TuscanyDestination

Beyond Tuscany

Explore options outside Tuscany for a trip that includes other parts of Italy.

On Beyond Tuscany

Beyond Tuscany,
from Smaranda.

Planning a stay in Beyond Tuscany?

Tell us your dates and group. A personal reply within 24 hours, with the villas that fit.

Every villa week in Tuscany sits within reach of country that is not Tuscany at all, and the best itineraries use it. This page is the honest map of what lies over the borders: Umbria first, whose Trasimeno shore begins twenty minutes from Cortona and whose hill towns, Assisi, Perugia, Orvieto on its tufa pedestal, reward the long day; Rome, which the train from Chiusi makes a plausible day trip from the southern estates; and the Ligurian coast, where Cinque Terre is a morning's drive from the Lucca villas, best visited from Tuscany rather than slept in.

Our advice follows one rule: cross a border for something Tuscany does not have. Orvieto's cathedral facade, Assisi's Giotto cycle, the Cinque Terre's vertical coast and Rome itself all qualify. We plan these days with the same honesty as everything else, including telling you when a border day costs more of the week than it returns; the drives are real, and the villa pool has its own argument.

When a border day is worth the journey

Choose one reason to travel beyond Tuscany: a particular city, landscape or exhibition that matters to the group. Work backwards from the visit, allowing for getting to a station or car park, local travel and the return. A short train journey is only part of the day if the villa is some distance from the station.

For families and larger groups, compare the outing with spending a night elsewhere before or after the villa stay. A major city visit may be more comfortable as part of the arrival or departure plan than as a long return trip. Keep enough unplanned time at the villa for the holiday to feel like a stay, rather than a series of transfers.

When to come

Follow the villa's season; border days are best in the shoulder months when the roads and the sights are calm. Cinque Terre in July and August is a crowd experience we advise against.

Towns worth knowing

Orvieto: The cathedral facade alone justifies the drive; under an hour from the southern estates.
Assisi: Giotto's Life of St Francis; go early, the basilica rewards the first hour.
Perugia: Umbria's capital: escalators through a buried Renaissance fortress, and October's chocolate fair.
Riomaggiore: Cinque Terre's first village; take the train between villages, never the car.

Best for

Second weeks and returning guests
Day trips with a single clear prize
Pairing a Tuscan villa with Rome or Liguria
Cortona and Val d'Orcia stays adding Umbria

Practicalities

Chiusi-Chianciano station puts Rome ninety minutes away by rail from the southern Val d'Orcia. For Cinque Terre from the Lucca villas, drive to La Spezia and use the coastal trains; parking in the villages is not a real option.

Other villas to consider

The whole collection

These villas are outside Beyond Tuscany. Compare their locations with the places you want to visit and confirm the journey from the individual property before choosing your base.