Vespa Tour: Tuscan Hills and Italian Cuisine, Florence Italy
Zip from Florence through the Tuscan Hills on a vintage Vespa and dine on a delicious, Italian meal.
Saddle up on your vintage Vespa in Florence and follow your guide into the Tuscan hills on this classic Italian adventure. You’ll pause at the Church of San Miniato al Monte to admire its architecture and artwork as well as the stunning view of Florence below. Then, enjoy a multicourse Tuscan meal on a private terrace before riding back to Florence in style.
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Florence, Italy: Church of San Miniato and Piazzale Michelangelo
More info about travel to Florence: For a thousand years, Florence's Church of San Miniato — still part of a functioning Benedictine monastery — has blessed the city that lies at the foot of its hill. While San Miniato comes with commanding Florentine vistas, the nearby Piazzale Michelangelo, marked by its towering statue of David, is the city's most popular viewpoint.
At you'll find money-saving travel tips, small-group tours, guidebooks, TV shows, radio programs, podcasts, and more on this destination.
Tuscookany, cooking vacations in Tuscany have fun and learn how to cook in Italy.
Tuscookany, cooking classes in Torre Del Tartufo Tuscany.
Learn to cook many Italian dishes while on holiday in Italy.
Have fun and meet new friends from all over the world.
Certaldo - Tuscany - I Like Italy
Certaldo is not far from Florence, in the middle of the valley of the Elsa river. Certaldo is the home town of Boccaccio, one of the greatest italian writer ever.
Certaldo means history, tradition and art, and it's a mandatory step for all the visitors of Tuscany.
Certaldo was founded in 1164, with the building of the old castle, when Federico Barbarossa gave the territory to the family of Conti Alberti. In XIII century Certaldo was conquered from Florence and from that century the history of Certaldo became strongly related to the Florence history.
The old castle is seat in the high part of the town, and nowadays it still preserves the medieval structures of the streets and buildings.
One of the main buildings is the Palazzo Pretorio, the symbol of Certaldo. It is the rest of the ancient castle of the Conti Alberti. Nowadays it's the seat of a gallery of modern art.
Close to the Palace there is the Church of Santi Jacopo e Filippo, in a perfect romanesque-style. It was builded in XIII century and nowadays it host the museum of Holy Art. Inside the old church there are the remains of Boccaccio.
The main street of the old town is Via Boccaccio, where we can find the house of the writer, completely re-builded after the second world war, and nowadays it's the seat of an important Library dedicated to Boccaccio.
In the old town there is also the palace Stiozzi Ridolfi, it was builded in XIV century. It is completely inside the old castle, with two towers and a big court.
Three gates still assure the access to the old castle: Porta al Sole, Porta Alberti and Porta del Rivellino.
The whole area of Certaldo is covered by history. In fact there are several outstanding buildings just outside the town, like the ruins of the Castle of Pogni.
The Castle of Pogni was one of the most powerful outpost of the Alberti dinasty. Now we can admire only a broken tower and some ruins of the old palace.
The Church of San Lazzaro a Lucardo was builded in X century. It's a classic example of romanesque-style church, with three naves and a basilica-like base. Maybe the most important romanesque-style building of the whole valley.
The Chapel of San Michele Arcangelo is close to Certaldo and it was builded in 1597, by Santi Tito. It's a perfect scale down (1:8) of the Florence Dome and nowadays it's the only remains of the old town of Semifonte.
The main yearly event of Certaldo is Mercantia, in july. A festival of street theatre and local craftsmanship. It's a very famous event, where it's possible to merge music, dance, theatre and cfraftsmanship, framed by the medieval old town.
Street artists from all the world are guests of the city for five days and the event involves hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.
For our journeys of the taste we'd like to underline one of the most famous high-quality product of Certaldo, the Bianchetto (little white) truffle.
The gathering of this kind of truffle is usually in march (for this reason it's called Marzoulo too)
This kind of truffle is not estemeed as the white truffle of San Miniato, gathered in november.
The size of the Marzuolo is usually smaller, with a strong good smell. It's a good ingredient for Tuscan recipes, because it's tasty but cheaper then the San Miniato's truffle.
Tuscany, Italy One Day Trip Travel Guide
Watch me hunt for white truffles in the Tuscan countryside, taste famous organic wine and check out killer views!
➜ I booked this tour with:
➜ Get $40 now for AirBNB and live in a charming local apartment and save money over pricey hotels:
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Tuscan Truffle Hunting Tour in San Miniato details:
- The pickup time was at 10 am in front of the National Library which was an easy 15 min walk from our AirBNB.
- I booked the excursion online. The excursion costs 350 euros for two people.
- Came with a 3 course lunch with truffles and wine tasting
- If you have a car and just want to join the truffle hunting, you can do that. There was a couple in our tour that drove here themselves. They said they found them online and booked it on their own. - I also read that leaving from the San Miniato train station takes about a 15 minute taxi ride that costs €25 each way. It takes about 30 minutes to take the train from Florence.
- DO BORROW their boots because the forest is often muddy.
- October and November has the best climate for truffle hunting. Although I'm here in October, today wasn't the best climate for truffle hunting because it wasn't cold and wet enough.
Truffle Hunting Dog Details!
In Italy, the use of pigs has been prohibited since 1985. The pigs dig into the ground looking for truffles and harms the entire truffle ecosystem in the process. With dogs, they can smell the truffle and alert their owners. The owner then carefully digs up the truffle and then closes the hole back up for future truffles to grow back. Dogs like Choco cost up to $10,000 US!
Next stop: wine tasting!
This winery started in 1535. They not only produce wines - they also produce olives. They breed Cinta Senese to produce salami and prosciutto. Cinta Senese is a breed of Italian pig from the province of Siena, in Tuscany. They also produce honey and produce and everything is organic!
The big barrels can be reused for 15 to 16 years. These barrels are huge! The big barrow gives the wine a freshness and fruitier taste. The small barrels are only used for 3 years. After 3 years the barrel absorbs too much wine to be reused.
The green glass on top of the barrel allows the gas created by fermentation to escape while not allowing air back in. This cool contraption was invented by Leonardo Da Vinci.
After the tour we got to taste their wines along with some salami and prosciutto. They add fennel seeds into the salami. It was very good!
Why does Florence, Italy bread have no salt?
The bread made in this region of Italy has no salt added. I didn't know that as it was my first time trying saltless bread. I'll have to admit I like my bread with some sodium. Bread from Tuscany and Florentine and maybe some other places near by don't add salt to their bread. There are many reasons for this: I don't know which one is true. But here goes: salt used to be heavily taxed so to save some money they stopped adding salt to their bread. Another reason is during war between Pisa and Florence the Pisan army set up a blockade on the Arno River to prevent salt shipments from reaching Florence. Without salt, bakers just continued baking their bread without the salt. Last reason is Tuscan cuisine tend to be on the saltier side so the bread is to help eat the salty food.
Final STOP: Plaza Michelangelo. He was willing to drop us off there instead so we can catch the sunset.
It was nice because this place was on my list to visit and it saved me a hike up the hill to get there.
The view up here is amazing! You can see the entire city of Florence from here. It was a bit cloudy to see the sunset, but it was still very nice.
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Music by: Nicolai Heidlas - When You're Gone
Walking the Best of Tuscany | Italy's Via Francigena | UTracks
Italy's Via Francigena has experienced a recent revival and is now one of the most exciting pilgrimage trails in Europe. View tours:
On this section of the Camino trail to Rome, combine well-known towns including Siena and San Gimignano, with charming hamlets such as San Miniato, to discover the very best of the Tuscan Via Francigena in a single week.
Starting in San Miniato, one of the hidden pearls of the Via Francigena, this itinerary takes you through a region of extraordinary beauty. From the thousand year old Pieve di Chianni, to the crenellated towers of Monteriggioni, to finally reach spectacular Siena, this walk will continue to amaze you.
With achievable daily distances ranging from 13 to 24 km (7.5 to 15mi), enjoy wonderful views as you walk and discover fortified hamlets where time seems to have stopped.
The landscape is not the only highlight. At meal times, savour the local cuisine including the precious white truffle of San Miniato, the pici of Siena and the saffron of San Gimignano, while at night stay in quality, handpicked hotels and agriturismi, the perfect blend of comfort on an active Italian holiday.
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Walking or cycling, 2-star or 4-star, small group or self guided, land, river or sea - UTracks can help you explore Europe exactly the way you want. Learn more at
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San Miniato (Tuscany) capital of white truffle (Tuber Magnatum Pico)
San Miniato is a small medieval town located in the heart of Tuscany and deservedly listed as one of the undisputed capitals of the White Truffle.
By truffleintuscany.it
Truffle Academy Tuscany hunting polowanie na truffle San Miniato Toskania Italy
polowanie na truffle ,nauka ich przygotowania, san miniato toskania
Tuffle cooking class with Paolo Fiaschi (Papaveri e Papere restaurant in San Miniato)
WWW.TRUFFLEINTUSCANY.IT : We want to tell you about the White Truffle of San Miniato: the magic of its research, its history, the legends which recall its myth and its uses in the kitchen! We look forward to welcoming you...
Truffle in Tuscany: truffle and wine experience
The ultimate Tuscan and wine experience: cooking class with White truffle and local wine.
Play Your Tuscany - Lucca
Art for foodies: discovering Lucca and its surroundings, enjoying sightseeings, exploring flavours and creating traditional recipes with our own hands!
Video realized by GRAM production (gramproduction.com)
This video is part of the Play Your Tuscany project, a way to help bloggers, video and photomakers to play, love and enjoy our amazingly rich land! Find out more and apply for next tours at playyourtuscany.com
Play Your Tuscany - Tastes Off the Beaten Track
Join us on a journey across Tuscany off the beaten “taste”, to discover some of the traditional products and specialties and their stories, wandering through cobblestone paths, chestnut forests, olive groves, centuries-old fortresses and small villages.
Check out all the articles, pics and videos from the blog tour here:
Video by Gabriele Montagni
Cooking in Florence on a Rick Steves Tour
With so many travelers into food these days, food tours and cooking classes have become a big deal all over Europe. And a cooking class is a perfect example of how we, as part of our bus tours, encourage our travelers to roll up their sleeves and dig into the local culture through real experiences. I love to bump into our tours while in Europe doing my research. And just the other day I met one of our Venice/Florence/Rome groups and joined them for lunch. The catch? We had to cook it ourselves. Fun and enthusiastic Fabrizio (of the In Tavola Cooking School) had five mini-kitchens set up for our group where he and his staff led us through a marvelous 90 minutes of cooking fun. And, I swear, the food was as good as anything you might expect in a fine restaurant. Plus, knowing that we had made the bruschetta, pasta, sauce, chicken, and even the tiramisu ourselves, made it taste even better. What favorite food-tour and cooking-class memories do you have from your European travels?
At you'll find money-saving travel tips, small-group tours, guidebooks, TV shows, radio programs, podcasts, and more on Florence.
San Miniato al Monte
The church of San Miniato al Monte is often described as one of the finest examples of Romanesque churches in all of Italy. With a famous façade, historical setting, and spectacular views it’s difficult to disagree.
LDM NEWS ( is a video publishing project of the Istituto Lorenzo De’ Medici.
We spotlight people, places and events in Florence, with a focus on student life and tips to make this magical city feel like a second home.
Fignano - Montaione - Florence - Italy
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Music by ILoveMyPiano73
Set among the green hills of Tuscan countryside, 3 Km far from the small medieval village of Montaione, are displaced the holiday cottages of Fignano.. The 3 villas forming this building complex are inside a vast park, well cured and with an unique charm. The fitting level is matchless among the other structures nearby: each fitting has been carefully planned and cured for both architectural structure and interior furniture.
Every kind of comfort is at our guests' disposal, such as sat-TV, fireplace with firewood, dishwasher in every kitchen, Jacuzzi bathtub, mosquito nets, electric fan in each bedroom; outdoor the relax is assured with solarium and swimming pool, where you can spend moments of perfect peace. In La Valle you can play tennis free (with booking). Each house has the Lan connection that let you use Internet with your personal Notebook.
For privacy and security of our guests, the area is fully enclosed, the entrance gate is automatic.
At our guests' disposal there are also season fruit and vegetables growing in the garden area reserved for cultivation.
Those who want to combine relax with other activities surely will be not disappointed; Montaione surroundings offer several choices: it is possible to plan horse riding, MTBike ride, golf playing, wine-and other farm products-tasting. Nearby there are many interesting towns and villages: San Gimignano, San Miniato and Volterra are just few min far by car, Florence, Siena, Pisa and Lucca are reachable in less than 1 h.
The extraordinary beauty of the surrounding landscapes, the high levels of comfort and the strategic position close to many important centers of artistic and historical interest, thus make a stay in the farmhouse Fignano an occasion that cannot be renounced in the rich selection of rental villa accommodations proposed by Tuscany.
The extraordinary beauty of the surrounding landscapes, the high levels of comfort and the strategic position close to many important centers of artistic and historical interest, thus make a stay in the farmhouse Fignano an occasion that cannot be renounced in the rich selection of rental villa accommodations proposed by Tuscany.
Castelvecchio Painting Course - Tuscany Italy.
Testimonial from Anna about her painting holiday in Tuscany with Chris Fothergill and David Durston.
Truffle Hunting in Tuscany with Valentino Berni of Azienda Loghi
Here are a few videos we took during our truffle hunting with Valentino Berni of Loghi Farm & Vineyards (Azienda Loghi) near Montalcino in Tuscany last November! Check out for my blog post and for more info on Valentino (and Elena)!
San Miniato
Last Sunday we went to the 40th Annual White Truffle Festival at San Miniato. Here are some images of this beautiful town and the wonderful food that was on offer.
La Valle - Montaione - Florence - Italy
website:
Music by ILoveMyPiano73
In the hearth of Tuscany, less than 1 km far from the center of the small medieval village of Montaione, are displaced the holiday cottages of La Valle.
The green meadows, the red terracotta-tiled floors and the colored flowers surround the six houses of this structure. They date back to the twentieth century and even if the typical Tuscan country style has been maintained (it is appreciated all over the world) in 1989 they have been completely restructured and now they are a very nice place for your holidays.
All the services are offered with cordiality and professionalism; we have been working in this field for 15 years and this is a guarantee for our guests. In 2004 all the cottages were restructured: new bathrooms and pieces of furniture, more modern electric household appliances; obviously everything matches with the typical atmosphere of La Valle and its architectural setting.
Every kind of comfort is at our guests' disposal such as kitchen with kitchenware and electric household appliances, sat-Tv, direct telephone, fireplace with firewood, mosquito nets, electric fan in each bedroom outdoor the relax is assured with tennis court, solarium and two swimming-pools where you can spend moments of perfect peace. Each house has the Lan connection that let you use Internet with your personal Notebook.
There are also season fruit and vegetables growing in the garden area reserved for cultivation and a wine cellar for the sale of virgin oil and different wines produced in the farm: red wine (Chianti, I.G.T. Toscano) and Rosato.
Those who want to combine relax with other activities surely will not be disappointed; Montaione surroundings offer several choices: it is possible to plan horse riding, Mt-Bike ride, golf playing, wine - and other farm products - tasting. Nearby there are many interesting towns and villages: San Gimignano, San Miniato and Volterra are just few minutes far by car, Florence, Siena, Pisa and Lucca are reachable in less than 1 h.
Choosing the farmhouse La Valle as the venue for a pleasant stay in Tuscany, you're guaranteed comfort of a holiday in a rent apartment immersed in a really charming atmosphere, plus the opportunity to easily reach many areas of tourist interest situated near the medieval village of Montaione, in the beautiful Florentine countryside.
Choosing the farmhouse La Valle as the venue for a pleasant stay in Tuscany, you're guaranteed comfort of a holiday in a rent apartment immersed in a really charming atmosphere, plus the opportunity to easily reach many areas of tourist interest situated near the medieval village of Montaione, in the beautiful Florentine countryside.
ITALY VLOG - WEDDING DAY!!! | FLORENCE 2015
My brother's wedding day in Florence, Italy!!!
September 2015