Stephen Brewer - Frommers EasyGuide to Florence and Tuscany

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AN IMPORTANT NOTE

The world is a dynamic place. Hotels change ownership, restaurants hike their prices, museums alter their opening hours, and busses and trains change their routings. And all of this can occur in the several months after our authors have visited, inspected, and written about, these hotels, restaurants, museums and transportation services. Though we have made valiant efforts to keep all our information fresh and up-to-date, some few changes can inevitably occur in the periods before a revised edition of this guidebook is published. So please bear with us if a tiny number of the details in this book have changed. Please also note that we have no responsibility or liability for any inaccuracy or errors or omissions, or for inconvenience, loss, damage, or expenses suffered by anyone as a result of assertions in this guide.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Stephen Brewer has been savoring Italian pleasures ever since he sipped his first cappuccino while a student in Rome many, many years ago (togas had just gone out of fashion). He has written about Italy for many magazines and guidebooks and began spending many happy days at a house outside Cortona long before a neighbor decided to write a book about the town. He remains transported in equal measure by the Campo in Siena, the Piero della Francesca frescoes in Arezzo, the facade of the Duomo in Orvieto, and all the countryside in between.

Donald Strachan is a travel journalist who has written about Italy for publications worldwide, including "National Geographic Traveller," "The Guardian," "Sunday Telegraph," CNN.com , and many others. He has also written several Italy guidebooks for Frommer's, including "Frommer's Easy Guide to Rome, Florence, and Venice." For more information, see www.donaldstrachan.com .

ABOUT THE FROMMERs TRAVEL GUIDES

For most of the past 50 years, Frommer's has been the leading series of travel guides in North America, accounting for as many as 24 percent of all guidebooks sold. I think I know why.

Although we hope our books are entertaining, we nevertheless deal with travel in a serious fashion. Our guidebooks have never looked on such journeys as a mere recreation, but as a far more important human function, a time of learning and introspection, an essential part of a civilized life. We stress the culture, lifestyle, history, and beliefs of the destinations we cover and urge our readers to seek out people and new ideas as the chief rewards of travel.

We have never shied from controversy. We have, from the beginning, encouraged our authors to be intensely judgmental, criticalboth pro and conin their comments, and wholly independent. Our only clients are our readers, and we have triggered the ire of countless prominent sorts, from a tourist newspaper we called "practically worthless" (it unsuccessfully sued us) to the many rip-offs we've condemned.

And because we believe that travel should be available to everyone regardless of their incomes, we have always been cost-conscious at every level of expenditure. Although we have broadened our recommendations beyond the budget category, we insist that every lodging we include be sensibly priced. We use every form of media to assist our readers and are particularly proud of our feisty daily website, the award-winning Frommers.com.

I have high hopes for the future of Frommer's. May these guidebooks, in all the years ahead, continue to reflect the joy of travel and the freedom that travel represents. May they always pursue a cost-conscious path, so that people of all incomes can enjoy the rewards of travel. And may they create, for both the traveler and the persons among whom we travel, a community of friends, where all human beings live in harmony and peace.

Arthur Frommer

The Best of Florence & Tuscany

A s the cradle of the Renaissance, Tuscanyand its easygoing neighbor, Umbriaboast some of the worlds most captivating art and architecture, from the sublime sculpture of Michelangelo to paintings by Botticelli and Leonardo, to rural hilltop towns and the noble palazzi of Florence. Yet Tuscany isnt all churches and palaces and galleries. These are regions of lush landscapes, the snow-capped Apennine mountains, and olive groves and vineyards that produce prized oils and famous wines. Every drive or country walk is a photo-op waiting to happen.

The artistic treasures of Florence have been dragging visitors to the city for hundreds of yearsits show-stopping cathedral dome, giant David, and Uffizi are genuine bucket-list attractions. The picturesque, narrow streets of Siena and San Gimignano ooze medieval history, while Pisa s Leaning Tower is a curiously unsettling sight, however many times youve seen pictures of it. Its straightforward to add a side trip into Umbria, for the Basilica di San Francesco in Assisi and one of Italys marquee painting collections at the Galleria Nazionale, in cosmopolitan Perugia.

The most cherished pastime of most Italians is eating. If the weather is fine and youre dining outdoors, perhaps with a view of a medieval church or piazza, youll find the closest thing to food heaven. But theres no genuine national cuisine hereand even within Tuscany and Umbria, each city has its own recipes handed down through generations. Food is always a joy, whether you dine in one of the fine osterias of Florence, or just grab a crisp, fatty porchetta sandwich at a weekly Umbrian farmers market. Try the olive oilits like sipping liquidized olives straight off the tree (and its famously low in acidity). Sample the gelato in Florence, Baci chocolates in Perugia, and Prato s crunchy biscuits, cantuccini. Then theres the wine: not just the Chianti, but the mighty Brunellos of Montalcino, Sagrantino from Montefalco, and subtle white wines of Orvieto that once took pride of place at the Roman emperors table.

Central Italys complex recorded history begins with the Etruscans, a heritage best explored today in Volterra and Orvieto, and at the civic museum in Cortona. The legacy of painter Piero della Francesca is preserved in Arezzo s San Francesco church and a fine museum in Sansepolcro. The regions contemporary culture is best represented by the eclectic Spoleto Festival and Perugia s annual jazz fest, as well as the bars and nightlife along Florences Left Bank.