Pisa, Lucca, The Tuscan Coast & Maremma

Day One- Pisa

• Check into your double room with private bathroom at a four-star hotel in the heart of Pisa.
• You have the rest of the day on your own, so we suggest you take a very quick stroll over to Piazza dei Miracoli (literally, Miracles Square) to see four peerless marble masterpieces: the famed Leaning Tower, the magnificent Baptistery, the stunning Cathedral, and the Monumental Graveyard, all maximum expressions of 12th- and 13th-century Romanesque architecture.
• Afterwards, dinner on your own. Choose from a vast array of eateries near the beautiful piazza.
• Overnight at your hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• We've reserved train tickets for the short trip to Lucca. It's amazing how different this delightful town is to Pisa, considering their proximity. As you stroll through all the lovely streets, be sure to notice the many elaborate doorways and façades, testimony to the prosperity brought to Lucca by its silk and seafaring industries. Discover the exquisite Basilica and majestic Palazzo Pretorio. Make sure you don't miss Piazza del Mercato, whose unusual oval shape stems from the 2nd-century BC Roman amphitheatre upon which it is built. Then visit the 11th-century Cathedral of San Martino, and along the way keep your eyes out for the Torre Guinigi -- a medieval watchtower that has an oak tree growing on its roof!
• Choose from one of many excellent typical restaurants and eat all you want, because afterwards you can walk it off up on the ramparts. Yes, Lucca is entirely surrounded by one of the most unique city walls in Europe -- actually a tall earthworks shaded by trees! Relax, breathe the fresh air and enjoy the incredible views of the Apuan Alps and the city center.
• Afterwards, take the train back to Pisa, where dinner is on your own
• Overnight at the hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel and check out.
• Today you will drive south along the coast. When you get to Cecina, we suggest you turn inland and take the gorgeous panoramic drive through the hills to our favorite hill town, Volterra. Almost unknown to tourists, it offers a glimpse into every epoch of Tuscan history, beginning with the Etruscans. And be sure your camera is fully charged to immortalize the unforgettable views on that drive through the Tuscan hills!
• Just a short ways further south along the coast road is San Vincenzo, where you'll check into your room at one of Tuscany's most popular seaside resort villages. Set in a beautiful pine and oak forest, the property is so vast that one hardly encounters any other guests except at the beach. But since the private beach is no less than 1km long, even there you'll have plenty of room, so if you prefer sunbathing to sightseeing, skip Volterra and head straight for the resort!
• Dinner tonight is at the resort's beautiful restaurant.
• Overnight at the resort.

• Breakfast at the resort.
• In the morning, take a quick drive to the Gulf of Baratti, the only Etruscan necropolis on the coast. Here you'll be able to explore the 7th- and 6th-century BC tombs, both tumuli and edicola types. You'll learn all about the ancient techniques of processing ceramic and stone, and you'll see a simulated display of the excavations. After this deep immersion into one of the world's most mysterious civilizations, you may also take an easy hike along marked trails or into more remote parts of the park.
• Lunch and dinner on your own.
• Overnight at the resort.

• Breakfast at the resort.
• Your drive today takes you to an entirely different world, only a few miles away. The impossibly picturesque village of Bolgheri has boasted excellent vineyards since the 15th century, but lately it has become famous as the home of Sassicaia, one of the most prestigious cabernets in the world. You'll have plenty of time to explore the narrow lanes of the town.
• In the afternoon you're invited to a Bolgheri DOC cellar to enjoy a wine tasting accompanied by local hams and salamis.
• Dinner on your own and overnight at the resort.

• Breakfast at the resort and check-out.
• Another leisurely drive along the coast takes you to Grosseto, where you'll check into your room at a 4-star neoclassical palazzo within the picturesque Medici walls.
• The afternoon is yours to discover this fascinating town, whose tranquil streets are lined with a host of impressive palaces dating from every architectural epoch since the High Middle Ages. You might want to stop into a food shop and pick up the fixings for a yummy Tuscan picnic tomorrow -- you'll be encountering dozens of perfect spots to enjoy nature as well as the food!
• But first, tonight's dinner is at a classic Tuscan restaurant just a few blocks away.
• Overnight at the hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Set off this morning on a fascinating drive through history. Head first to Pitigliano, an ancient village which seems to have been glued to the top of a limestone plateau. Tracing its past all the way to the Romans who gave it the name, Pitigliano also bears signs of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Tucked off to one side is a truly unique neighborhood for Tuscany: the former Jewish ghetto. Visit the renovated synagogue, the fascinating cemetery, the bakery, the wine cellar and even the ritual baths, all open to the public.
• Afterwards, continue on to Sovana or Sorano. The former is little more than one terracotta-paved street leading to a breathtaking panorama of the Tuscan hills. The latter is another plateau-town, all centered around its impressive Orsini fortress. If you wonder why you haven't read about these three towns in every guidebook ever published, it's because they are off the beaten path. Hurrah!
• At this point it's time to reward yourselves with a treat that even the Etruscans enjoyed: duck behind a bush, put on your bathing suit and wade into the thermal river, where you can either just let the warm waters rush over your supine frame, or stand beneath steaming waterfalls! Nature charges no entrance fee for this amazing delight.
• Now is the time to break out those picnic supplies you purchased yesterday. Relax beneath a tree, and buon appetito!
• Dinner tonight is on your own in Grosseto.
• Overnight at the castle.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• More little-known treasures await you today. Start at the delightful village of Capalbio, a seaside hill town that belonged to Charlemagne and then passed into the hands, successively, of Rome's three greatest Renaissance families. Nestled on a deep-green hilltop around a fairy-tale castle, it's the perfect way to start the day!
• Next, venture on to one of the most entertaining gardens in the world, the Tarot Garden. The whimsical creation of French artist Niki De Saint-Phalle, it is a stretch of gorgeous seaside vegetation inhabited by larger-than-life and ultra-colorful renditions of the characters from the tarot cards. You can enter some of them. Indeed, the artist actually lived inside The Empress for a while!
• This is Tuscany, so anyplace you choose for lunch is bound to please you. Afterwards, continue to Roselle and Vetulonia, both Etruscan archeological sites. Here you will see monumental graves, dwellings, even the remains of a massive amphitheatre, all against the background of lush Tuscan greenery and -- best of all -- with no other tourists to break the spell cast by a mysterious ancient civilization whose secrets are still well kept even today.
• Back in Grosseto, you'll have dinner on your own and overnight at the hotel.