Tour of Tuscany: Vineyards & Medieval Villages

02

Oct

You can view all posts from my trip to Italy here. 

If you read last week’s post, you’ll know that I fell in love with Florence! It’s such a beautiful city, and I enjoyed it much more than Venice and Verona. On our second day in Florence, we went on a tour of Tuscany for half a day. As soon as I bought my plane tickets to Italy, I knew I had to visit Tuscany because those rolling green hills looked so gorgeous. I looked into renting a car to drive around the countryside, but we decided to book a tour instead, and I’m so happy we did, especially after seeing all the tight, curving roads!

Tour of Tuscany: Vineyards & Medieval Villages

Doing tours in Italy were one of my favorite things because they were all excellent and we got to learn so much about the history and local life in different areas of the country. We did Row Venice in Venice and Hills and Roads in Tuscany, and it was worth every penny! They create tours specific to what you want to see, and we requested to see beautiful old towns, great views to take pictures, and a winery. Our tour guide, Carolina, picked us up from right outside our Airbnb, and we drove off into the beautiful countryside!

Florence American Cemetery

The Florence American Cemetery is where thousands of Americans who died in Italy during WWII are buried

Tour of Tuscany

Tour of Tuscany

Tour of Tuscany

Tour of Tuscany

Houses in Tuscany

Tour of Tuscany

Tuscany houses

Tour of Tuscany

Our first stop was Montefioralle, a Medieval village, and it’s one of the oldest villages in the area since it was built around the 1200s. It was walled because it played a role in the battles between Florence and Siena. It’s also the birthplace of explorer Amerigo Vespucci. We walked around and got to see some beautiful old homes, and since the town sits on a hill, we also got great views of the countryside!

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Tuscan countryside

Tuscany countryside

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Montefioralle in Tuscany

Our next stop was Greve in Chianti, and we toured the town square for a bit. It was such a quaint area with local shops and cafes, and we loaded up on souvenirs (I got some postcards and locally made hand towels) and some absolutely incredible chocolate croissants! It was a really neat place to see some local life with butchershops and little markets without lots of tourists around.

(Also, if you go to Greve in Chianti and need a bathroom, there’s a little park that’s about a 5 minute walk and it has public restrooms for a euro)

Greve in Chianti

Greve in Chianti

Greve in Chianti

Greve in Chianti

Greve in Chianti

Greve in Chianti

After spending some time in Greve in Chianti, we went to a vineyard for a tour and lunch. We went to Querceto di Castellina, and it was such a beautiful place! I couldn’t get enough of the beautiful countryside, especially with the vineyards and olive trees.

Tuscany countryside

Tuscany countryside

Tuscany vineyard

Tuscany vineyard

Tuscany vineyard

Tuscany vineyard

Querceto di Castellina

Querceto di Castellina

Querceto di Castellina

Querceto di Castellina

Tuscany countryside

We got a tour of the winery and learned all about their process for making wine (and olive oil) while we sipped on their rosé. Our guide gave a great tour and told us how their family started this winery and answered all of our questions. All the wines we tried were great, and they sell it in the U.S., including New Jersey if you live in Philadelphia! My friends and I bought a few bottles of wine, and I also got some olive oil and truffle oil.

Querceto di Castellina

Querceto di Castellina

Querceto di Castellina

Querceto di Castellina

Querceto di Castellina

Querceto di Castellina

Querceto di Castellina

After our tour, we had lunch and tried some more wine. Even though it was a winery, they made some of the best food I had in Italy! We started with a pumpkin lasagna, and it was absolutely delicious. In between courses, we had a lot of time to wander around the vineyard some and take pictures and chat with our tour guide, Carolina. It was really interesting learning about local life in Tuscany, especially growing up there. 

Pumpkin lasagna

Querceto di Castellina

Querceto di Castellina

Querceto di Castellina

Querceto di Castellina

Querceto di Castellina

Querceto di Castellina

Querceto di Castellina vineyard

Querceto di Castellina

Querceto di Castellina

Querceto di Castellina

After we ate and took a few more photos, we headed back to Florence. Our tour of Tuscany with Hills and Roads was one of the main highlights of my trip to Italy, and I highly recommend them if you’re in Tuscany! We learned so much about the area, and I’m dying to go back and see more of the pretty countryside (and maybe buy a house there when I win the lottery) 🙂 

Hills and Roads Tuscany tour

Shout out to Carolina for being such an awesome guide! 🙂 

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Blog, Europe, Italy, Photography, Travel

  1. Carlie says:

    Hey, this post was great to read through and I loved looking at all the photo’s you took, so beautiful. I went to my first wine tasting and vineyard experience last year in Australia and I wanna go to another one soon 🙂

  2. Somnath says:

    What are the names of the mountain ranges bordering these medeival ranges

  3. Pauline says:

    Hi Julia! Thanks a lot for the recommendations and all your pretty pictures! The color palettes, the views, the hills, so gorgeous!
    I’ve been to Italy last year, to Sardinia, which is pretty too but ao different! I wish I can go back to Italy soon, and I will surely check out the Tuscanian countryside 🙂

  4. C-Ludik says:

    Gorgeous photos ! Tuscany has been on my bucket list for a while now. Besides Florence, Siena and San Gimignano, this beautiful region has many untrodden corners and lesser-known historical and architectural treasures 🙂

    • Julia says:

      Thank you! Yes there are so many places in Tuscany that I had never heard of before! I want to go back and see them all!

  5. Jas says:

    Tuscany has been a dream destination of mine. Your photos are just so incredibly stunning that I want to book a flight over ASAP! Will also have to check out the tour with Hills and Roads when I’m there. Sounds like you had a fantastic time and thanks for sharing your beautiful memories and recommendations!

  6. amit says:

    I actually used to sell holiday villas in Tuscany to Australians while I lived in Bali and the pictures I used to see of the villas and surrounding areas always made me want to go. However I still haven’t managed to get over there. After reading through this post it’s made me want to go once more. I’d love to spend a day in a Tuscan Vineyard even though I’m not a wine drinker haha

  7. Martha says:

    I never thought about medieval villages as tourist destinations. BRILLIANT! Booking my flight now.

  8. Janice says:

    This makes me want to splash money and jump into a flight to Italy now. Saving this for later 🙂

  9. Love Tuscany! Spent time in Florence, Pisa and Sienna last summer, but would have loved to have seen more of the countryside too. Thanks for sharing – gorgeous photos!

  10. Oh my gosh, we miss it there so much!! Tuscany was our favorite place in all of Italy. Those unique doors, the colorful flowers, the rolling hills…so glad you got to experience that. We love it too!

  11. Ania says:

    Beyond gorgeous photos! And thank you for the tour company recommendation (Hills and Roads)! Being able to customize a tour based on your interests sounds amazing. I will definitely check them out when I visit Tuscany.

  12. Lena says:

    All your posts lately make me want to jump on a flight to Italy, ASAP! Such a gorgeous photo essay! I’m loving that winery!

  13. Staci says:

    It looks like you had an awesome time! I love wineries, they’re so much fun – especially with good company. Your photos are always so pretty, I love all the lush greens in this post!!

  14. shayan says:

    What a gorgeous photo essay. Tuscany is unbelievable. I love Italy because there are so many different kinds of cities there. Nothing is same as you go from one place to another. Sadly I didn’t visit Florence and all. I went Rome and more to the South.

  15. Jennifer says:

    Wow. Beautiful pictures. Adding this to my bucket list.

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