Tuscan Mainland, Italy: the towns, the sea, when to go and how to get there

The famous interior of Tuscany: the hill towns between Florence and Siena, the Val d'Orcia, Arezzo out at the working edge, and the iron coast below Livorno that the postcard forgot. Everything is about an hour from everything else, and the good hour in every town is the one after the buses leave.

15 towns

The towns of Tuscan Mainland

2 on the water, 13 towns inland. Each card opens the town's own page, with the drive time from the nearest city and whether the train stops there.

✷ We've been
Siena
Where: Inland
1 h 13 min from Firenze · station · 52,812 people
The medieval rival of Florence at 322 meters on three hills, with a shell-shaped piazza where seventeen contrade race bareback horses twice a year.
✷ We've been
San Gimignano
Where: Inland
1 h 1 min from Firenze · 7,480 people
A walled hill town at 334 meters with 14 surviving medieval towers, UNESCO listed since 1990 and the home of Vernaccia.
✷ We've been
Volterra
Where: Inland
1 h 23 min from Livorno · 9,537 people
The Etruscan acropolis of Velathri at 531 meters, the alabaster town that has been carving the same stone for three thousand years.
✷ We've been
Monteriggioni
Where: Inland
1 h 36 min from Firenze · station · 9,991 people
A circular Sienese fortress built between 1213 and 1219 on a natural hill, fourteen towers on a 570-meter wall, intact and unbroken.
✷ We've been
Castellina in Chianti
Where: Inland
1 h 3 min from Firenze · 2,651 people
A Chianti hill town at 578 meters on the watershed between the Arno and the Ombrone, with an Etruscan tumulus, a Brunelleschi-reinforced wall and a covered medieval walkway around its edge.
✷ We've been
Pienza
Where: Inland
1 h 38 min from Perugia · 1,976 people
The first Renaissance ideal city, built from 1459 on the Val d'Orcia ridge.
✷ We've been
Montepulciano
Where: Inland
57 min from Perugia · station · 13,274 people
A Renaissance hill town at 605 meters on a limestone ridge, aging its Sangiovese-based red in vaulted cellars beneath the palazzi.
✷ We've been
San Quirico d'Orcia
Where: Inland
1 h 36 min from Perugia · 2,572 people
A walled stop on the Via Francigena at 409 meters in the UNESCO Val d'Orcia, where a twelfth-century Collegiata, a Renaissance garden and the Bagno Vignoni thermal pool sit within fifteen kilometers of each other.
✷ We've been
Montalcino
Where: Inland
1 h 45 min from Perugia · station · 5,611 people
A walled hill town at 564 meters above the Val d'Orcia, the last fortress to hold out for the Sienese Republic and the birthplace of Brunello.
✷ We've been
Castiglione d'Orcia
Where: Inland
2 h 32 min from Perugia · 2,144 people
A stone borgo at 540 meters in the UNESCO Val d'Orcia, with two fortresses guarding the road from Amiata to the Via Francigena.
✷ We've been
Arezzo
Where: Inland
1 h 2 min from Firenze · station · 96,260 people
Tuscany's other set-piece: a 96,000-resident Etruscan-Roman-medieval hilltop city 80 km southeast of Florence.
✷ We've been
Castagneto Carducci
Where: On the water
55 min from Livorno · station · 8,748 people
A hilltop borgo at 194 meters above the Costa degli Etruschi, renamed for the poet Carducci in 1907 and the home of Bolgheri and Sassicaia.
✷ We've been
Piombino
Where: On the water
1 h 17 min from Livorno · station · 32,194 people
A promontory port facing Elba across the channel, founded by refugees from Etruscan Populonia and now the Tuscan archipelago's ferry capital.
Massa Marittima
Where: Inland
1 h 35 min from Livorno · station · 8,139 people
A medieval mining town at 380 meters, free commune from 1255 to 1337, whose cathedral holds the relics of San Cerbone.
✷ We've been
Grosseto
Where: Inland
1 h 50 min from Livorno · station · 81,321 people
The Maremma capital on the Ombrone river, ringed by hexagonal Medici walls of 1564 that now serve as the city's public park.

Air, rail, road

Getting there, and around

Fly to Florence or Pisa or Bologna, take the train, or drive. Road minutes from the catalogue.

By air

Florence or Pisa (PSA)1 h 27 min to San Gimignano
Bologna (BLQ)1 h 54 min to San Gimignano

By train

Siena
A station in the commune
Monteriggioni
A station in the commune
Montepulciano
A station in the commune
Montalcino
A station in the commune
Arezzo
A station in the commune
Castagneto Carducci
A station in the commune
Piombino
A station in the commune
Massa Marittima
A station in the commune
Grosseto
A station in the commune

No station: San Gimignano, Volterra, Castellina in Chianti, Pienza, San Quirico d'Orcia, Castiglione d'Orcia.

By car

Siena1 h 13 min from Firenze
San Gimignano1 h 1 min from Firenze
Volterra1 h 23 min from Livorno
Monteriggioni1 h 36 min from Firenze
Castellina in Chianti1 h 3 min from Firenze
Pienza1 h 38 min from Perugia
Montepulciano57 min from Perugia
San Quirico d'Orcia1 h 36 min from Perugia
Montalcino1 h 45 min from Perugia
Castiglione d'Orcia2 h 32 min from Perugia
Arezzo1 h 2 min from Firenze
Castagneto Carducci55 min from Livorno
Piombino1 h 17 min from Livorno
Massa Marittima1 h 35 min from Livorno
Grosseto1 h 50 min from Livorno

Climate, sea, calendar

When to go

The comfortable months are June, and September to October, and the sea is warm enough to swim June to October. Measured at Siena, the sea at Castagneto Carducci: the daytime high, the sea, the rain days.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Day °C	10	13	15	18	23	28	33	32	26	21	15	11
Sea °C	15	14	15	16	19	23	27	27	24	22	19	16
Rain days	9	7	8	10	11	7	4	6	8	9	10	12

The tinted months are the comfortable ones for the day, and the ones where the sea reaches 20 degrees.

2 towns on the water

The coast the postcard forgot

An industrial coast wearing a beach towel, and the most honest shore in Tuscany for it. Base here and the postcard country is your day trip, an hour inland. Warm enough to swim June to October.

Castagneto Carducci, Tuscany — Castagneto Carducci

Castagneto Carducci
Station in town · 55 min from Livorno
Piombino
Station in town · 1 h 17 min from Livorno

Our tables first, then the guides

Where to eat and sleep

What the printed guides rate along this coast, with the guide named beside each place.

What the guides rate

Somebody else's recommendations, the guide named beside each. The town pages hold the full lists.

Siena

Ristorante Al Mangia Ristorante
Locali Storici
Osteria le Logge Ristorante
Gambero Rosso 2 Forchette · 82/100 · Michelin Selected
Campo Cedro Ristorante
Gambero Rosso 1 Forchetta · 78/100 · Michelin Selected
Gallo Nero Ristorante
Gambero Rosso listed · Michelin Selected

All 10 on the town page

San Gimignano

Linfa Ristorante
Michelin 1 Star
Da Pode Ristorante
Michelin Bib Gourmand
San Martino 26 Ristorante
Gambero Rosso 2 Forchette · 82/100 · Michelin Selected
La Collegiata Hotel
Michelin Guide selection

Volterra

Villa Pignano Ristorante
Gambero Rosso 2 Forchette · 81/100 · Michelin Selected
Enoteca Del Duca Ristorante
Michelin Selected
Borgo Pignano Volterra Tuscany Hotel
Michelin Guide selection

Monteriggioni

Futura Osteria Ristorante
Michelin Bib Gourmand · Gambero Rosso 3 Gamberi
Osteria Bottega dell'Abate Ristorante
Gambero Rosso 1 Gambero

Castellina in Chianti

Albergaccio di Castellina Ristorante
Gambero Rosso 2 Forchette · 83/100 · Michelin Selected
Osteria di Fonterutoli Ristorante
Gambero Rosso listed
Passo dopo Passo Osteria Ristorante
Gambero Rosso listed

Pienza

Dopolavoro La Foce Ristorante
Gambero Rosso listed
Osteria Fra Paolino Ristorante
Gambero Rosso listed
Podere Il Casale Ristorante
Gambero Rosso listed
Casa Newton Hotel
Michelin 1 Key

All 5 on the town page

Montepulciano

Ristorante Caffè Pasticceria Poliziano Pasticceria
Locali Storici
Osmosi Ristorante
Michelin 1 Star · Gambero Rosso 2 Forchette · 83/100
Le Logge del Vignola Ristorante
Michelin Selected
Indigeno Ristorante
Gambero Rosso 1 Tavola · Michelin Selected

All 9 on the town page

San Quirico d'Orcia

Trattoria Toscana al Vecchio Forno Ristorante
Michelin Selected
Da Ciacco Ristorante
Michelin Selected

Montalcino

Caffè Fiaschetteria Italiana Caffè
Locali Storici
Campo del Drago Ristorante
Michelin 2 Stars · Gambero Rosso 2 Forchette · 85/100 · L'Espresso Top 300 · La Liste · 87.5
La Sala dei Grappoli Ristorante
Michelin 1 Star · Gambero Rosso 2 Forchette · 81/100
Taverna del Grappolo Blu Ristorante
Michelin Bib Gourmand

All 21 on the town page

Arezzo

Buca di San Francesco Ristorante
Locali Storici · Gambero Rosso listed
Caffè dei Costanti Caffè
Locali Storici
Osteria Grande Ristorante
Gambero Rosso 2 Forchette · 80/100 · Michelin Selected
Le Chiavi d'Oro Ristorante
Gambero Rosso 1 Forchetta · 77/100 · Michelin Selected

All 7 on the town page

Castagneto Carducci

Osteria Magona Ristorante
Michelin Bib Gourmand
Osteria Enoteca San Guido Ristorante
L'Espresso Top 300
Osteria Ancestrale - Arduino Bolgheri Ristorante
Gambero Rosso 2 Forchette · 80/100
La Tana del Pirata Ristorante
Gambero Rosso listed