was giving us a tour that was her favorite. So yeah we're just gonna sit here enjoy the view, drink our wine, maybe swing on the swing a little but yeah this is definitely very private. It wasn't honestly very expensive I feel like for what you get this is a great deal so definitely recommend this if you're in the San Gimignano area. So once we were done with our picnic we decided to head over to actually see the town of San Gimignano in person and again here you pay to park outside of the city since the city itself is a restricted traffic zone but it was like a seven minute walk to reach the entrance to the main street and this town is known for its skyline of towers and they basically were families that were trying to prove their wealth and power by building the tallest tower back in the day and the city originally had 72 of them but now only 14 are left and it was just really cool to walk around the streets and admire the medieval architecture and you can actually climb up the tallest tower Torre Grossa. It was nine euro per person to climb and I will say that there's a lot of European towns where you can pay to climb structures and towers and see the top of them but out of all of the ones that I have climbed this one was definitely one of my favorites. You could look out to stunning views of the city out the windows on the climb up and then once we got to the top you get 360 degree views of the Tuscan countryside along with stunning views of the city below and I loved the old roof lines and just getting a view of the other towers from above and from up here we even spotted where we had our picnic at the winery which was kind of cool to see from a different perspective and the town of San Gimignano is actually a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has been nicknamed the Manhattan of the Middle Ages. So once we soaked up all of the views we made the climb back down and decided to explore the streets a little bit and here they have lots of places to eat chocolate shops and lots of handcrafted goods like hand-painted pottery. I ended up taking home one of these cute lemon wine stoppers. They also have lots of leather goods something that Italy is known for actually and in a lot of these medieval towns they also have torture museums if that is your thing. It is not mine so we did not go in but just the entrance to this place was very morbid looking. But something that we were into though is gelato and apparently Gelateria Dondoli has been named some of the best gelato in the world and I'm not gonna lie we were skeptical but this place truly was worth the hype in my opinion. I got blackberry lavender raspberry rosemary and cream and they were all so good. We didn't have to wait but right after we got our gelato the line did get really long. Well what do you think? Best one so far? You heard it from the gelato connoisseur himself. So next it was time to head over and check into our farmhouse and it's always been my dream to stay at an agriturismo which is super common out here in Tuscany and basically an agriturismo is a working farm where guests can stay and a lot of these centuries-old farmhouses have been converted into apartments for lodging and some farms will even include meals in their stay. We figured we're going to be out exploring so the one that I booked didn't include meals but the landscape here was beyond stunning. The pool was so gorgeous and relaxing and the views of the rolling hills just looked like they could be straight out of a painting. There were so many olive trees and gorgeous flowers. This place just felt so magical. Okay so this is our cute little Tuscan apartment for the next couple of days. We have a nice little kitchen area. If we want to do any cooking we probably won't but it's nice to have it just in case and then through here is the bedroom. We have a twin bed and then this is a full-size bed and you guys look at the ceilings. So pretty and the view outside this window is gorgeous. It overlooks the Tuscan countryside. I don't know if you can see but it's so pretty. And then up here we have this loft area and the lady who owns this place was telling me that this is very common. Back in the day the farmers would have their children live up in the loft so downstairs was the stable area for the animals and then the families that were taking care of the farm would live here and their children would stay upstairs. So over here we have a washing machine which we are so excited about this. We have so many clothes to wash because we've been here for like seven days now but this is the bathroom area. Beautiful marble sink. This is stunning. Got a little shower here and then upstairs I will show you all the loft. So nothing too crazy up here but it's really cute. It overlooks the kitchen area. Hey Michael. And it's just got a really cute old desk here and then it's just got a little half bath in here. Also I'm obsessed with this marble sink. This is so pretty. But yeah that's the apartment. Also to appear we have this little spot to sit. So we were in Tuscany for three nights in total and I feel like in hindsight we could have had at least one more night here because we truly loved the countryside and there are so many towns to explore in this area if you have a car. But it was becoming golden hour and we were tired from our travel day so we decided to just pop into the nearby small town of Buonconvento to grab a pizza and just bring it back to the farmhouse and enjoy the sunset views. So the next morning we got an early start. We left the farmhouse just before the sun was starting to come up and we found that when visiting tourist heavy places during the September-October time frame, early starts were our best friend because we really got to beat the crowds and just have a much more peaceful and enjoyable experience. So our first stop was Bagni San Filippo which is a hot springs. So if you put it into your GPS you'll arrive at this road with parallel parking along the side. We just paid for our parking at the meter and then headed down this path right at the base of the town and after a short little walk you'll come across this gorgeous hot springs with a milky turquoise color and the water gets its coloring from the minerals that are in it and the water here is said to have healing properties because it contains sulfur, magnesium, and calcium which are supposed to be good for the joints, bones, and skin. And not only is it supposed to be good for your health but this spot is absolutely breathtaking. And while we did find this specific waterfall stunning and photogenic it was a little bit colder than the rest of the springs because we found that the closer that you get to the top and the source of the springs the warmer the water is. So we found this little pool perfect for two people and just relaxed there for a bit. I also found that these water shoes on Amazon were such a lifesaver during this trip especially because most of the beaches and lakes here in Italy are so rocky so I will link them below. After soaking for a little bit it was then time to make the short hike back up to our car and do some wine tasting. The only problem was that we were covered in mineral residue and they don't have showers here so we just did our best to rinse it off with the water that we had and then pulled a quick change and headed on over to the town of Montepulciano. And Montepulciano is a hilltop medieval town known for its wine so naturally we had to do a wine tasting here so we made our way over to Cantina di Ricci which we booked this tour ahead of time and I definitely recommend doing that because when we got there the tour was completely full but it is so fascinating. You get to see these incredible historic wine cellars that are really more like a wine cathedral and our guide did such a great job explaining the interesting history of the cellars and the town and they also have a cave area that we were told dates back to 400 BC which is absolutely crazy so definitely a great experience if you are looking for something a little bit more historical with your wine tasting so once we were done with the tour we headed back to the tasting room and here we learned a little bit more about how they produce their wines and how different types of soil in this region affect the flavors and you can choose to either taste three or six wines obviously we opted for the six and they do give you some nice little snacks to go with it as well and you know I am no wine expert by any means but I really enjoyed getting to compare and contrast six different wines because I feel like it's really helpful when you're learning to get to taste the differences all in one sitting and just go back and forth to compare and think about them so after our tasting it was time to grab some lunch so we headed over to Cantina Gadebeke and it was such a gorgeous day to sit outside and at first we were told that they were full but at the last minute we got a spot and lucked out with this table that gave us stunning views of the Tuscan countryside and honestly this was some of my favorite wine that I had on the entire trip they have some cellars here too that you can tour and we both ordered steak which is a staple here in Tuscany mine had rosemary and peppercorns on it and it was really delicious we also ended up taking some of this wine home because we loved it so much and I do believe Total Wine & More sells some of their wine if you are in the states and want to try it so after walking around the streets of Montepulciano a little bit we then made our way over to Montalcino which is another hilltop medieval city that is known for their wine but here we wanted to climb and walk around the fortress it was four euro per person to climb to the top and the views were really beautiful the walls themselves date back to the 12th to 14th centuries and they did have a section of it blocked off when we were there but you could still walk around a good portion of it and it was super scenic again you just got amazing views of the Tuscan countryside and it was fun just imagining all of the medieval history and it also offered some really pretty views of the town of Montalcino itself so after we finished walking around the wall we then climbed back down and headed home for the evening and honestly one of my favorite parts of this entire trip was just relaxing at our farmhouse every single night we slept with the windows open and woke up with the sunrise that we could watch right from our bed and watching the sun slowly creep up and light everything up was just so special so after a slow morning we then headed out to the town of Arezzo and this is actually where they filmed the movie Life is Beautiful which was kind of cool to see but we actually came here because they were having their monthly antique fair and we just so happened to be there on the same weekend so it was super fun not only did we get to walk around and admire the architecture and ambiance of the piazza but it was really cool getting to peruse through all of the antiques and seeing what the local vendors had we also treated ourselves to a little morning pastry and coffee before things got really crowded and honestly i was hoping to take something home here that would fit into my suitcase as like a little memento from the trip but i will say that things were a bit pricey and i didn't really find anything that spoke to me which for me is very rare but it was still very enjoyable to walk around and for lunch i want to thank the Bratallion job on youtube for recommending this family run spot and i will say by midday most of the restaurants in the square were packed and this place was just a little bit more tucked away from the craziness and the spot is family run and the man who greeted us was so kind and accommodating and fun fact this is also in a former benedictine convict and this was just a really great find because for only 20 euro they give you bread an entire pitcher of wine a soup a freshly baked lasagna and then pork and potatoes and then to finish it all off you get a yummy whipped white chocolate dessert and everything was just so delicious so once we were all fueled we decided to head back to the farmhouse but first i wanted to stop by a little photo op spot and it's actually the name of an agriturismo that you put into the gps and it brings you to this small little parking lot area off of the side of the road and then there's a little paved trail and you can go down and take photos at this stunning vista overlooking this agriturismo with this curved road and all of these cypress trees and not only is this the quintessential tuscany photo op but it's just really pretty to see and enjoy the views and we went around midday or so so it wasn't too crowded but it just might be a little harder to find parking around golden hour or sunset time but we were able to snap a cute photo that will maybe go on a wall in the house later and then we just continued on back to enjoy our last afternoon at the farmhouse and because this leg of the trip had been a lot of driving walking and exploring we just kind of wanted to have an afternoon to chill and enjoy the scenery and spend some time in the pool and i will say that even though the temperatures were in the 80s the pool was still very cold so we just kind of sat on the side dipped our toes in and took in all of the views so the next morning it was checkout day and we had to drive back up to milan to fly home the following day but we had heard so many good things about sienna that we wanted to make sure that we stopped by on our way out of tuscany and we didn't have a ton of time here but we just decided to grab a quick pastry and cappuccino and enjoy our breakfast in the famous piazza del campo which is the historic center of siena and we were there pretty early but it did start to get crowded as we were eating so we decided to head on over to see the other main attraction of the city the duomo di siena and as we were walking over to it we noticed a ton of shops with locally crafted goods and treats and honestly it made me sad that we didn't have more time to spend here because i feel like it would be a fun city to spend a whole day walking around and exploring it but once we got to the duomo i could see why it's considered one of the most impressive cathedrals in italy the ornate details on the exterior of the building were incredible and i will say that the line was super long so we just pulled out our phones right there bought tickets online and got to skip the entire thing and were let right in which was great but once we were inside the architecture was breathtaking the black and white marble stacks all the way to the incredibly high ceilings with beautiful streams of light coming through and i just enjoyed gazing at all the frescoes on the wall and the intricate marble mosaics on the floor which are actually only uncovered a couple months out of the year to preserve it so we were really lucky to see that and even though this was quite a popular and crowded attraction i would say that it was worth it and we both enjoyed this experience but now it was time for us to hit the road i hope that you all enjoyed coming along with us to tuscany if you did be sure to give this video a like and stay tuned for other italy vlogs thanks so much for watching ciao