Enjoy Tuscany creative organized vacations in Tuscany

Tuscany is an ideal destination for Green Tourism and Green Tours. Even more so is Chianti, with its hills, landscapes and local products, from wine and olive oil to traditional Tuscan cooking. The Tuscan coast is equally charming, from the Maremma to Versilia with its "spiagge bianche". To live in Tuscany, to live in Chianti, is a privilege granted to few, but an organized tour of Tuscany or Chianti is available to all. There is no better choice than to stay in the Tuscan countryside in a villa, a farmhouse, a farm holiday apartment or a comfortable Bed and Breakfast room, using you vacation accommodations as a base for tours throughout Tuscany on foot, by car, on horseback or bicycle, or in a sailing boat.

And then your relaxation time! "Merenda" in Tuscany is an appointment not to be missed: it means a light meal, usually consumed in the afternoon, that persuades the participants to remain at the table until supper and even later. The dishes are all simple and full of flavour: from ribollita soup or pappa di pomodoro, pecorino cheese with green beans, affettati (cold cuts) of prosciutto (ham), salame, salsicce (pork sausages) and finocchiona. All accompanied by saltless Tuscan bread and red wine - and also white wine, because in some zones of Tuscany, excellent white wines are also produced.

This brings us to the wine! Most famous throughout the world without doubt is Chianti Classico, recognisable everywhere by the black rooster emblem which is a symbol of Chianti, originating from a mediaeval legend of the wars between Siena and Florence. But Tuscany has an infinity of the best and famous wines, ranging from Brunello to Rosso di Montalcino, from the Bianco Vergine of the Val di Chiana to the Vernaccia di San Gimignano, from the Montecarlo di Lucca to the Morellino di Scansano and a thousand others. Obviously, to accompany these wines, excellent food is required. Florentine beefsteak is the Tuscan dish par excellence but it is certainly not alone: dishes range from the inimitable ribollita to farro soup, from minestre di verdura (vegetable soup) to sauces made from wild boar, hare, rabbit and duck, often poured over the homemade ribbon pasta or pici. And then there are roasts of rabbit, chicken, wild boar or pork, steamed dishes of capon, chicken, rabbit and again wild boar, plus game cooked in a thousand traditional ways with the flavour of bay, sage and rosemary. And let's not forget the fish: sea bream, scampi, mixed sea food frittura (paranza). Tuscan seas teem with fish and these fish are particularly tasty.

Regarding traditions: Tuscany is the native land of popular festivities, feasts, jousts, folksongs and dances. At least once in a lifetime, anyone who has the opportunity should see the breathtaking Palio horse race of Siena, and participate in all the activities that are associated with that spectacular event. In addition, there are literarily hundreds of popular festivities throughout the year in Tuscany, ranging from the Giostra of the Saracino at Arezzo, the Gioco of the Bridge at Pisa, to the Mediaeval "soccer match" at Florence.

The past has left us an extraordinary heritage of monuments, castles, historical centres and works of art densely scattered across Tuscany, the land of the Etruscans, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance - especially the Renaissance. Tour Tuscany now!