Looking at some of the Western world’s greatest artistic achievements – perhaps with time out for an excellent meal here and there – could well fill your days and nights in Tuscany and Umbria. There are, however, many other activities, from shopping to music festivals, with which to occupy your time.
Tuscan produce for sale in San Gimignano
Steve MacDonald/Apa Publications
Shopping
Whether it’s high fashion, stationery, leather goods, ceramics, or one of the other products for which Italy is justifiably famous, you will find a wide selection throughout the regions.
Florentine Favourites
High fashion. Florence is next to Milan for its fashion sense. Many fashion shows are held here in the winter, and many designers have boutiques in the city, concentrated on and around Via Tornabuoni and Via della Vigna Nuova. Yes, these shops are expensive, but most Italian designer goods – whether an Armani suit or a Gucci bag – are less expensive in Florence than they would be in London or New York.
Fabrics. Tuscany has produced quality woollens, linens and other fabrics for hundreds of years. Prato, just north of Florence, is home to many important producers. An important historic fabrics store in Florence is the Casa dei Tessuti (www.casadeitessuti.com) on Via de’ Pecori, a block away from the Duomo.
Gold and silver. Florentines are well known as silversmiths and goldsmiths, and they continue to dispense lovely jewellery from the expensive shops along the Ponte Vecchio. The Palazzo Pitti neighbourhood is a good spot to find silversmiths selling figurines, silverware and the like. You will also find many excellent jewellery shops on and around Via Tornabuoni, but what you won’t find, except perhaps at a flea market, is bargain prices.
Leather goods. A leather centre since the Middle Ages, Florence continues to delight visitors with its vast array of jackets, as well as gloves, bags, shoes and other accessories. You may be tempted by the array and the prices at the Mercato San Lorenzo and the Mercato Nuovo, but you’ll probably be less pleased with the quality. These markets are, however, good places to stock up on inexpensive and popular gifts, like lipstick cases and coin purses. An interesting place to shop for leather goods is the leather-working school attached to the church of Santa Croce (www.scuoladelcuoio.com). Some of the best shops are clustered along the Arno between the Ponte Vecchio and Via Tornabuoni.
Stationery. Paper goods are among the more interesting Florentine specialities. Journals, diaries, notebooks, decorative papers and the like are beautiful and well made. Some Florentine shops, such as Il Papiro (www.ilpapirofirenze.it) on Via dei Tavolini and Pineider (www.pineider.com) on Piazza de’Rucellai, sell their products across the globe, but their offerings tend to be less expensive here.
Other Regional Crafts
You will find enticing goods in most towns throughout these two regions. The following places are especially well known for the products of their artisans.
You will have no difficulty finding the famous brightly coloured and patterned Derutaware ceramics for which the Umbrian town of Deruta is well known. There are numerous shops in the Old Town and on the roads leading into it. You can see the ceramics being made in the Fabbrica Maioliche Tradizionali (www.maiolichepeccetti.com) workshop at Via Tiberina Nord 37.
Crafts for sale, Bagno di Vignoni
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Artisans from Gubbio perfected the art of glazing majolica centuries ago, and today the town remains one of Italy’s major ceramics centres. You can find excellent goods made by local artisans at various shops throughout town, including Fabbrica Mastro Giorgio, on Via Tifernate.
Dozens of shops around Volterra sell attractive alabaster objects. To see a nice representation of the output of the town’s alabaster artisans, visit the Cooperativa Artieri Alabastro (www.artierialabastro.it) on Piazza dei Priori.
Antiques and Flea Markets
Florence is one of Italy’s major antiques centres, with many shops clustered across the Arno from the centre of the city, around Via Maggio. For high-quality antiques or attic cast-offs, you may also want to browse in the antiques fairs and flea markets in the following towns.
Arezzo. Antiques fair, one of Italy’s largest, first weekend of every month in Piazza Grande.
Florence. Flea market every day in Piazza dei Ciompi. Artisan/flea market on Piazza Santo Spirito the second Sunday of the month (not in July and August). Huge fresh food/flea market in the Cascine Park on Tuesday morning.
Gubbio. Antiques fair, the third Sunday of the month.
Lucca. Antiques and flea market, one of Italy’s best-attended, third weekend each month in and around Piazza San Giusto.
Montepulciano. Artisan fair, the second weekend of the month in Piazza Grande.
Pistoia. Antiques fair along Via Cavour and Via Bozzi, the second weekend of the month (none in July and August).
Outlet Shopping
For serious bargain-hunters, Tuscany has two main outlet malls in the vicinity of Florence. Although they require a car or bus trip out of the city, dedicated shoppers can find significant discounts on their favourite Italian brands.
The Mall, Via Europa 8, Leccio Regello (daily 10am–7pm; www.themall.it). High-end stores include Armani, Bottega Veneta, Ermenegildo Zegna, Ferragamo, Gucci, Valentino and Roberto Cavalli, among others. Shuttle buses can be booked to take the 30-minute drive from Florence; or, for thriftier shoppers, SITA offers a public bus service that leaves approximately every 30 minutes from Florence’s bus depot near the railway station.
Barberino, Via Meucci SNC, Barberino del Mugello (daily 10am–8/9pm; www.mcarthurglen.com). Part of the worldwide McArthurGlen chain, Barberino offers a mixture of more than 100 high-end and mid-priced brands. You’ll find Adidas, Bruno Magli, Calzedonia, Coccinelle, D&G, Furla, Fornarina, Guess, Missoni, Pinko, Prada, Puma, Stefanel and United Colors of Benetton, among many others. Like The Mall, Barberino can be reached in about 30 minutes, either by shuttle bus or by the SITA bus service, which leaves from the bus depot near the main station in Florence.
Weekly Markets
Many Tuscans and Umbrians rely on their towns’ produce markets to stock up on everything from salami to shoelaces. Held at least weekly and sometimes more often in most towns of any size, markets afford travellers a chance to discover and sample local foods and observe local customs. Most are held in the morning.
Pickled delights
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Florence (Mercato Centrale and Piazza Sant’Ambrogio), Pisa (Piazza delle Vettovaglie) and Perugia (Piazza Matteotti) all have markets that are open every day except Sunday. Some of the larger markets in the region that are held weekly include: Assisi, Saturday; Cortona, Saturday; Gubbio, Tuesday; Montepulciano, Thursday; Orvieto, Thursday and Saturday; Pienza, Friday; Portoferraio (Elba), Friday; Prato, Monday; San Gimignano, Thursday and Saturday; Siena, Wednesday; Volterra, Saturday.
Sports and Outdoor Activities
With their long summers and pleasant autumns and springs, Tuscans and Umbrians have ample opportunity to spend time outdoors. Here are some pursuits in which you might want to join them.
Swimming. The most enjoyable swimming is from the beaches on Elba, especially from the unspoiled strands around the hamlets of Nisporto and Nisportino. The best of the beaches on the mainland are probably those around San Vincenzo, south of Livorno. There are several beaches on the shores of Lago di Trasimeno in Umbria, though they tend to be reedy; the best one is at Castiglione del Lago on the western shore.
Golf. There are plenty of golf courses in Tuscany and Umbria. One of the best in the region is Golf dell’Ugolino close to Impruneta in Chianti country, tel: (055) 230 1009, www.golfugolino.it; another is the Cosmopolitan Golf and Country Club, not far from Livorno, tel: (050) 33 633; www.cosmopolitangolf.it.
Hiking. In Tuscany, the mountainous regions of the northwest – the Garfagnana to the north of Lucca and the Apuan Alps around Carrara to the northwest – provide some of the most challenging hikes, with the town of Castelnuovo di Garfagnana making a good base. In the northeast, the rugged Apennine land of the Mugello is popular among hikers who follow the ‘Springs of Florence Trekking’ (SOFT) network, which consists of a huge central ring of trails and 22 secondary rings around the area. The tourist office in Borgo San Lorenzo (www.mugellotoscana.it/en) provides information on the different themed hikes, which can make for a few hours’ or days’ walking. In Umbria, the countryside around Spoleto is also good for hiking. Most tourist boards will provide a list of hikes in their area.
Hiking trail to Eremo di Montesiepi
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Horse-riding. The terrain along the Tuscan coast is quite popular with equestrians. Two stables are Rifugio Prategiano, in the town of Montieri near the city of Grosseto, tel: (0566) 997 700 and about a half-hour journey south of Florence at Val d’Este, Il Paretaio, tel: (055) 805 9218, www.Ilparetaio.it. A list of equestrian centres in the Province of Florence can be downloaded from www.firenzeturismo.it.
Spectator sports. Florence has a calcio (football) team that plays its home games at Stadio Artemio Franchi; tickets can be hard to come by but are available at the Club’s box office or online at www.ticketone.it. If you are in Florence on or around the feast of St John (late June), you may want to catch the Calcio in Costume, where you can see a rough-and-tumble medieval version of the game played in period costume.
Entertainment
Music and the Performing Arts
Tuscany and Umbria host a number of events showcasing music and the performing arts. Check with local tourist boards for lists of events; in many towns you may fortuitously stumble upon a one-evening-only concert or performance.
Florence has an autumn-to-spring schedule of concerts, operas and dance performances at its two major venues for the performing arts: the Teatro del Maggio, on Piazzale Vittorio Gui, and Teatro Verdi, on Via Ghibellina.
Tuscany and Umbria are favoured settings for many internationally renowned music festivals. Arezzo hosts a multi-day summer music festival featuring contemporary Italian and international artists. Città di Castello draws visitors from around the world for its Festival delle Nazioni di Musica da Camera (International Chamber Music Festival) during the last week of August/beginning of September. Fiesole holds summer concerts in the Roman amphitheatre. Florence now spreads its Maggio Musicale (Musical May) into June as well, hosting concerts and dance performances in palazzos, churches and other atmospheric venues around the city. Lucca stages a rock and jazz festival throughout July, which takes place in Piazza Napoleone. Nearby Torre del Lago was Puccini’s home and now hosts an opera festival in July and August dedicated to the famous composer.
Montepulciano hosts the Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte, a major music and theatre festival, in July. Perugia hosts two major musical festivals, Umbria Jazz in July and the Sagra Musicale Umbria in September. Pistoia’s Blues Festival, usually held in July, has become an important stop for international blues, jazz and rock artists. Spoleto’s Festival dei Due Mondi (Festival of Two Worlds) is one of the world’s most highly acclaimed musical events, drawing classical artists, dancers and others at the end of June/beginning of July.
Wine bars stay open late into the evening
Steve MacDonald/Apa Publications
Nightlife
Italians pursue a ‘piazza’ culture, spending much of their social lives out and about, rather than in the comfort of their homes. Although there is not the raging pub and club scene that can be found in other countries, the larger cities offer a lively variety of pubs, bars and nightclubs. You’ll also find plenty of cosy wine bars that offer a large wine and cheese selection and stay open late into the evening.
Appreciative of their agreeable weather, local people are also apt to go out for a stroll (passeggiata) either before or after dinner, often stopping off for a gelato.
Children’s Tuscany and Umbria
At first sight, Tuscany and Umbria do not appear an immediate choice for kids, but there are some child-friendly activities on offer. There are many good parks and nature reserves and numerous opportunities for horse-riding, cycling and swimming. Much of the coast is also great for children. The resorts of Viareggio and Elba are well set up, and most coastal cities have permanent funfairs. Finding a place to eat with the kids in tow is never a problem in Italy. The area is full of ice-cream parlours and child-friendly restaurants.
In Florence, the Egyptian collection at the Archaeological Museum (www.florence-museum.com) near the Accademia is full of mummies, and the Museo Galileo (www.museogalileo.it) near the Uffizi has working models of Galileo’s experiments. The Palazzo Vecchio offers child-friendly palace tours and fun workshops, such as fresco painting. The Boboli Gardens and the Cascine are the two main parks, where kids can let off steam, whilst one of the few children’s playgrounds is found in Piazza dell’Azeglio.
Fountains are fun
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At the Parco di Pinocchio at Collodi near Pisa (www.pinocchio.it) children can relive the adventures of the famous puppet. There is a small but interesting zoo in Pistoia (www.zoodipistoia.it). Many towns in Tuscany and Umbria have medieval towers to climb; at Lucca kids can ride a bike around the medieval walls, and there are funicular railways at Gubbio and Orvieto. Near Livorno, Cavallino Matto (www.cavallinomatto.it) is the largest theme park in the region, chock full with rides, games and shows.