Tuscany

Lunch in a Medici villa or stay in a medieval ex-monastery in the Arno valley... In this newly revised edition of a Cadogan classic, Italy experts Dana Facaros and Michael Pauls lead you into the very heart of Tuscany – a region of sheer, luxuriant natural beauty, where wealth and dastardly doings have shaped the history and fired some of the greatest art and literature the Western world has known. With characteristic wit and insight, Facaros and Pauls delve into the energy of Siena’s frenzied Palio; into the dense concentration of art in Florence and Pisa – Dante, Da Vinci, Boticelli and a hundred more – and take in the sumptuous vineyards of Chianti. Not only do they bring to life the complex history of this remarkable region, they also manage to put a new slant on the leaning tower of Pisa and dig up some surprising secret gardens along the way.