Tuscan wine secrets and hilltop castles

Wineries among the cypresses, and a walled village on every hill.

Italyfrom 6 days12 stops

Free, no account needed. You'll still be able to change dates, travellers and the rest.

Where it goes

Mercado Central de San Lorenzo
The upper floor is where you can try the entire Tuscan larder in one sitting, without a booking and at market prices.
Antinori nel Chianti Classico
The cellar of the family that has been selling wine since 1385, in a building cut into the hillside. 20 km out, with guided visit and tasting by prior booking.
Las buchette del vino
Small hatches in palace walls through which wine was sold from the sixteenth century on. Several have reopened and serve glasses through the opening.
Alquilar el coche aquí
Wine-country Tuscany has no useful train. Mind the historic-centre ZTL zones: driving in without a permit is an automatic camera fine.

Piazza del Campo
The shell-shaped square the Palio is run in. If you travel on 2 July or 16 August, the whole city turns around the race.
Enoteca Italiana en la Fortezza Medicea
Inside the sixteenth-century fortress, it gathers wines from all over Italy. It is the place to compare a Brunello with a Chianti before heading out to the estates.
La carretera del Chianti Classico (SR222)
The Chiantigiana, between Siena and Florence: vineyards, cypresses and castles one after another. The drive is the plan, not the formality.
Castello di Brolio
Where Baron Ricasoli set down the formula for Chianti in 1872. Both castle and cellar can be visited.

Bodegas de Brunello
Brunello is aged five years before release. Visits are arranged in advance: almost no estate takes walk-ins.
Fortaleza de Montalcino
The fourteenth-century fortress has a wine bar inside, and the same ticket takes you up onto the walls.
Abadía de Sant'Antimo
A twelfth-century Romanesque abbey among the olive trees, 10 km out. Worth timing your visit for a Gregorian chant.
Val d'Orcia
The landscape of hills and cypresses on every Tuscan postcard, and a World Heritage site. It starts the moment you leave Montalcino.

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