Val d'Ambra, Tuscany.

The quiet valley between Chianti and the Valdarno — forests, vineyards, olive groves and castled villages in the province of Arezzo, with Siena, Arezzo and Florence all within an hour.

On Val d'Ambra

Val d'Ambra,
from Smaranda.

The Val d'Ambra is the in-between valley: the soft country of olives, sunflowers and fortified hamlets that runs from the eastern flank of Chianti down toward Arezzo, threaded by the Ambra stream and largely ignored by every itinerary. That is its value. The villages here, Bucine, Ambra, San Pancrazio, Rapale, are working places with a bar, a forno and a Romanesque parish church, and the landscape between them is Chianti's without Chianti's traffic.

For our guests the valley is reach rather than base: the Chianti houses sit just over the western ridge, and the whole valley is within an hour of both Florence and the Val d'Orcia estates. Come for the tower of Galatrona above its vineyards, for Civitella in Val di Chiana's ruined rocca at the valley's southern gate, and for lunches where the menu is whatever was decided that morning. For more country in this register, our journal's hidden hilltop towns piece maps the rest.

When to come

May and June for the green and the first sunflowers; September and October for the vendemmia spilling over from Chianti and the olive harvest that follows.

Towns worth knowing

Bucine: The valley's small capital, with the useful Florence-Arezzo rail stop.
Ambra: The stream's own village; castle remnants and a proper local bar.
Civitella in Val di Chiana: Hilltop rocca at the valley's southern gate, with long Chiana views.
Rapale: Hamlet below the Galatrona tower, the valley's one postcard.

Best for

Drivers who like the roads between the sights
Chianti without the traffic
Slow lunches and unplanned afternoons
A different route between Florence and Arezzo

Practicalities

The valley road (SP540) is the scenic spine; the Bucine rail stop connects to Florence and Arezzo. From the Chianti houses the crossing takes half an hour over the ridge.