Destination No. 01 — Italy
Tuscany
Landscape one does not tour, but inhabits.
Tuscany is the region most often planned badly. Treated as a circuit, it offers a great deal to see and little to remember. Taken as one house with days radiating from it, it gives you what you came for: long mornings, short distances, dinners nobody invented.
The Val d'Orcia in the south is more open and quieter, Chianti denser and more sociable, Florence a city one can grasp in two days and not exhaust in twenty years. Most of our journeys combine two of those three worlds — rarely all three.
Why we like this place
Three reasons
01
Because the landscape here is not scenery but work: vineyards, olive groves and farms that carry on while you watch.
02
Because the houses we recommend grew out of estates and monasteries, and so carry a scale and a patina that cannot be built.
03
Because October is nearly finer than June here — and considerably quieter.
For planning
- Best time to visit
- Mid-May to late June, mid-September to late October
- Early summer is green with long evenings; autumn adds harvest, truffles and a light that softens the hills. August is hot and the hotels are at their fullest. Many country houses close from November to March.
- Suggested length
- Five to seven nights
- Five nights at one address is enough for the countryside, two towns and a day with nothing planned. If Florence matters to you, take two nights there and the rest in the country — not the other way around.
How long does Tuscany need?
Five to seven nights, ideally with only two addresses. The most common planning mistake is three bases in one week: you spend the best hours on country roads. Better is one base in the Val d'Orcia or Chianti plus two nights in Florence. A driver on wine days is the difference between a tasting and an evening.
Noted by Pure Voyage
Pure Voyage Atlas
Where this leads
The Atlas connects what belongs together: the region, the collections, the right season and the houses that sit within the same story.
Related Houses
Within These Collections
When to Go
Rooms and Suites
Where we stay
Addresses in this region
Three addresses we know well in the region — an estate in the Val d'Orcia, a town house in Florence and a monastery in Chianti.
Val d'Orcia, Toskana
Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco
A medieval borgo on 1,100 hectares of the Val d'Orcia, with its own Brunello and suites in the old farmhouses.
- Suits:
- Families and couples who want one place for a whole week
- Suggested length:
- Five to seven nights
- Season:
- May to June, September to October for the harvest
Florenz, Toskana
Four Seasons Firenze
A Renaissance palazzo with eleven hectares of garden behind it — Florence on foot, silence at breakfast.
- Suits:
- Families and cultural travellers who want city and garden together
- Suggested length:
- Three to four nights
- Season:
- April to June, September to October
Chianti, Toskana
COMO Castello Del Nero
A 12th-century castle in Chianti, with a kitchen and spa that genuinely structure the day.
- Suits:
- Couples combining Tuscany with wellness and serious cooking
- Suggested length:
- Four to five nights
- Season:
- May to June, September
Related collections
From the Collection
Continue through Pure Voyage
Where to go from here
Not a catalogue, but a next step: the houses, routes, countries and essays we would mention at this point in a conversation.
Hotels
Addresses that belong beside this page.
Journeys
Routes that open up this region.
Recommendations
What we suggest for this occasion.
Journal
Further reading before you decide.
An Invitation
Once a month: hotels, new openings and travel ideas
One hotel that convinced us, with our advice on suite and season. The openings that actually matter. And a destination at its best right now. No offers, no advertising.