Archive for 'Pretty Views'

Museums, galleries, palaces, restaurants, wineries: these are probably the locations that first come to mind when picturing spending time in Tuscany. However, that beautiful and iconic landscape that Tuscany is famous for needs to be ventured out into and explored. Driving around or heading to outdoor activities like kayaking, zip lining, horse riding, and more are one way to experience it but an excellent way to see the landscape at its most beautiful is by going hiking. One particularly lovely place to go hiking is Pania della Croce.

This mountain in the Apuan Alps is the highest peak in the Panie Group, located not far from the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea and boasts views over Monviso, Monte Amiata, Corsica and the coastline on very clear days. For those who have found a holiday rental in Lucca or a villa rental on the Tuscan Coast, and who are looking to take in the majestic natural beauty of Tuscany, it is the perfect spot for a hike.

The landscape of Tuscany is always beautiful but each season boasts particular charms; the impossible technicolour of lush green lawns, sprinkled flowers, and blue skies of Summer, the golden tones and heavy vines of Autumn, the stark appeal and fogs of Winter, and, of course, the stunning fields of colourful blooms in Spring. Tuscany is especially lovely under a blanket of flowers so why not go ahead and find a vacation rental in Tuscany and explore the rolling hills and sleepy villages under a spell of blooms from the beginning of Spring right through Summer? If you are planning a trip over the coming months, these are the areas and flowers that you should keep an eye out for as you wander the region....

1. Foreste Casentinesi National Park

This national park is always a natural beauty and incredible nature reserve but it is even more amazing during Spring when the snowy white narcissus anemone, purple saxifrage, and red bilberry all start to sprout up among the maple and spruce trees like a rainbow-coloured blanket.

If you have found a vacation rental in Siena and are enjoying the sights of the city but are looking to spend a day or a few hours getting lost in nature, enjoying beautiful natural surroundings, and relaxing away from the hustle and bustle of humans, then you should head to the small village of San Giovanni d'Asso. There you will find the Bosco della Ragnaia, or Ragnaia Forest, which is a rather special and unique public park.

This magical place was designed by the American architect and landscape designer Sheppard Craige and created in 1996. The park is made up of wooded paths, a natural amphitheatre formed from cypresses and hedges, plenty of little sculptures – many humorous – dotted throughout and hidden here and there, gardens, water features, and moss-covered plaques with interesting quotes and messages in several languages. It is the perfect place to get a little lost, wander, and stumble upon surprise after surprise along the way.

If you have found a vacation rental in Livorno and are driving along the coastal road by the Tyrrhenian Sea, you will round a corner 9km down the road and take in the incredibly evocative sight of the lovely Boccale Castle. Located just south of the Antignano district, along the road to Quercianella, the castle is romantically and dramatically perched on top of a stop cliff on the Etruscan coast in a cove called the Cala dei Pirati (or “Den of Pirates”).

This charming castle was originally built as a defensive structure that was intended as a method of protecting the area from marine attacks, particularly those by pirates and other clans or rulers that might be contesting ownership of the lands in the area at any given time. The oldest part of the building dates back to the 16th century and was a Medici-built lookout tower but the complex that exists as we see it today resulted from building works that took place in the 19th and the 20th centuries.

The Crete Senesi presents the most iconic and beautiful of Tuscan landscapes, those that one sees on postcards and in travel guides. These are the rolling hills, the hilltop towns made of stone, the long and lonely country roads lined by proud and tall cypress trees, the golden fields of hay, and the broiling fog sweeping over it all in the mornings, only to clear away and reveal infinite vistas across the whole thing by afternoon. These are the images of Tuscany that have captured the minds and hearts of so many over the centuries and continue to do so. If you have found a vacation rental in Tuscany, no matter where you are staying, in the countryside or a city, you should make sure to hop in a car, venture out into that landscape and take the magic perfection of it in for yourself.