Tuscany is the Italian region where all the Italy’s clichés are true. Rolling hills, sun-drenched days redolent with the smell of cut grass and the hum of honeybees, fine wines, food from the hands of the gods, and a truly Italian attitude to life that prioritises family, fresh food and Dolce Vita life. To know Italy, it is vital to know each of its regional traditional foods and recipes. We’ve made it easy with our pick of the Top Five restaurants and Tuscany hotels that are still among the hidden gems of Tuscany.

1. Antica Dimora Residenza and the Piccolo restaurant

Torrita di Siena is a 600 year old stone village that looks like something conjured up by a travelling poet. The Antica Dimora is a family-owned boutique hotel that welcomes its guests into the historic, but lushly appointed rooms, many of which overlook the picturesque Tuscan countryside. The Piccolo is Torrita di Siena’s best restaurant, offering traditional Italian pizza and its signature range of seafood dishes. The owners, Mario and Gioia, have been in the restaurant trade for a couple of decades, and are always happy to share their Tuscany’s travel tips, and to recommend the right Tuscan wine to match any palate or dish.

2. Villa Sassolini hotel and restaurant

At the base of the Chianti hills, in the heart of Tuscany, are the suites of Villa Sassolini. Geographically, this is a perfect staging point for day tours to visit the nearby Siena and Florence. Most suites have a view of the Tuscan countryside, and the aged architecture houses up-to-date technology. The Villa Sassolini restaurant is perfect for long lazy dinners ordered from the a la carte menu designed to offer a mix of traditional local dishes with a truly modern Italian twist.

3. Hotel Villa il Tesoro and the Bracali Ristorante

In the midst of the Maremma hills is the medieval city of Massa Marittima, home of the converted farmhouse boutique hotel Villa il Tesoro. Set in the grounds of a four-star vineyard, the Villa il Tesoro is an intimate affair of just twenty richly appointed suites. While the Villa has its own notable restaurant, an even better choice is the Bracali. Family-owned, the Bracali serves up traditional dishes with a modern edge in it’s décor that emphasises roman columns and the occasional piece of leopard print to offset its mother-of-pear walls and Swarovski-crystal encrusted lamps.

4. Il Pellicano Hotel and Restaurant

Porto Ercole sits on the Italian Mediterranean coast, and it is here that lucky guests can while away their evenings at the Il Pellicano. This boutique hotel (six cottages and one main guesthouse) is true Italian decadence, unabashedly devoted to romance. Romantic couples are Il Pellicano’s bread and butter, and it is easy to see why this hotel is popular with honeymooners. There are two restaurants at Il Pellicano: The all-aperto grill that serves more casual fare – fresh seafood is always popular in the warmer months. The jewel in Il Pellicano’s culinary crown is the Restaurant Il Pellicano that has not one but two Michelin stars. Here diners are served world-class modern Italian fare on a sweeping terrace overlooking a starlit Mediterranean sea.

5. Siena:

Some would say that this is the most intriguing and magical city in Tuscany, and it is the site of the famous annual horse race “Palio di Siena” that makes the cobblestones tremble to the thundering rhythm of hoof-beats. In this ochre-coloured piece of a fairytale is the luxurious Hotel Certosa di Maggiano and its restaurant, Il Canto. Once a Carthusian monastery built in the 14th century, the design was turned over to architect Renzo Mongiardino who created the breathtaking ambience that has been the hotel since 1978. Il Canto (The Chant) is a standalone achievement: Award-winning food in the relaxed environment of a building that was devoted to silent prayer for centuries.

Guest post by Escapio.com

Ciao from Italy

Nancy Aiello

ItalyTravelista.com

Join ItalyTravelista on Twitter

© Copyright 2010, Nancy Aiello Tours

Since 1997 Nancy Aiello Tours offers its valuable guests visiting Florence and the Tuscan countryside the most comprehensive selection of private guided walking tours of Florence, Florence day trips, Florence Museum Tours, Chianti and Maremma wine tours, Tuscany culinary tours and food tours for Italy food lovers led by qualified English, Spanish, French, German, Russian and Chinese speaking qualified Italian touristic guides and licensed driver/guides.

New articles are published on our site weekly, sometimes daily. To keep up to date with our news, tips and current events, please sign up for ItalyTravelista RSS feed.

If you are interested in publishing a version of this article please contact Nancy Aiello Tours.

Tour Italy at Your Own Pace with Nancy Aiello Tours

Related posts:

1. Five Magnificent Boutique Hotels in Florence | Tour Italy in Style
2. Travel to Italy | Fashion Outlets and Slow Food Restaurants in Italy
3. Travel to Italy | Rome Guide to the New Best Restaurants

Siena Medieval Piazza del Campo | Torre del Mangia | Tower of Siena

The hill top town of Siena located in Tuscany and listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Site is one of the most charming places to visit in Italy. Sienna is world famous for the Palio, the stunning Torre del Mangia and the outstanding Duomo but when in Siena visitors should not miss the opportunity to visit the Crete Senesi, where Tuscany reveals its truest and most beautiful identity.

Crete Senesi Art of the Landscape | Tours from Siena

The Crete Senesi, the clay hills of Siena, offer a remarkable landscape of rolling hills that adopts the form of the senses and communicates with the force of emotions. This is an interesting journey through one of the most celebrated landscapes in the whole Italy. The Crete are a sea of greyish waves not  softened by woods or trees to be found just outside Siena when driving towards the south. Here, along the via Cassia, overlapping the ancient via Francigena, we find the 14th c.  walls of Buonconvento known for an interesting Sacred Art museum and a museum dedicated to sharecropping . From here we climb to the Abbey of  Monte Oliveto Major dramatically set at the edge of a steep slope of clay. This is one of the most visited monuments in Tuscany thanks to its religious and artistic heritage. The frescoes in the kiosk, the inlaid choir or the library are not to be missed. San Giovanni d’Asso is the capital of Tuscan truffles. The village castle is now the first museum in Italy  dedicated to these noble and expensive bulbs. Asciano is the most important town in the Crete area with its interesting Romanesque church and Archaeological and Art museum.

Clay Hills of Siena | Romantic Tuscany

Siena is separated from the Crete by a few miles and hundreds of curves, now and then its turreted profile appears on the horizon.

Siena Profile from the Crete | Travel Tuscany

The crete of Siena is a portrait that varies from red to purple in fall, becomes gray as the sky in winter, evolves to brilliant green in spring, and finally shows a dazzling yellow in summer when the wheat is already high, this is a borderland where the colors of the Crete meets with the green shoulders of Chianti offering incomparable views in this sea of land of endless wheat fields dotted with hamlets, farms, vineyards, churches and winding roads.

Memorable Colours | Crete in Siena

The appearance of the clay hills changes with the season and sunlight but the most fascinating phenomenon here is that it is enough just to walk the same street in the different directions to discover a whole different world.

Crete with a View | Hill Top Farm in the Crete Area

All the streets of these hills provide excellent spots to take pictures, to observe, to wonder, to meditate, to paint, and to fall in love!

Hills of Siena | Siena Countryside | Enjoy Tuscany Landscapes

What to See

ASCIANO – The 14th Century Abbey of Monteoliveto Maggiore the most important monastery in the Siena area, the 11th Century Saint Agata’s Basilica, the Gothic church of San Bernardino home to the Etruscan Museum and the late Gothic Church of Saint Francis, Piazza del Grano with its 15th Century travertine fountain by Paolo Ghini.

Weekly Market on Saturday | Asciano Crete Market – Second Sunday of every month

Unique Landscape of Tuscany | Crete Senesi | Clay Hills of Siena

RAPOLANO TERME – Porta dei Tintori, Piazza del Castellare, the Romanesque Church dedicated to Saint Bartolomeo, the breathtaking view over Siena’ s tower. Weekly Market on Friday

A View of the Crete from Rapolano Terme | Landscapes of Tuscany

SERRE DI RAPOLANO – The gorgeous historical center, the outstanding medieval architectural complex of Palazzo della Grangia, and its surrounding gems such as the villages of Armaiolo and Poggio Santa Cecilia, and the 12th Century Castle of Madanella.

Best Restaurants Around the Clay Hills of Siena

Da Mario | Buonconvento | Euro 25

Da Roberto Taverna in Montini | San Giovanni d’Asso | E.30

Il Conte Matto | Trequanda | Euro 35

Modanella | Modanella | Euro 35

La Pievina | 9 Via Lauretana Asciano | Euro 50

Would you like to share your Italy travel tips or pictures with us? Please write us your comment and we will be happy to post it! Enjoy Tuscany!

Ciao from Rome:-)

Nancy Aiello

ItalyTravelista.com

Join ItalyTravelista on Twitter

© Copyright 2009, Nancy Aiello Tours

Since 1997 Nancy Aiello Tours, based in Rome, specializes in Private Guided Vatican and Rome Tour, Siena and Tuscany wine tasting tours, and Italy Tours for the value conscious travelers and family visiting Italy with children.

New articles are published on our site weekly, sometimes daily. To keep up to date with our news, tips and current events, please sign up for ItalyTravelista free RSS feed.

If you are interested in publishing this article please contact Nancy Aiello Tours for consent & info.

Nancy Aiello Tours of Tuscany | Travel to Tuscany

Related posts:

1. Tuscany Top 5 Boutique Hotels & Restaurants | Italy Travel Tips