Who does not know the magical Florence? Cradle of the Renaissance, a place of art, history and beauty. This elegant city is a magnet for tourists from all over the world in every season. Listing its many monuments is almost superfluous because everyone knows it.

Who hasn’t dreamed of strolling under the tower of Palazzo Vecchio at least once, or of admiring the spectacular marbles of the cathedral or of peering at the waters of the Arno among the shops of Ponte Vecchio?

But if this is the classic Florence“that we all know”… is it possible that this city still manages to amaze? Are there any particular curiosities to admire in the streets of the ancient cradle of the Medici?

In the Tuscan comic speech “Maremma” is a frequent interlayer, often used as an expletive. The word Maremma in fact evokes many negative memories, because in the past this “land of the sea” (hence the name) was full of ponds, marshes, unhealthy marshes. And living on this humid and muggy plain wasn’t easy at all. Many died of ailments – such as malaria – which would only be discovered and treated later.

But today, after the reclamation of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Tuscan Maremma is a fascinating, mythical territory, also populated by original figures … real local “cow boys“. And it offers incredible natural locations where fauna and flora are protected forever.

Mugello is a territory located a few kilometers from the splendid Tuscan capital.

It is a large natural valley bathed by a mouth of the Sieve river, a tributary of the Arno. The Mugello area includes a stretch of the Tuscan-Romagna Apennines to the north, the Calvana Mountains to the west and Monte Giovi and Senario to the south.

The richness of nature, the variety of landscapes between flat, mountainous and hilly areas, villages and historic residences, make Mugello a territory to be truly discovered. Of the 10 municipalities that are part of it, Borgo San Lorenzo is very suggestive. It is perhaps the most important center of the whole area, which arises where the Val di Sieve becomes wider and widens under the watchful eye of uncontaminated nature.

Pienza is rarely one of the most common tourist destinations for those visiting Tuscany. Facing Florence, Pisa or Siena, who would get lost in the countryside of the Val d’Orcia to go and discover a provincial town? Yet there will be a reason if the entire municipality became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996! We are in the province of Siena, in a landscape made up of soft hills, cypresses, streams and tree-lined streets… and medieval villages that emerge here and there.