About Tuscany: The beauty and majesty of Tuscany cannot easily be captured in words, and pictures do not do it justice.  The region is best known for its rolling golden and green hills, cypress tree lined roads, post card perfect sunsets, and vineyards as far as the eye can see.  Located in central Italy, Tuscany is dotted with quaint and medieval walled villages such as Siena, Montalcino, Pienza, Montepulciano, and Cortona.  Each has a unique look and feel and is known for its local delicacies: Siena for its pappardelle con lepre (a ribbon-shaped pasta, with a hare ragu), Montalcino for its famous Brunello wine, Pienza for its Pecorino cheese, Montepulciano for its pork and “pici” pasta, and Cortona for its ragu di cinghiale (wild boar).  A Tuscan specialty for meat lovers is the local beef from Val di Chiana, a Chianina steak otherwise known as bistecca alla Fiorentina. 

 

Tuscany is also renowned for its varied wines from highly prized Sangiovese based wines such as Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Chianti Classico to the full bodied Super Tuscans. There are also many tasty white wines to try, such as the most well-known Vernaccia from San Gimignano and Vermentino.  Trebbiano and Malvasia are blended to make the dessert wine Vin Santo, that is traditionally served after the meal with cantucci almond cookies.

 

Your GastroNomad tour guides have spent considerable time exploring Tuscany and learning all that the region has to offer.  We will take you to exclusive wineries that are not open to the general public, to authentic local restaurants that tourists often miss, and to boutique hotels and resorts that are hidden gems.  We have stayed at many of the hotels and eaten at most of the restaurants on our Tuscany excursions to ensure that they meet the exacting standards expected of an exclusive luxury tour.