Rick Steves - Rick Steves Florence & Tuscany (Rick Steves Travel Guide)

FLORENCE & TUSCANY

Rick Steves & Gene Openshaw

Travel is intensified livingmaximum thrills per minute and one of the last great sources of legal adventure. Travel is freedom. Its recess, and we need it.

I discovered a passion for European travel as a teen and have been sharing it ever sincethrough my bus tours, public television and radio shows, and travel guidebooks. Over the years, Ive taught millions of travelers how to best enjoy Europes blockbuster sightsand experience Back Door discoveries that most tourists miss.

Written with my talented co-author, Gene Openshaw, this book offers a balanced mix of Florences rich cultural heritage and the romantic charm of Tuscanys time-passed villages. Its selective: Rather than listing dozens of hill towns, we recommend only the best ones. And its in depth: Our self-guided museum tours and city walks provide insight into the regions vibrant history and todays living, breathing culture.

We advocate traveling simply and smartly. Take advantage of our money- and time-saving tips on sightseeing, transportation, and more. Try local, characteristic alternatives to expensive hotels and restaurants. In many ways, spending more money only builds a thicker wall between you and what you traveled so far to see.

We visit Tuscany to experience itto become temporary locals. Thoughtful travel engages us with the world, as we learn to appreciate other cultures and new ways to measure quality of life.

Judging by the positive feedback we receive from readers, this book will help you enjoy a fun, affordable, and rewarding vacationwhether its your first trip or your tenth.

Buon viaggio! Happy travels!

Florence is Europes cultural capital. As the home of the Renaissance and the birthplace of the modern world, Florence practiced the art of civilized living back when the rest of Europe was rural and crude. The proud and energetic Florentines of the 1400s championed democracy, science, and literature as well as painting, sculpture, and architecture.

When the Florentine poet Dante first saw the teenaged Beatrice, her beauty so inspired him that he spent the rest of his life writing poems to her. In the same way, the Renaissance opened peoples eyes to the physical beauty of the world around them, inspiring them to write, paint, sculpt, and build.

The result is that Florence today offers you a brimming bucket list of art, topped by Michelangelos David and Botticellis Birth of Venus. As for architecture, nothing tops the Duomos heavenly dome, designed by Brunelleschi. Gilding the lily, Ghiberti created the glorious Gates of Paradise for the churchs Baptistery.

Blessed with a wealth of riches, Florence has historic churches (like Santa Croce), masterpiece chapels (Michelangelos Medici and Masaccios Brancacci), palaces large and small (Pitti and Vecchio), and a surprising range of museums (from Fra Angelicos San Marco monastery, to Ferragamo fashion, to the Galileo Science Museum).

The city has so many sights and tourists that at times it feels like a Renaissance theme park. But where else can you stroll the same pedestrian streets walked by Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Botticelli while savoring Italys best gelato?

Look beyond the sights to experience the city, too, with its lively squares and bustling markets, such as Mercato Centrale, a produce and foodie hall all in one. Head across the historic, shop-lined Ponte Vecchio bridge spanning the Arno River to explore the bohemian Oltrarno neighborhood and glimpse artisans at work. Above it all is Piazzale Michelangelo, awarding visitors with a stunning view of the citys tiled rooftops, elegant bridges, and sublime dome.

Florence is a different city at nightit feels smaller, quieter, and more romantic. For dinner, stroll the back streets to find that perfect wine bar or restaurant. Try hearty Tuscan specialties: bean soup (ribollita), wild boar (cinghiale), and T-bone steak (bistecca alla fiorentina).

The citys compact urban center, short on open spaces, can easily exhaust travelers who feel obligated to see as many museums as possible. Sightsee selectively. And to round out your trip, leave the city behind and explore the green, serene Tuscan countryside. Breathe...slow down...enjoy.

Tuscany is our romantic image of Italy, with manicured fields, rustic farms, cypress-lined driveways, and towns clinging to nearly every hill. This is one part of Italy where I recommend traveling by carits the best way to lace together the views, villages, and vineyards.

The regions sunny, wine-soaked villages each have their own appeal and claim to fame: Volterra (Etruscan ruins), San Gimignano (towers), Montepulciano (artisans), Pienza (tidy Renaissance-planned streets), and Montalcino (wine). Connoisseurs visit Tuscany to sample the great local wines at classy wineries elegantly tucked into rolling hills.

Florence has Italys best gelato. Piazzale Michelangelo awards visitors with a stunning panorama.

Experiencing Italys Renaissance

Imagine: In Florence you can sleep in a 16th-century monastery-hotel thats just a block from Michelangelos David, around the corner from Brunelleschis famous cathedral dome, and down the street from the tombs of the great Medici art patrons. Florence boasts more artistic masterpieces per square mile than any place I can think of.

Before the Renaissance, Europeans spent about 1,000 years in a cultural slumber. Most art was made to serve the Church, and man played only a bit parttypically as a sinner. But around 1400, starting in Florence, everything began to change. The new Renaissance Man shaped his own destiny and was no longer a mere plaything of the supernatural. Belief in the importance of the individual skyrocketed.

Wealthy familieslike the Medici, who ruled Florence for generations showed their civic pride by commissioning great art. Never before had artists been asked to do so much or given so much money and freedom.

The most successful artistslike Leonardo, Michelangelo, Botticelli, and Raphaelachieved celebrity status. In their pursuit of realism in painting and sculpture, these Renaissance greats merged art and science. They studied anatomy like doctors, nature like biologists, and the laws of perspective like mathematicians. With the Renaissance, artists rediscovered the beauty of the human body, expressing the optimism of this new humanistic age.