A lot of travel information, certainly on social media, is all the beautiful bits of travel. The beautiful landscapes, picturesque streets that somehow no one is on, and it all can seem so effortless. While those moments happen, that’s not always the reality of traveling. In a lot of cases, travel makes you earn the memory and that’s ok. As with many things in life, it’s a little more satisfying to work for something than to have it just happen. Now we’re not saying that a trip to Tuscany is work, but it does require at least a little planning and awareness that things might be slightly different than you’re used to or what you might expect. Here are just a few things that stood out to us and planning for them hopefully will make your trip a little more easier.
Consider your timing –
Yes, a little bit of when you time your vacation during the year (more on that in a moment) but more of the timing during your day or days that you’re visiting.
- Let’s start with restaurants. You most likely will not find a restaurant that opens for lunch before noon or 7pm for dinner. They will also have short windows of time when they are open. For example, one of our favorites, Osteria del Borgo, is open for lunch from 12 – 2:30pm and then again from 7:00pm to 9:30pm. Maybe it’s just us, but we were initially surprised at the opening time for dinner. We usually eat a little earlier at home, so we needed to plan accordingly. Also, since many restaurants are open for a short amount of time each day, some locations are smaller (as in not a lot of seats), and Italians in general like to take their time and enjoy their meals, this might mean a restaurant only has one full seating. Why do you care? Well, if you really want to have dinner at a specific restaurant (like Osteria del Borgo) you need to make a reservation before you leave for your vacation. Especially the more you get into the busy season. Spontaneity is great, except at the end of the day, when you’re really hungry and you have no options for dinner. Actually, we’re fans of planning, so “spontaneous” is not really a way we would describe ourselves anyway. Also, almost every restaurant will be closed at least one day of the week, and it vary restaurant to restaurant. Which is good, because if you plan ahead, you will have an option every evening. But it’s good to check out restaurant websites, TripAdvisor, etc for the most up to date times & closed days to plan out your stay.
- Shops will usually have the same mid-afternoon break. So, if you’re in a town for a full day, you might want to plan your afternoons in museums or at the local sights, as most are open all day. We also learned, if you see a shop you want to stop in, don’t save it for later. Especially if you’re only in town for one day. Many shops have only one person working, and the closing time can be dependent on when they want or need to close, not always a set time. We had more than one occasion when we went back to a shop only to find a handwritten note on the door.
- As far as when to go, generally the busy season is April, May, June and then again in September and October. This is usually the best weather and also the most expensive times to go. As for the other times, of course, weather has an impact, it’s blazing hot in July and August (and many Italians vacation in August) and cold, possibly rainy the other times of year. And when it comes to January (usually after the Epiphany on the 6th) to March, many locations are closed completely. This will vary for each business. But even as they reopen it will usually start very limited – only Fridays & Saturdays, only lunch or only dinner. Basically, if you’re going anytime out of season, do research on the specific towns and places you want to go. When we started following many of the businesses we wanted to visit on Instagram, that is when we learned about the changing hours of operation. Look back previous posts to see how they handle the different seasons.
Get your walking shoes on –
We know, it’s not a revelation that you will be walking a lot during your time in Tuscany. And depending on where you live, this might not be a big deal to you at all (if you’re from San Franciso, feel free to skip ahead). We live in Florida and the steepest incline we deal with is a curb. However, while we’re not young, we’re generally in decent shape. So we didn’t really think much about the walking we would be doing, until we saw the inclines. When you’re in most towns, you will be walking up and down incredibly steep inclines or using very steep stairs. The best and easiest way to work through this is to plan when you do your accent and allow time to shop, maybe have a gelato, and take your time. This is also something you want to consider if anyone in your group has mobility issues. If you or someone you’re with has difficulty walking or with stairs, plan for breaks or alternative options for your day. We also found that local taxi service can help in these situations. As we talk about in our post on transportation, most towns have ZTLs and you will not be able to drive into them. But a local taxi driver has clearance to get you right up to the door of where you want to go. So even if you have a car, if you know your dinner is at the top of the hilltop town you’re visiting (we’re looking at you Il Teatro) it might still be worth the taxi ride from your hotel.
Dov’è il bagno?
As Americans, in general, we’re fans of being hydrated. And if you also always walk around with your own personal hydration, access to bathrooms is fairly important. We tend to be used to finding a bathroom room in every store we go into. Just prepare that you will usually not have access to a bathroom in a store – even if you buy something. Even for restaurants, buildings are old and bathrooms will be limited and for those with mobility issues, they may be down a steep flight of stairs. All of this is not to say – don’t drink water. More just a friendly warning to think it through. If you have access to a bathroom, just go. And while there are places with public bathroom rooms, depending on the situation, you might not have any services with it. As in, no toilet paper, no soap to wash your hands and nothing to dry them with. This was not often, but we did experience it. So always have tissues with you
and maybe some hand wipes or sanitizer. Other parts of Italy might have pay for use public bathrooms, but we did not come across this in Tuscany. Just limited availability and in some cases, limited services.
Look at the details when booking a place to stay –
Part of the charm of Tuscany, especially the small hilltop towns, is you’re taken back in time. Completely immersed in a different place and culture. One of the most amazing things about Italy in general is the respect for it’s past and their love of original architecture. When you’re out of the large cities, you will notice, in some places, there isn’t a modern building anywhere in sight. This is what you’re going for. But depending on the needs of you or your traveling companions, you might want to look at the finer details of where you are staying. For example, many locations will not have an elevator. For our almost 89 year old mother, this would not work. Of course, there might be a work around – rooms on the ground floor, etc. But you need to know this, plan for it and make specific requests for it. This will also apply to the bathrooms in your room. Not all locations have ADA accessible rooms or bathrooms. Also know, they don’t have to. That might be a requirement in the states, but you’re not in the states.
Obviously, none of this is a deal breaker for visiting this area. These are just a few areas that we wished we had planned for a little better the first time we visited. When you’ve taken the time and had the expense of traveling, you want to make the most of it and not have the little details trip you up. You certainly don’t have to plan as much as we do, but a being aware of a few basics ahead of time can really help. Buon viaggio!
