October 2024

Monday 14 October 2024

Should I rent a car or hire a driver to explore Tuscany?

How to get around Tuscany is a bit of a vexed question. Between the larger towns, there is an excellent rail service with frequent trains all day. Smaller towns can be reached by bus, but the bus service is scheduled more for commuters than tourists. To explore the countryside, a car is by far the best way to go and, of course, many visitors to Tuscany rent a car for the duration of their stay. There is, however, an alternative strategy. "Should I rent a car or hire a driver to explore Tuscany?" Suppose you are here for two weeks but only five of those days are trips that require a car? Money-wise and for the reasons outlined, this might be the optimal alternative:

Don't rent a car in Tuscany: hire a driver.

For those of you who want to explore Tuscany efficiently, rather than renting your own car, consider hiring a private driver - a chauffeur, in other words - with his own vehicle. Yes, it will cost a bit more than a rental car but the advantages are numerous:

Instead of focussing on the narrow, twisting roads of Tuscany, you will be able to admire the views and identify the sights while you let your driver take care of the driving.
Planning your routes together with your driver - before you arrive, if possible - will allow you to visit more of your destinations in a shorter time - no time wasted on the wrong roads, slow speeds and closed sights. Plus, your driver will help you choose the most scenic routes where there are more than one.
Once you arrive at one of your destinations, your private driver will drop you off at the sight and then he'll take care of finding a parking place - often a problem with popular small Tuscan villages.
No more worries about bus lanes and limited traffic zones. A driver with an NCC license is allowed to drive into limited traffic zones where private drivers are prohibited. That means he can pick you up at your accommodations and drop you off again, as well as access sights with limited traffic zones.
Doing a wine-tasting tour is a popular activity among visitors to Tuscany. "Taste and spit" can be tiresome on day-long wine tasting tour. With your own driver, that issue disappears and you can enjoy yourselves freely.
Last but not least, your driver knows places that the guide books don't. Tell him or her your interests and ask for suggestions.

A minibus carries up to 7 or 8 passengers, will probably be air conditioned and provide WiFi access to the internet.

My recommended drivers are:

Angela Saltafuori, for wine tours throughout Tuscany.

Two happy tourists wine tasting with Angela Saltafuori
Sergio Ceccherini does Tuscany wine tours and a large variety of other specialised tours.

Sergio Ceccherini ready for a wine tour in Tuscany

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Travel Guide!
Up-to-date news on what to see and where to stay in Chianti and all of Tuscany.
Tuscany Travel Guide

Author: Anna Maria Baldini

Saturday 12 October 2024

Il Palazzo di Bianca Cappello in the Oltrarno of Florence, Tuscany

Il Palazzo di Bianca Cappello

During the first half of the 15 C, at Via Maggio 26, in the Oltrarno area of Florence, there was a palazzo belonging to the Corbinelli family, purchased in 1566 by Piero Buonaventuri, husband of the Venetian noblewoman Bianca Cappello. This palazzo was a setting of one of the most talked about love stories of the Renaissance, that between Bianca Cappello and Grand Duke Francesco de' Medici, son of Cosimo de' Medici. During the period in which they were still clandestine lovers, to meet secretly, Bianca and Francesco used an underground passage that starts from the cellars of the palazzo and reaches the Palazzo Pitti, a block away. During World War II, numerous art works from the Vasari corridor were stored in the passage for safekeeping. Today the passage is no longer passable.

Bianca Cappello

After Bianca was widowed, she was able to modernise and embellish her palazzo under the supervision of Bernardo Buontalenti and with financial support from Francesco. The façade was renovated with rich graffito decoration created by Bernardino Poccetti.

On 12 October 1579, Francesco I de’ Medici and Bianca Cappello married for the second time amongst great celebrations, despite the hostility of the Medici family. The ceremony between the Grand Duke and the "Daughter of Venice" followed the one that had taken place secretly in June of the same year.
After the wedding, Bianca donated the palazzo to the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova and subsequently the grotesques were painted on the façade.

Grand Duke Francesco I de' Medici

This story remains intriguing right up until the present day, not least because of the tragic deaths of both Bianca and Francesco, within 24 hours of one another, at the Medici villa of Poggio a Caiano under suspicious circumstances that have never been clarified.

More about Francesco I de’ Medici and Bianca Cappello.

More about the Villas and palazzi of Tuscany.