Central Tuscany: Valdichiana Hill Towns - Cortona to Civitella

Where do you find some of the best hill towns in Tuscany? The Valdichiana.

So, you are returning to Tuscany after visiting the "biggies:" Florence, Siena, and Pisa. Where do you want to go on your next visit? What do you want to see and do? My bet is that you want to see some of the other hill towns at a slower pace and learn more about the culture, food, people, and events, in other words, you want to learn to "live" in Tuscany.

This new guide helps you answer those questions by taking you to eight of the most beautiful small hill towns in central Tuscany in the region of the Valdichiana. Here I help you . . . .

• . . . set up a base up in the hill town of Arezzo, neither too big nor too small with excellent restaurants and a wealth of museums and churches,
• . . . visit Civitella in Valdichiana and learn of its tragic history during a World War II massacre,
• . . . shop at the daily market in bustling Monte San Savino and visit the unique museum in a fortress tower,
• . . . walk through quiet and small Castiglion Fiorentino and find its small but fascinating Etruscan and Diocesan museums,
• . . . meander through small Foiano della Chiana and discover its hidden art treasures,
• . . . explore the small, well-preserved medieval town of Lucignano with its intact walls,
• . . . spend a day at two at the best museums in Cortona, then sit in the Piazza Repubblica and watch people go by,
• . . . study Etruscan artifacts at the superb Etruscan museum in Chiusi and then go underground to visit the old Roman tunnels and cistern.

Information You'll Find in the Text:

• cook with authentic recipes from my Italian cousins,
• learn about the culture from stories about traveling in Tuscany,
• find a place to stay with information on an agriturismo, a hotel, and a B&B,
• find good restaurants and pizzerias,
• use GPS coordinates to find your way around,
• participate in the evening passeggiata and local markets,
• eat at the best osteria in Arezzo, La Capannaccia,
• get an idea on the mobile accessibility of sites.

What is the Valdichiana?
The Valdichiana is a large flat valley stretching south of Arezzo to the Umbrian border near Cortona. Originally a swamp, it has been drained several times through the last couple of thousand years and is now the breadbasket of Italy, full of fruit and olive orchards, crops of grain and corn, and grazing land of the famous chianina beef, the source of bistecca Fiorentina.