Archive for 'Localities'

The Boboli gardens make up a fabulous park in Florence city and offer a stunning spot to visit to escape the crowds of the city. Stay in a gorgeous vacation rental in Florence where you can explore the treasures of this area.

The Boboli Gardens are a magnificent landscape that in many ways is an outdoor art museum. Many intricate sculptures line the pathways through this vast 111 acre property, dating between the 16th and 18th centuries.

They are located behind the Pitti Palace which was once the main residence of the Medici Grand Dukes of Tuscany.

Abbadia San Salvatore is a stunning commune in the province of Siena, situated in the Monte Amiata area. It’s a very popular summer and winter resort due to the many tourist attractions in the area and the skiing opportunities when snow falls heavily on the mountains. Its main economy was local metal mining in the area, namely mercury ore.

Stay in a pretty villa rental in Radicofani, only eight kilometres from Abbadia San Salvatore and explore your stunning surroundings for a few days!

Built on the foothills of Monte Retaia in Tuscany is the tourist city of Prato! The River Bisenzio, a tributary of the great River Arno, meanders through Prato and helps create a pleasant scene for visitors. Prato has been inhabited since Palaeolithic times and is believed to have been colonised by the Etruscans. It is now Tuscany’s second largest city after Florence and is home to the second largest Chinese population in Italy after Milan.

Check out some stunning Carmignano luxury villas, only twelve kilometres from Prato if you wish to stay in this area for a few days.

Textile manufacture made up quite a lot of Prato’s economy as can be seen from the informative textile museum here. Also of interest to history lovers is the Datini Archives on display here. This is a collection of books and manuscripts that belonged to a merchant called Francesco di Marco Datini.

Only forty kilometres south-east of Pisa is the little town of Lajatico which sits on a hilly terrain at the opening of Val di Chiana. There are quite a number of cute little villages that make up the Lajatico area. Tourists could easily walk around hamlets like Orciatico, Spedaletto and La Sterza and admire their quaint beauty. Book a gorgeous villa with swimming pool in Lajatico and soak in those hot sun rays!

Lajatico is undoubtedly most famous for being the birthplace of the world renowned Italian singer Andrea Bocelli. This singing sensation has not forgotten his roots either as he and several other creative founded a superb music event that takes place beside Lajatico every year in July.

Volterra is a haven of history and culture, set high up on a hill in Tuscany! This Neolithic settlement waged many brutal battles with Florence for dominance of the town and surrounding area.

There were many rebellions but after the fall of the Florentine Republic in 1530 it came under the rule of the powerful banking dynasty, the Medici family.

Stay in a pretty vacation villa in Volterra where you can quite easily enjoy the attractions of this area for a few days.