Tuscany is without doubt one of the most beautiful and historically significant areas of Italy, characterised by its rolling hills, historic towns, and the capital Florence: crucible of the renaissance. Flying in to Pisa, it would seem churlish not to take a trip to the infamous leaning tower, situated beside the equally spectacular (if a little more perpendicular) Pisa Cathedral, and the monumental Camposanto in the walled Piazza del Duomo. This square is an astonishing sight, not least when you realise that these magnificent examples of Romanesque architecture have been standing for upwards of 900 years. No wonder the tower is leaning.

From Pisa, it’s about an hour’s drive or bus-ride to Florence, the Tuscan capital. At the heart of the city is the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore; known simply as ‘the duomo’: a vast Basilica encrusted in panels of green and pink marble, bordered with white and crowned with Brunelleschi’s infamous dome. 600 years after its completion, the dome is still the largest dome built with bricks and mortar in the world. As the recognised birthplace of the Italian renaissance, Florence has several astonishing art collections. Florence’s finest art gallery, the Uffizi, houses some of the world’s most celebrated art works by da Vinci, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Bottichelli and Titian, to name a few. Many of these works were part of a hefty bequest by the last member of the Medici family – who ruled Florence for hundreds of years, and were renowned for their patronage of the arts.

Florence is a great base from which to journey deeper into the Tuscan hills, as it is situated equidistantly between other worthy destinations such as the Siena (home to the dramatic annual horse race in the Piazza del Campo), Lucca (a stunning medieval town with still-intact Renaissance-era city walls), and Vinci: birthplace of Leonardo. These places are generally reachable via bus, but the hiring of a car for the duration of your stay is recommended, especially if you fancy exploring the hillsides in a little more depth. In terms of accommodation, Florence is of course heaving with hotels, all scrabbling for tour custom. Be careful here, because the tarifs can vary wildly from place to place, so it’s worth shopping around. Alternatively, you could stay in one of Florence’s many hostels, which offer a cheaper, often more reliable, service.

The hills surrounding Florence, incised by the river Arno, provide easily accessible and tranquil oases to view the busy city below. Watching the sun set over Brunelleschi’s dome from one of the villages that dot the hillside is an extraordinary sight: the rooftops glowing orange in the dying light, all trace of city hubbub silenced by the distance, and replaced by a twilight chorus of birds in the olive groves. Tuscany comes into focus at moments like this: its history, its landscapes, its beauty.

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