Exciting days out in Tuscany

Our selfcatering accomodation is ideally positioned for exploring Tuscany. Our sightseeing page offers useful tourist information on tours, days out, events & attractions. Here you will find all the best activities and things to do in Pisa, Lucca, Florence and Siena.

Local Attractions in Tuscany

There is a Puccini museum in the village of Celle and a restaurant within easy walking distance. There are many restaurants in the area but a car is required (5 mins) The whole area is rich in historic and cultural interest.

Day Trips Around Tuscany

Lucca is a charming city approx 30 minutes by car and is the most civilized of Tuscany's cities, a stately grid of Roman roads snug behind a mammoth belt of tree-topped battlements. It's home to Puccini and soft pastel plasters, an elegant landscape of churches and palaces, delicate facades, and Art Nouveau shop fronts on wide promenades.

Piazza of the Amphitheatre. This ancient site constitutes one of the most characteristic and original monuments of the city. The ancient amphitheatre dates from the 2nd century A.D. It was built on an elliptical plan with two rows of 54 arcades and a maximum capacity of 10,000 spectators. Beginning in the Middle Ages, houses were built over the ruins. Over the course of time the piazza developed its characteristic elliptical shape, with buildings all around it. The ancient remains are still quite evident today. The colorful piazza was restored in 1830. Enlivened by shops and cafes, it is still at the center of cultural activities, music festivals, and fairs.

Florence is the most romantic and friendly city you could ever visit. Only about an hour and a halfs journy by car or train, Florence is a city filled with the art, great food, and the warmest people. On a day trip wander around its streets, stopping for coffee in hidden piazzas, window shopping in Via Tornabuoni and visiting the magnificent Uffizi gallery, the home of Renaissance art. Everyone should visit Florence once in their lifetime! You won't be sorry!

Siena - During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries it flourished as one of the major cities of Europe, growing rich from banking and the wool trade. The fourteenth century saw a great amount of building; the Duomo, Palazzo Pubblico and the Campo were all begun then, but in 1348 the Black Death struck and this, together with subsequent political upheaval, saw the beginning of a drastic downturn in Siena's fortunes.

The city became little more than a rural market centre, and, as with San Gimignano, it was the growth of tourism that saw a return to wealth and prominence. Indeed, it was exactly this marked decline that accounts for the incredible state of mediaeval preservation that Siena exhibits today.

San Gimignano is probably the most famous small town in Italy, and there are few places that evoke the atmosphere of mediaeval Tuscany so powerfully. Only fifteen of the original seventy-two towers survive - towers that represented wealth and influence more than defence and security - the higher the tower, the richer your family.

Camaiore town is a Historic town with important monuments such as the collegiate church of Maria Assunta (13th cent.) with the 14th cent. bell tower and the 7th cent. Benedictine Abbey; nearby is the hamlet of La Pieve with the ancient Romanesque church founded in 816 a.D. The resort of Lido di Camaiore: is situated along the seaside in the greenery of parks and gardens with a characteristic terraced. In May/June Camaiore has a carpet festival. The pavements are made into carpets by sifting coloured chalks on the ground to form intricate patterns. Fascinating to watch and so cleverly done. This is only for one day!

Viareggio is around 45 minutes by car from Celle and is a must if you visit in summer. There is a very nice promenade along the sea shore (about 3km) full of shops (Benetton, Gucci, Sisley, etc.), open 9pm-11pm in Summer. While strolling, buy take away slices of pizza at 'La Rusticanella' and enjoy the best ice cream at 'Viel'; avoid restaurants and pizzerie on the promenade

Abetone is one and a half hours drive from Celle and is considered to be the most important ski resort of the Centre of Italy. It is known all over the world for its ski runs and woods that are crossed by paths making it a great starting point for a range of excursions: from the simple walks to trips to the mountains.