Tuscany
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Tuscany (in Italian: Toscana) is a region in central Italy, on the western coast. It's a very popular destination for travellers because of the Duecento and Reinaissance art and architecture you can find in cities like Florence, Siena, Pisa, Lucca and others. But Tuscany is also a popular destination amongs food and wine lovers, who will appreciate the eno-gastronomic tours Tuscany can offer. Finally, even if other regions are more popular as sea or mountain destinations, Tuscany can offer wonderfull landscapes, beaches and hiking trails in the mountains.
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CouchSurfing advice
As Tuscany is not very big, you can pick any city to stay and then have day-trip to other cities and towns.
There are some cities which are very close, so if it's hard to find a place to stay in one city, you can search a place to stay in another city nearby and then travel by public transport. One example of this are the cities of Lucca, Pisa and Livorno: Lucca to Pisa or Pisa to Livorno is only 25km, 20 minutes and 3 euro by train. Another example is Florence - Empoli or Florence - Prato.
Sometimes it's easyer to find a place to sleep just 10km outside the city, in small towns. However, ask about local transport before taking any decision. While some cities are in the centre of a metropolitan area (Florence, Prato, Pisa, ...) and the surroundings are well connected, other cities are more isolated (Siena) so if you are just 15km from the city, you will not be in the city's metropolitan area but in a small countryside hamlet, and public transport can be not frequent.
To see
Popular cities to visit
- Florence: the biggest city in Tuscany, one of the most popular destination in Italy, it's the craddle of the Renaissance
- Siena: a city in a rural area, surrounded by a charming landscape, also home to many art from Duecento and Renaissance
- Lucca: a small city surrounded by huge 16th century city walls with meadows and trees
- Pisa: the city with the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa in Piazza dei Miracoli
Small cities or towns to visit
The sea
You can find nice beaches in the south of Tuscany (from south of Livorno to Grosseto) and on the islands in front of Livorno (Isola d'Elba and others). Viareggio and the Versilia coast are popular destination even if the sea is not so nice.
Nature and mountains
Alpi Apuane in the nort-west part of Tuscany are mountains up to 1.900 meter above sea level.
Local festivals
Music festivals:
- Arezzo Wave
- Lucca Summer Festival
- Pistoia Blues
- Pelago On The Road
Pageant, religious, historical:
- Palio di Siena
- Luminara and Gioco del Ponte in Pisa
Getting around
The main cities in Tuscany are well-connected by the train network. You can travel with Regionale, a cheap train, to any big city: Florence, Siena, Arezzo, Prato, Pisa, Livorno, Grosseto, Pistoia, Empoli, Pontedera, Piombino, Cecina.
Regarding towns and small cities, the one in or near the Arno valley are easy to reach with train. This zone is more or less a rectangle delimited by the cities of Florence, Empoli, Livorno, Lucca, Pistoia, Prato. The very coastal zone is also well connected by trains, from Genoa to Grosseto. But if you need to reach destination that are not on the coast or in the Arno valley, you should go for buses, as there aren't many train station in towns that lie on the central-south hills, the north or north-east mountains, and the south costal zone.
The main airport, served by low-cost airlines, is in Pisa, and it's very close to the city (you can actually walk from the airport to the city center in 25 minutes). Another big airport is in Florence.
