One of Tuscany’s wealthiest and most graceful cities, Lucca is a gem not to be missed. It’s worth a visit from your UnTour in Florence or even our rural Tuscany UnTour, based in the southern part of the region. Colonized by the Romans in the 2nd century BC, this otherwise flat Tuscan “hill” town still…
While our Tuscany UnTour is in Brunello wine territory, the Chianti Valley is within easy day trip distance and offers another flavor of farm traditions, scenery, village life, and viniculture. If you love natural beauty, robust red wines, and hearty food, look no further than the Chianti Valley. The Chianti villages hold a special place…
Missing Italy? Here’s a little glimpse of one of our favorite towns in Tuscany. A short taxi or bus ride from the city center of Florence, Fiesole doesn’t feel quite as ambitious as a day trip. Yet its history is distinct and important. No trip to Florence is complete without a side trip up into…
Semifreddo is Italian for half-cold, and it is a favorite traditional dessert for warm weather. This is one of the dishes Tracy has taught in her online cooking classes, live from her kitchen in Tuscany. This recipe uses crunchy Torrone (Italian almond nougat), but you can put almost anything in this ice cream. Try chocolate…
Tuscany is synonymous with wine and food tradition, an Epicurean streak running through the region’s history, economy, and daily life. Our Wine & Food UnTour is a natural in the region, and truffles are a given for a fall food (un)tour in the region. Truffles grow underground in certain zones within the Val d’Orcia, the…
Our UnTours Photo Contest was such a success last year, we have decided to keep it going. Please help us choose a winner for 2019! We’ve narrowed it down to the 12 finalists you see here. The winner will receive a free iPad. Take a look at the competition and vote for your favorite on…
Our Tuscany UnTour is a perennial favorite, and ranks among our most popular UnTour destinations. It is hard to beat the views here in the Orcia Valley, south of Siena. With its stark rolling green hills, cypress trees, and vineyards, its landscape is so distinctive that the area was named a UNESCO World Heritage site…
Tracy Louis Hyde has led our Tuscany UnTour on the ground near Montalcino for a couple years now. She loves her work with us and is eager to share her region. She took some time to share some thoughts about her work and her love for Tuscany. Tell us a little bit about your professional…
Our dear friend and colleague Harriet Gussoni passed away this year, on July 22. Harriet ran our Tuscany UnTour on the ground in Italy since its beginning, in the early 90s until her recent retirement from her UnTours work in fall of 2017. Harriet was born in the US and her studies of Renaissance art…
Our loyal and frequent UnTourist Joanne Choyka made a cool discovery last fall in Tuscany. This is a photo taken last fall in Pitigliano, in Tuscany. My grandparents immigrated from this town to the US in the early 1900’s. My grandfather took a job working at the Hershey Chocolate factory in Hershey, Pennsylvania, where my…