Places to visit in Tuscany, Italy
20 places to visit in Tuscany, Italy, each with LOQAH's carefully crafted stamp of its own: Basilica of Santa Croce, Boboli Gardens, Florence Baptistery and more. Stand at any of them with the app open and the stamp is yours, confirmed on site, in your Tuscany volume.
11 UNESCO World Heritage sites · 8 Famous places to visit · 1 Hidden gem
UNESCO World Heritage sites in Tuscany (11)
-
Basilica of Santa Croce
The principal Franciscan church of Florence, built on what was once marshland outside the city walls. It is the burial place of Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli and Rossini, which earned it the name Temple of the Italian Glories.
-
Boboli Gardens
A large hillside park laid out in the mid-16th century as the garden of the Medici's Pitti Palace, and a model for princely gardens across Europe. Its paths lead past statues, fountains and artificial grottoes up to views over the city.
-
Florence Baptistery
An octagonal church of green and white marble facing the cathedral, dedicated to John the Baptist, the patron saint of Florence. Its gilded bronze east doors by Ghiberti were called the Gates of Paradise by Michelangelo, and its dome is lined with golden mosaics.
-
Florence Cathedral
The cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, begun in 1296 to Arnolfo di Cambio's design and crowned by Brunelleschi's great brick dome. Its walls are faced in white, green and pink marble, and the climb inside the dome rises past frescoes of the Last Judgement to a view over the city.
-
Leaning Tower of Pisa
The freestanding bell tower of Pisa Cathedral, tilted nearly four degrees by the soft ground under its foundations. Its tiers of white marble arcades spiral up to the bells, and a winding stair inside leans with it all the way to the top.
-
Piazza dei Miracoli
A walled lawn of almost nine hectares in Pisa, holding four medieval masterpieces in white marble: the cathedral, the baptistery, the leaning tower and the Camposanto cemetery. Its name means the Square of Miracles, and it is counted among the great architectural ensembles of Europe.
-
Piazza del Campo
The shell-shaped main square of Siena, sloping down to the Palazzo Pubblico and its tall Torre del Mangia, and one of Europe's great medieval squares. Twice each summer it becomes the track for the Palio, a bareback horse race between the city's districts.
-
Ponte Vecchio
A medieval stone bridge over the Arno with shops built along both sides, the only Florence bridge spared in the Second World War. Butchers and tanners once worked here, but the shops have long belonged to jewellers and goldsmiths.
-
San Gimignano
A small walled hill town in the province of Siena that still keeps about a dozen of its medieval tower houses, giving it one of the most recognisable skylines in Tuscany. Its churches and town hall hold 14th and 15th century frescoes, and its historic centre is a UNESCO site.
-
Santa Maria Novella
The Dominican church of Florence, begun in 1290 and nearly two centuries in the building, with a marble facade completed by Leon Battista Alberti. Inside are Masaccio's Holy Trinity and frescoed chapels by Ghirlandaio, and it gave its name to the city's main railway station next door.
-
Val d'Orcia
A valley of gentle, cultivated hills south of Siena, running towards Monte Amiata and dotted with towns such as Pienza and Montalcino. Its lines of cypresses and lone farmhouses have been painted since the Renaissance, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage cultural landscape.
Famous places to visit in Tuscany (8)
-
Galleria dell'Accademia
The Florence museum that houses Michelangelo's original marble David, standing in a skylit tribune built for him. The same rooms hold his unfinished Prisoners, still half caught in the stone, and paintings by Florentine artists from 1300 to 1600.
-
Medici Chapels
Two chapels added to the Basilica of San Lorenzo to glorify the Medici family. The New Sacristy was designed by Michelangelo and holds his tomb sculptures, while the larger Chapel of the Princes is lined floor to dome with inlaid coloured stone.
-
Palazzo Pitti
A vast Renaissance palace south of the Arno, begun in 1458 for the banker Luca Pitti and later the main home of the Medici grand dukes. It now holds several museums of paintings, costume and decorative art, and opens at the back onto the Boboli Gardens.
-
Palazzo Vecchio
The fortress-like town hall of Florence, with its tall battlemented tower, looking over Piazza della Signoria. Much of it is now a museum of grand painted halls, and a copy of Michelangelo's David stands at its door.
-
Piazza della Signoria
The L-shaped square in front of Palazzo Vecchio that has been the political heart of Florence since the days of the Republic. Statues stand everywhere, from the copy of David to the open-air gallery of the Loggia dei Lanzi, and it leads straight into the Uffizi.
-
Piazzale Michelangelo
A broad terrace on the hill in the Oltrarno with the most famous view of Florence, across the river to the cathedral dome and the towers. A bronze copy of Michelangelo's David stands in the middle, and the parapet is crowded at sunset.
-
Siena Cathedral
A medieval cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of Mary, striped inside and out in bands of white and dark green marble. Its floor is a vast series of pictures inlaid in coloured marble, and its library is frescoed in bright colours by Pinturicchio.
-
Uffizi Gallery
One of the great art museums of the world, in the long U-shaped offices the Medici built beside Piazza della Signoria. It holds the finest collection of Italian Renaissance painting anywhere, from Botticelli's Birth of Venus to works by Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo.
Hidden gems in Tuscany (1)
-
Walls of Lucca
A complete ring of Renaissance ramparts, a little over 4 kilometres round, built between 1504 and 1648 to replace older medieval and Roman defences. The broad top is now a tree-lined promenade where people walk, run and cycle all the way around the old city.
Collecting in Tuscany
What are the best places to visit in Tuscany?
LOQAH lists 20 places in Tuscany. The best known include Basilica of Santa Croce, Boboli Gardens, Florence Baptistery, Florence Cathedral and Leaning Tower of Pisa. Each has a stamp of its own to collect when you are there.
How many LOQAH stamps are there in Tuscany?
20, and more are added over time. Each place has LOQAH's carefully crafted stamp of its own.
How do I collect a stamp in Tuscany?
Open LOQAH at the place and get its stamp. LOQAH checks where you are once, at that moment; at the place itself the stamp is confirmed on site, with a gold badge.
I have been to places in Tuscany before. Can I add them?
Yes. In Earlier trips, choose Tuscany and swipe through its stamps, or import your Google Timeline. Each one goes into your volume with the date, if you know it.
More in Italy
Collect your first stamp.
LOQAH is free on iPhone and Android, in India and 20 more countries, with more countries on the way. Stand at a place, collect its stamp, and keep every trip in a passport that grows.