Town of Seggiano in Valdorcia

Seggiano, located just south of Bagno Vignoe and San Quirico d'Orcia

is a quaint little town set in the the rural setting of Monte Amiata with many little towns with medieval characteristics.
Stone walls, gently sloping hillsides, olive groves and huge forests of beech and chestnut rich with a wild life that can be tasty on the table such as wild boar and deer.




You won't find much written about it in the tour guide books but it makes up a line of pleasant little stops along the way to visit the summit of Monte Amiata where you can picnic or simply enjoy hiking in one of the highest points of southern Tuscany. This imposing mount can be seen from distances as far away as Montepulciano.



This is a lazy little setting, and you will enjoy walking the streets and admiring the views. They are not geared up for tourism at all, so you won't find a lot of quaint little boutiques or fancy enoteca's with the latest in wine and cheese just simple good food in a typical Tuscan environment.



Though picturesque, they could have better planned the parking lot around the Renaissance church of Madonna della Carit�, which literally creates an asphalt garden in the middle of the olive groves.

Poppi near Arezzo

Poppi rises on a hill dominating the Arno river in the Casentino Valley. The seat of the Count Guidi family who ruled the valley from the early 1000s until 1289 when they finally became part of the Florentine Republic. From the late 1200s to 1448 the Guidi family presided in the Palazzo dei Guidi and controlled the land from Poppi to the mountain pass of the Consuma. Approaching the Campaldino plain, the tall and imposing thirteenth-century castle of the Guidi Counts on the hilltop of Poppi dominates the surrounding countryside. The Castle is characterised by a facade with double-arched windows and the tall tower rising from the centre




Inside the Castel of Poppi is the famous "Biblioteca Rilliana", with a wealth of important volumes, and the Chapel frescoed by Taddeo Gaddi, Giotto``s favourite pupil. On the outskirts of the residential centre of Ponte a Poppi stands the Convent of Certomondo, with a church dedicated to SS. Annunziata e Giovan Battista, which was built for the Guidi Counts in 1260. In the 1440 s, in an unsuccessful attempt to capture full control of their lands the Guidi family fell out of grace and where permanently exiled from their territory.



The late-thirteenth-century Badia di S. Fedele in the old town centre of Poppi houses many precious paintings, while to the north of the town lies the 10th-century Abbey of Strumi.

Gulf of Baratti

Gulf of Barati

Here you find not only wonderful water that is calm even when the sea is rough but also Etruscan ruins nearby, and a medieval fortress up above.

Not only great for the quite soft beaches, but is nestled under Populonia, a spectacular promontory about 70 km south of Livorno; it`s shielded from the sea and calm. With calm seas, on the other hand, Populonia has dozens of tiny inlets that can only be reached by boat. It`s a sun-worshiper`s paradise, and also a diver`s -- you may even find something Etruscan under the waves, because Baratti is where the Etruscans smelted the iron ore they mined on Elba, and their transport ships did occasionally sink.




The tombs of the necropolis of Populonia are located close to the gulf of Baratti, and the powerful cities of Roselle and Vetulonia once overlooked Lake Prile. The ancient Etruscan cities, and the finds and remains scattered around the region are now being safeguarded bu such schemes as the Prco Archeologico-Naturalistico Baratti-Populonia and, in the province of Grosseto, the Parco della Civilt� Etrusca, comprising five separate archaeological areas.




Many of the seaside resorts, from Castiglioncello to the border with Lazio - including San Vincenzo, Follonica, and Gulf of Baratti - are shaded by large umbrella pines. These pinewoods, often planted to replace the original coastal forests of holm oaks and other trees, are part of a landscape that was formed at least two centuries ago by human intervention.




They are now a familiar feature of the Tuscan coast and constitute a natural environment worthy of special protection, not only because they are the habitat of a wide variety of flora and fauna, including the dense Mediterranean undergrowth, but also because they are notable tourist attraction, offering opportunities for delightful walks and cycle rides, or simply shade for bathers on hot sunny days.




In past centuries the economic and cultural life of Tuscany was concentrated in the towns and villages built for safety on the heights, and still surrounded by walls today, while the magnificent facades of their battlemented civic buildings are decorated with the coasts of arms of the "podest�" who ruled them. The wach-towers, the well-defended gates, the fortresses also served to control mineral deposits, outlets to the sea and important trade routes.