Tuscany Fly & Drive

ABOUT THE DESTINATION: Florence is as vital and beautiful today as when its wool and silk merchants and bankers revolutionized the economy of 13th century Tuscany, and the art of Dante and Michelangelo stunned the world. Florence was the centre of the Italian Renaissance. The fruits of the city’s rebirth are still evident in its seemingly endless array of museums, churches and palazzi. With its historic centre classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Duomo, the elegant and beautiful cathedral, dominates the city and is an unmistakable reference point in your wanderings. The River Arno, which cuts through the oldest part of the city, is crowned with the Ponte Vecchio bridge lined with shops and held up by stilts. Dating back to the 14th century, it is the only bridge that survived attacks during WWII. Standing by the river at night, when the city is illuminated with a myriad twinkling lights, is unforgettable. But more remains of Florence’s incomparable heritage than stones and paint, the city’s indomitable spirit has also survived the centuries, ensuring Florentine life today its liveliness and sophistication.

ABOUT THE DESTINATION: Chianti in Italy also referred to as Monti del Chianti ("Chianti Mountains") or Colline del Chianti ("Chianti Hills"), is a mountainous area of Tuscany in the provinces of Florence, Siena and Arezzo, composed mainly of hills and mountains. It is known for the wine produced in and named for the region, Chianti. The Chianti region in Tuscany is one of the most beautiful and renowned areas of Tuscany around the world, with all its green, its forests, castles, vineyards, and scenic cypress trees. Chianti is the region of wonderful vineyards and charming hill top towns that stretches from Florence to Siena on to Arezzo.

ABOUT THE DESTINATION: Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. MAIN TOURIST ATTRACTIONS • The Piazza del Campo, the unique shell shaped piazza at the centre of the city, and twice a year the racetrack for the Palio • The Palazzo Pubblico, Siena's City Hall for almost 800 years, contains the famous frescos on good and bad government by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, frescoes by Simone Martini and Duccio, and access to the Torre del Mangia, from whose top you can view a beautiful panorama of the Sienese countryside. • The Duomo, Siena's magnificent black and white Italian Romanesque cathedral including the Libreria Piccolomini, Baptistery and an attached Museo dell'Opera del Duomo which includes the famous Maestà by Duccio. • The Pinacoteca, full of Sienese painting from the city's Medieval heyday. • The Palazzo Salimbeni, built in 1472, is the world headquarters of Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the major banking corporation which has a hand in much of the economic and cultural life of the city. • The house where St. Catherine of Siena was born is just a few blocks from the duomo. • The Piccolomini Palace built in 1459 by the well-known architect Bernardo Rossellino, disciple of Leon Battista Alberti. The Piccolomini Palace is one of the most popular sites on the Piazza del Campo. The Florentine style palace is home to the official archives of Siena.

ABOUT THE DESTINATION: Monteriggioni is a medieval walled town, located on a natural hillock, built by the Sienese in 1214–19 as a front line in their wars against Florence, by assuming command of the Via Cassia running through the Val d'Elsa and Val Staggia to the west. The town is architecturally and culturally significant; it hosts several piazzas, and is referenced in Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy.

ABOUT THE DESTINATION: The small town of San Gimignano has a medieval origin as well shows its spectacular wall, is perched on the hills of Tuscany, village is located only 35 minutes drive from Siena and Florence, so any tourist who has thought to go to one of the two cities can pass by the wonder of this village. Since in addition in 1990, UNESCO declared the historic centre of San Gimignano patrimony of the humanity, is very particular mainly by its medieval architecture especially for its towers. It also transpires that the village was a point of pilgrimage for people that it was heading to Rome.

ABOUT THE DESTINATION: Volterra is a municipality in the province of Pisa, in the region of Tuscany, Italy. The found sites know that in the Neolithic period, Volterra was already inhabited by humans. The municipality was witness to the birth of the Etruscan civilization. And the city was one of the main cities of the "Etruscan League", by that reason was surrounded by 7 km of solid walls. In the year 283 BC, the Romans defeated the Etruscans at the battle of Lake Vadimone and a few years later becomes part of the Italian Confederation, changing its name to the Volaterrae. So the city has interesting places to visit such as the ruins of Velathri, the famous Porta allArco within its walled enclosure of the necropolis and Etruscan era, as well as the Cathedral of the XII-XIII-XIV centuries.

ABOUT THE DESTINATION: Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. MAIN TOURIST ATTRACTIONS • The Piazza del Campo, the unique shell shaped piazza at the centre of the city, and twice a year the racetrack for the Palio • The Palazzo Pubblico, Siena's City Hall for almost 800 years, contains the famous frescos on good and bad government by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, frescoes by Simone Martini and Duccio, and access to the Torre del Mangia, from whose top you can view a beautiful panorama of the Sienese countryside. • The Duomo, Siena's magnificent black and white Italian Romanesque cathedral including the Libreria Piccolomini, Baptistery and an attached Museo dell'Opera del Duomo which includes the famous Maestà by Duccio. • The Pinacoteca, full of Sienese painting from the city's Medieval heyday. • The Palazzo Salimbeni, built in 1472, is the world headquarters of Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the major banking corporation which has a hand in much of the economic and cultural life of the city. • The house where St. Catherine of Siena was born is just a few blocks from the duomo. • The Piccolomini Palace built in 1459 by the well-known architect Bernardo Rossellino, disciple of Leon Battista Alberti. The Piccolomini Palace is one of the most popular sites on the Piazza del Campo. The Florentine style palace is home to the official archives of Siena.

ABOUT THE DESTINATION: Arezzo is a city in Italy, capital of the province of the same name, located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about 80 kilometres southeast of Florence, at an elevation of 296 metres above sea level, with a population was about 100,000. MAIN TOURIST ATTRACTIONS • Piazza Grande, the most beautiful square in Arezzo, is surrounded by marvelous old buildings and hosts the Giostra del Saracino twice a year. • Churches. The Arezzo Cathedral (Duomo), the Church of San Francesco, the Church of Santa Maria della Pieve and the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. • Museums. You can find the Museo del Duomo, the Museo Archeologico ""Gaio Cilnio Mecenate"", the Museo Statale d'Arte Medievale e Moderna and the House-Museum of Ivan Bruschi. Also there are La Casa Petrarca or la Vita è Bella that have a cultural interest at the city.

ABOUT THE DESTINATION: Cortona is a town and comune in the province of Arezzo, in Tuscany, Italy. It is the main cultural and artistic center of the Val di Chiana after Arezzo. MAIN TOURIST ATTRACTIONS • Piazza della Repubblica. The most famouse piazza in Cortona. • Piazza Signorelli. • Piazza Garibaldi Built by the french during the naopleonic wars. • The Cathedral (Il Duomo). • Church of Santa Maria Nuova • Eremo Le Celle • Farneta Abbey

ABOUT THE DESTINATION: Montepulciano is a medieval and Renaissance hill town and comune in the Italian province of Siena in southern Tuscany. It sits high on a 605-metre (1,985 ft) limestone ridge, 13 kilometres (8 mi) east of Pienza, 70 kilometres (43 mi) southeast of Siena, 124 kilometres (77 mi) southeast of Florence, and 186 kilometres (116 mi) north of Rome by car. Montepulciano is a major producer of food and drink. Renowned for its pork, cheese, "pici" pasta, lentils, and honey, it is known world-wide for its wine. Connoisseurs consider its Vino Nobile, which should not be confused with varietal wine merely made from the Montepulciano grape, among Italy's best.

ABOUT THE DESTINATION: Grosseto is a city in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the Province of Grosseto. It is the most populous city in Maremma; the comune of Grosseto includes the frazioni of Marina di Grosseto, the largest, Roselle, Principina a Mare, Principina Terra, Montepescali, Braccagni, Istia d'Ombrone, Batignano,Alberese and Rispescia. The town centre is confined between the city walls. MAIN TOURIST ATTRACTIONS • Medicean Walls. The city walls were begun by Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1574. • St. Lawrence Cathedral. This Romanesque cathedral, built in the 13th-15th century, is now largely the result of 19th century restoration works. • Palazzo Aldobrandeschi. This pleasant neogothic reconstruction of a medieval palace dominates the adjacent square, where the locals gather in the evenings for a stroll and chat. • Museum of Archaeology and Fine Arts (Museo archeologico e d'arte della Maremma)

ABOUT THE DESTINATION: Lucca is a city and commune in Tuscany. Its long history goes back to Etruscan and Ancient Roman times, and the city retains pieces of Ancient architecture. Lucca's great era was in the Gothic era just before the Renaissance, and the city contains much marvelous architecture from that era. Lucca's current defensive walls were designed by Leonardo Da Vinci and were never breached. Lucca remained an independent city state until the end of the 18th century. The church of San Frediano is the only example of Lombard architecture preserved without notable alteration, excepting the façade, which is of the year 1200. S. Maria foris Portam, S. Michele, S. Romano, and the other churches all possess valuable works of art. The tomb of the Lucchese poet, Guidiccioni, is in the church of S. Francesco (quattrocento). The Case Guinigi and the Guinigi Tower represent a marvellous example of Medieaval architecture in Lucca. The Case Guinigi were a group of mansions and towers where one of the most important families of the town, the Guinigi, lived. The enormous and beautifully conserved villas and gardens of the Lucca hills have become a major attraction for visitors to the town.

ABOUT THE DESTINATION: The city of Pisa once rivalled Genoa and Venice as a maritime power, emulated Padua and Perugia as a university town, and developed a distinctive style of Romanesque architecture. Today, the city draws its fame from an architectural project gone terribly wrong and relies on the tide of tourists who flow into the city every day. The most important monuments are concentrated in the piazza del Duomo. The baptistery, cathedral, Leaning Tower, and Camposanto shine like carved ivory, rising out of a broad expanse of emerald green grass. The duomo contains Giovanni Pisano’s masterful pulpit, with its violently dramatic Gothic reliefs. You can make your unbalanced way to the top of the Torre Pendente, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, from which local boy Galileo Galilei dropped a variety of objects in his attempt to understand gravity. Education has fuelled the local economy since the 1400s, and students from across Italy still compete for places in its elite university and research schools and help keep a vibrant and affordable cafe and bar scene. This metropolis of a hundred thousand inhabitants is much more than a tower, is a city full of art and history.

ABOUT THE DESTINATION: Lucca is a city and commune in Tuscany. Its long history goes back to Etruscan and Ancient Roman times, and the city retains pieces of Ancient architecture. Lucca's great era was in the Gothic era just before the Renaissance, and the city contains much marvelous architecture from that era. Lucca's current defensive walls were designed by Leonardo Da Vinci and were never breached. Lucca remained an independent city state until the end of the 18th century. The church of San Frediano is the only example of Lombard architecture preserved without notable alteration, excepting the façade, which is of the year 1200. S. Maria foris Portam, S. Michele, S. Romano, and the other churches all possess valuable works of art. The tomb of the Lucchese poet, Guidiccioni, is in the church of S. Francesco (quattrocento). The Case Guinigi and the Guinigi Tower represent a marvellous example of Medieaval architecture in Lucca. The Case Guinigi were a group of mansions and towers where one of the most important families of the town, the Guinigi, lived. The enormous and beautifully conserved villas and gardens of the Lucca hills have become a major attraction for visitors to the town.

ABOUT THE DESTINATION: Florence is as vital and beautiful today as when its wool and silk merchants and bankers revolutionized the economy of 13th century Tuscany, and the art of Dante and Michelangelo stunned the world. Florence was the centre of the Italian Renaissance. The fruits of the city’s rebirth are still evident in its seemingly endless array of museums, churches and palazzi. With its historic centre classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Duomo, the elegant and beautiful cathedral, dominates the city and is an unmistakable reference point in your wanderings. The River Arno, which cuts through the oldest part of the city, is crowned with the Ponte Vecchio bridge lined with shops and held up by stilts. Dating back to the 14th century, it is the only bridge that survived attacks during WWII. Standing by the river at night, when the city is illuminated with a myriad twinkling lights, is unforgettable. But more remains of Florence’s incomparable heritage than stones and paint, the city’s indomitable spirit has also survived the centuries, ensuring Florentine life today its liveliness and sophistication.