Shortly before little person turned one, we decided it would be nice to visit Tuscany. Tuscany is obviously one of the most popular tourist destinations on earth and for good reason. It has the combination of beautiful natural scenery, breathtaking monuments, world class art and most importantly in our opinion amazing food.
One of the most popular things to do in Tuscany are activities like food tours, staying at an agriturismo or doing a cooking course. When we were choosing what to do on our trip we decided to concentrate on two things: gelato and sandwiches. A year earlier we had gone to a gelato festival in London and had an amazing time. Based on that, we thought it might be pretty fun to go searching for the best gelato in Tuscany. This sorted dessert but we were still left with a decision over what to eat for most of our meals. After doing some research we discovered that Tuscany is also really well known for sandwiches. With that discovery our plan was set. We would explore several cities in Tuscany, eat gelato and sandwiches and explore the sights at the same time.
Planning
The first decision we had to make was how to use our time. We were going to be arriving in Pisa late on a Tuesday night, and had 5 full days on the ground before we returned to the UK from Pisa on a Sunday afternoon. We decided that we would attempt to base ourselves in Florence since it is the capital and most important city. Since we were arriving in Pisa, we would spend a couple nights there, allowing us to explore Pisa and the surrounding region following our late night arrival. We knew we were not going to be spending much time in our rooms, so the most important consideration were rooms that were inexpensive, clean, comfortable and well located. Since we were arriving very late in Pisa we chose a Bed and Breakfast near the airport so that we could quickly walk over after our flight landed. Finding accommodation in Florence was more complicated. The city is beautiful and popular, neither of which tend to be helpful when looking to save money in Europe. We also wanted breakfast included since this always makes starting your day much easier. After some searching we found somewhere with large rooms, walking distance to all the major sites, on the north side of the river, walking distance from the train station and with breakfast included, result.
Intinerary
Once we had chosen our two bases we also decided that we would visit a couple other Cities/Towns to add some more variety into our gelato competition (as well as seeing some more of the region). We ended up choosing Lucca and Siena, due to their good transport links to Pisa and Florence. (We skipped San Gimignano since it was just that much harder to get to).
Once we had a rough outline of where we would be, we could start researching the Gelatarias and sandwich shops that we wanted to visit. Using a combination of review sites, forums and other blogs I created a map with all of the places we wanted to try and also all the famous sites in the locations we were visiting. This would allow me to figure out the routes we would take around the cities to ensure we could get to all the places we wanted. The big advantage of doing this over just visiting the places that look good or have long lines is you are better able to both avoid the touristy places that are popular only based on their locations as well as find the hidden gems which might be slightly more out of the way.
Our first gelato stop in Pisa was the first time Little Person had ice cream and the look on her face is something I will never forget. She spent the majority of the rest of the holiday craning her neck out of her pushchair, waiting for the next spoonful.
Doing Tuscany in this way was really fun. We kept debating which gelato and which sandwich was our favourite and this really added something different to the holiday in general. Obviously Tuscany itself is beautiful, all the cities were incredibly picturesque, but our DIY food trails really elevated this holiday to something special. Here are a few tips we have if you are considering travelling to Tuscany and stuffing your face.
Tips
- Tuscany is where we discovered good house wine, Vino Sfuso. It is wine served on tap and it often comes from local small wineries. Many of the sandwich shops and other restaurants have it for very little money and you can visit a wine merchant to buy bottles of it for very little money.
- Some of the gelato flavours you see will not necessarily be things you think will work, I would definitely advise you try them since you might surprise yourself.
- The selection from many of the sandwich shops can be very overwhelming, I would recommend talking to your server and taking their recommendation. They sell hundreds of sandwiches a day, so probably have a good idea about what works together.
- If you are taking public transport between cities, make sure you look outside your window. Some of the scenery on the way is really very beautiful, especially if you are not taking express trains/buses.
- Try to walk around, half of the fun is just wandering the streets of these beautiful cities taking in the different views
