Stayed in northern Italy for 3 weeks a few years ago. Spent time in Asti and visited the famous wine country. Now I’m planning a new trip to central and southern Italy. Im wondering if the Tuscany countryside looks relatively the same as the Piedmont countryside.. Nature-wise. Rolling hills? Vineyards all around? I need to know because if it’s very similar we won’t spend as much time there. Thx.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15810 posts
If you go to Florence you are already in Tuscany. If you want to visit the small towns of Tuscany take a day trip to Siena and/or San Gimignano. It’s doable by bus, or with an organized small tour, of which there are many in Florence (although Siena can be easily done on your own). Another option from Florence is a day trip to che Chianti Hills, lots of villages and wineries. For the Chianti a small tour is more efficient, since it’s very rural and bus service is less frequent, especially if you plan to do some wine tasting in the wineries in that countryside. Chianti is probably the area that would remind you of the Langhe and Monferrato of Piedmont (where you went). So in other words visiting parts of Tuscany from Florence is easy and doesn’t necessarily take a lot of time. If you add a few extra nights to Florence you can easily use it as a base to see several smaller towns in Tuscany.
Posted by
OP
Princeton Junction, NJ
14 posts
I think what I’m asking is does the countryside of Tuscany look relatively the same as the Piedmont countryside. Nature-wise.
Posted by
Paris
7255 posts
I would say, not so much! They might as well be different countries - and indeed, for centuries, they were. Tuscany feels much more Mediterranean: drier landscape, with many pine trees and cypresses, hilltop villas and castles, and some heavily forested areas too. And the towns and villages are very distinctive; nothing in Piemont compares to the likes of Pienza and S Gimignano.