Tour Tuscany and San Gimignano, Tour Tuscany, Tours in Tuscany, travel to Tuscany

Tour Tuscany and San Gimignano

‘Indulge’ in Italy – Tour to Tuscany

A tour of Tuscany would not be complete without a visit to San Gimignano, a jewel… said to be the most beautiful hilltop town in Tuscany Italy, and declared by UNESCO as a part of the world’s architectural heritage. Its 14 remaining towers are all that are left of the once 72, built in the Middle Ages to protect the town’s merchants from the barbarian hordes. Named after St Gimignano, the Holy bishop of Modena, the city stands as a monument to the political, architectural and artistic influences of Florence and Siena.

We travel to Tuscany to view San Gimignano from a distance - the view is stunning given its strategically important position.

Set amid rolling verdant hills planted with vineyards and crops, the panoramic view from Rocca e Parco di Montestaffolli, the town’s highest point, is breathtaking. The patchwork of olive groves and cypress hedges of the Elsa Valley give a delightful vista and makes this one of the best views in all of Tuscany.

The history of the town is both fascinating and bloody with two prominent families, the Ardinghelli and the Salvucci, taking control in the Middle Ages and then feuding violently. With a healthy population of 15,000 in good times (double its present size), Black Death and a downturn in the economy ravaged the town.

We will visit the most comprehensively frescoed church in all of Tuscany, with its rather austere façade, and marvel at the most vivid and colourful paintings that adorn every wall. San Gimignano’s most famous piece by Domenico Ghirlandaio, Michelangelo’s fresco teacher, depicts a self-portrait hidden in the background.

San Gimignano is a delight, the cobbled-stoned streets and alleys transport you back in time…and in such a beautiful and stunning place it is sometimes quite pleasant to just sit in the Piazza Cisterna to have a coffee or aperitivo to ‘drink’ in the lovely surroundings. Travel to Tuscany with ‘Italian Indulgence’.
See map of Tuscany

guided tours in tuscany

See map of San Gimignano Italy

Keywords: Tours in Tuscany, Tour Tuscany, Tuscan Group Tour, travel to Tuscany, small group tour in tuscany,
small group tour in italy