Day Trips from Florence: 10 Hidden Tuscan Villages Worth the Drive
Here are ten of our favorites — each one an easy day trip from Florence (or a slow, unhurried weekend), and each one refreshingly free of tour buses.
1. Borgo di Castelvecchio
A tiny medieval hamlet in the province of Siena, set in the heart of the Val d’Orcia — roughly an hour and a half south of Florence. Beautifully restored, it’s the place to go for a low-key luxury escape: 32 rooms and apartments rented out on an exclusive basis, plus pools, horseback riding, and the kind of privacy that makes it easy to switch off.
2. Ortignano Raggiolo
Deep in the Casentino valley, about an hour east of Florence, this little village was recently named one of the Borghi più Belli d’Italia (Italy’s most beautiful villages). It grew out of two even smaller settlements at the foot of Monte Pratomagno, in a valley that stays green and cool through the summer — ideal if you love nature, long walks, and total silence.
3. Isola Santa
This hamlet in the province of Lucca has quietly become one of the most photographed spots in Tuscany. Its timeless stone houses, the autumn foliage, and its setting on the edge of a mountain reservoir make it look like something out of a fairy tale. It’s about an hour and a half northwest of Florence, up in the Garfagnana — worth the drive for the views alone.
4. Vertine
A small fortified village in the Sienese hills of Chianti, about an hour south of Florence. Tucked inside its walls, Vertine is the one you don’t see coming — well off the usual Chianti tourist trail. It’s part of the castellitoscani.com network and runs small-group castle tours with wine tastings.
5. Lucignana
Also in the province of Lucca, roughly an hour and a half from Florence, this medieval village of narrow lanes and steep climbs has become a pilgrimage for anyone who loves a good independent bookshop. A few years ago it gave rise to Sopra la Penna, a tiny five-meter cottage where you can sit and sip a cup of tea surrounded by books. The story of how the bookshop came to be is worth the trip on its own.
6. Gargonza
The castle of Gargonza is a fortified village in the province of Arezzo, about an hour southeast of Florence. Its history runs deep — legend has it that even Dante Alighieri once stayed here. Today it’s a destination built around the outdoors, with everything from yoga and horseback riding to cooking classes and wine tastings.
7. Castiglion che Dio sol sa
The name of this fortified hamlet a few miles from Siena — roughly “Castiglion that only God knows” — says it all: isolated, and buried in nature. The castle’s history is barely documented, but it rises magnificently out of the green hills, which offer plenty of trails for hikers. In summer, after a long walk, you can cool off in the nearby Merse river.
8. Castevoli
Castevoli is a gorgeous medieval village in the Lunigiana, up in the province of Massa-Carrara — the farthest of the ten, a good couple of hours northwest of Florence, and worth the longer haul if you love history and the Middle Ages. Its recently restored castle is privately owned, but visits can be arranged by appointment.
9. Sant’Agata del Mugello
Practically on Florence’s doorstep — under an hour north, in the Mugello — Sant’Agata is rich in art, history, and traces of the past. It’s home to one of the oldest medieval parish churches in the area, decorated by artists including Andrea della Robbia, and a seventeenth-century mill once used for fulling cloth. Archaeology and art, yes, but also hiking and easy walks through the surrounding countryside.
10. Lamole
A few miles from the better-known Greve in Chianti — about an hour south of Florence — Lamole is a small village in the heart of the Florentine Chianti. You’ll find peace and quiet here in any season, from fall through to spring, when the fields turn purple with blooming iris. Every year in early summer it hosts I Profumi di Lamole, a village square festival celebrating the wines of Chianti.
