This very special tour was created expressly for In Italy Online's kind of reader: the independent traveler who wants to delve deep into the lifestyle of the place he's visiting. If you're talking about Tuscany, you know that for centuries la vita toscana has meant the following things: great art, perfectly manicured landscapes, entertaining anecdotes, comfortable stone houses with big fireplaces, foods that are as delicious as they are simple, and great wines to accompany all of the above. During your six days in Siena province, you will experience all of these things like the natives do. That means you'll travel in small groups by mini-van, soak up the entire context surrounding the medieval hilltowns and romanesque abbeys, and venture out into the countryside beloved of Etruscans and Romans alike. You will meet real people and their friends, hearing their stories, learning age-old secrets handed down from generations of grandfathers to the grandchildren who were in turn your new acquaintances' grandfathers. Through these encounters you will meet the real Tuscany - for Tuscany is nothing if not its people, with their dry sense of humor, their colorful cusswords, their innate communion with their land and their plants, their warm hospitality and sincere friendship.

Your home base for six nights will be Palazzo Bandino, an air-conditioned four-star farmhouse outside the spa town of Chianciano Terme. The estate, which includes a vineyard and olive grove, has belonged to the same family for seven generations. Although this is a professionally managed property whose air-conditioned rooms and apartments feature all the amenities such as telephone, satellite television and private bathroom with hair dryer, your host Gabriele prefers to think of you as part of the family. After all, his father was born in this very building, which his great-great-great-great grandfather received as a reward for services above and beyond the call of duty…. But we'll let Gabriele tell you the rest of that story in front of the fireplace, over a glass of vin santo.