Approaching the inn where we had lunch

My husband and I are normally independent travelers who do not like group tours. But the Best of Tuscany tour was so well managed that we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Our tour guide for the day was Becky, a young English woman who married an Italian. She was perfectly fluent in both English and Italian (at least to our ears) and gave us many interesting insights about life in Italy. Becky was also very hard-working and professional: being a tour guide for 40+ people is a demanding task, but she never wavered in her warmth and courtesy for the entire day.

Other highlights of the day included a tour by an excellent local guide in Siena, a bountiful lunch and wine tasting at an organic farm inn, and seeing the leaning tower of Pisa in the moonlight (we were there in November, hence the shorter daylight).

Charming dining room where we had lunch

This tour is excellent and very good value. My only caution would be that it is a long day (about 12 hours starting at 8:30 a.m.), so depending on your age and stamina you might be quite tired towards the end. Although there is opportunity to snooze on the bus between stops, it is a long day with a fair amount of walking. There was one family with small children on our tour and although the kids were real little troopers, they found it too much.

We thoroughly enjoyed the tour and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a fun, informative and high quality tour. It is a great choice particularly if you have limited days in Tuscany and wish to see Siena, San Gimignano and Pisa in one day.

Guest post by Judy Toth

Room at Cassafrassi Hotel in Tuscany (photo: tripadvisor-tinatot76)

Tuscany…oh, where to start?  We absolutely adored Tuscany.  We stayed at a rural agriturisomo called CasaFrassi Hotel near the town of Castellina in Chianti. Our accommodation was gorgeous, with a view of vineyards and olive trees and lots of relaxing amenities such as tennis, swimming, and gardens to sit in.

We did our grocery shopping in the town of Castellina in Chianti, which was about 10 minutes north of where we were staying. The beautiful medieval town of Siena was only 20 minutes away. Siena is much like Lucca (walled town) but bigger.  It was a place you could wander around forever looking at churches, stores, restaurants etc.  We also went to Monterrigioni (very small version of the walled town) and San Gimignano (very old, very beautiful walled town).

Lucca

Lucca was very nice.  Like many of the old towns it is encircled by a huge stone wall.  It is best to park at one of the many parking areas outside the wall and walk in.  Great shops, plazas, and churches (of course).  Lucca was one of our favorite Tuscan towns.

Florence

While we loved Florence, we didn’t get to see much.  The primary aim here was to go to the Accademia to see the statue of David and to go to the Uffizi Gallery.  Unfortunately, we got there on a Saturday that happened to be a holiday (May 1 is May Day) and the galleries were closed.  The next day was Sunday.  On Sunday we learned two new words in Italian:  chiuso (closed) and sciopero (strike).  The gallery workers went on a one day strike.  Our last day in Florence was Monday and galleries are always closed on Monday.  (We hoped that since there was strike the day before that they would consider opening on Monday.  Funny, funny Americans!)

We did see the Duomo in Florence (church, baptistery, and campanile) which was gorgeous (do pace yourself, however.  I looked at only a few of the churches and by the end of the trip I wasn’t sure which was which!).  We also saw the Medici Chapel (small but interesting), Piazza della Signoria (great plaza with fantastic fountains and statues, just a cool place to hang out), and, of course, Ponte Vecchio (the old bridge).  Ponte Vecchio crosses the Arno river at its narrowest point.  The bridge is lined with leather shops, jewelers, and goldsmiths. We also enjoyed walking around the Boboli
Gardens—very pretty and relaxing.

Pisa

Pisa is a pretty small, cramped (as opposed to cozy) city.  We were told that once you have seen the leaning tower and the church etc, there is not much else to see or do.  That’s accurate. In our opinion, you could easily see and experience enough of Pisa in one day.  We stayed there for 3 nights because we used Pisa as a jumping off point for other visits.  We spent one day seeing all we wanted to see and explore in Pisa, one day to go west and visit some coastal towns, and one day to go north to see Lucca.

Coastal towns in Tuscany

The coastal towns that we saw (on the Tyrrenian Sea) were Livorno (the northern part of Livorno was pretty ugly—just a shipping port, we didn’t venture deeper into Livorno), Tirrenia (just a small beach town for locals, the most interesting part to us was exploring a golf course),  Marina di Pisa (would probably be a nice place to visit and walk along the ocean in better weather: it was gray, cold, and stormy the day we were there) and Viareggio (looked like it had even nicer beaches and cottages to stay in).

Hidden gem in Tuscany

Our serendipitous find was a town called Colle di Valle d’Este. It is a tiny town, not yet on the tourist maps (although it looks like they are doing work to get prepared to attract tourists).  We were there on a Saturday.  We wandered around the town (not much to see at this point) and enjoyed seeing a typical Italian town enjoy their Saturday.  The best part was sitting and watching the men playing bocce.  They really took the game seriously (and are not used to having a ‘gallery’ so they were really hamming it up).  Their wives were sitting off to the side in a circle talking.  It was wonderful.

Other itineraries

We talked to many people before we left as well as  people that we met on the trip.  It seems unanimous that Venice and Lake Como are “must sees”.  The only variation I heard on that is that some people said that Venice is the most unique place they’ve ever been and could have spent forever there.  Other people said that it was the most unique place they’ve ever seen but once they saw it, a couple of days was more than enough.

We hope to hit northern Italy on a trip that we combine with either Switzerland or the south of France. Hope this helped give you some ideas of what might work for you!

Entrance to La Taverna Nello in Siena, Italy

Looking for a Tuscan cafe that serves vegetarian food in Siena, Italy?  I’ve got a great suggestion for you.

Nello La Taverna

Nello La Taverna is sometimes referred to as La Taverna di Nello.  This is a Tuscan restaurant that serves a good number of vegetarian dishes.  It’s on the Via del Porrione 28 and the phone number is 0577-289043 (reservations recommended).  If you’re trying to find this lovely Siena restaurant, it’s on a narrow, stone-covered street very close to the Piazza del Campo (the big piazza).  We discovered that the easiest way to find La Taverna di Nello is to approach it from the Piazza del Campo. To orient yourself,  stand facing the tall clock tower and then look for the little street just to your left that leads off the Piazza del Campo. The restaurant is just a few doors down the street.

We visited La Taverna di Nello on a warm evening in October. It’s got an  inviting atmosphere with brick walls, racks of wine bottles and interesting orginal artwork.  The decor and menu has a bit more of an “upscale” feeling than your typical Tuscan family-run restaurant.

Specialties include great salads made with the common Tuscan ingredient, radicchio, and other vegetarian delights. How does ravioli in a velvet creamy artichoke sauce sound (14 Euros)? Or crepes stuffed with ricotta cheese and fresh truffles (20 Euros).

The food was lovely and the service from our English-speaking waiter was kind and attentive.

There are rave reviews from other customers on the Nello La Taverna website (note: the restaurant’s website seems to be down), such as this one:

La Taverna Nello in Siena, Italy

When I visit Siena, I always make sure I include a meal at Nello La Taverna in the Via Del Porrione, a small side street off the campo. They make the most wonderful Porcini Tagliolini which arrives as fresh egg noodles folded with the fresh porcini mushrooms. The pungent, gutsy flavours of these mushrooms require only a dash of the best olive oil and perhaps a clove or two of crushed garlic to bring out the best they have to offer and at this time of year, you will find them folded through risotto, a multitude of pasta and even char-grilled whole and dressed with a little balsamic. We also enjoyed the local pasta called ‘pici’ which is a kind of roughly extruded, thick spaghetti, served simply with diced, briefly stewed tomatoes and basil.

Another customer wrote:

Ristorante Nello La Taverna, just off Il Campo, is one of the best Tuscany cafes. We had gnocchi with bolognese sauce and the gnocchi was to die for! They melt in your mouth! Also had great wine and deserts (puff pastry stuffed with ice cream and hot chocolate sauce). He is very friendly and the atmosphere is charming.

Summary

Highly recommended restaurant in Siena, Italy. Ristorante Nello La Taverna, Via dei Porrioni 28, tel. 0577 289043  Closed on Sundays.  Map