MAPPING TUSCANY

Looking for Tuscany related travel advice? Wondering when to visit, which city to spend an extra day in and what restaurant to avoid at all cost? I can provide local trip planning help for individual travelers and small groups, who plan to taste the best wine and dodge the worst meal.  Some Siena or Florence  tips are relevant for most visitors and can be easily found on the internet or right here on my blogs (e.g.  how to skip the Uffizi queue  and which organic  Brunello winery to visit) -  other recommendations for your stay in Tuscany will depend  on taste, age and interests of the traveler exploring our hills. TRIP PLANNING HELP IN TUSCANY For more local insight and  info about Map It Out's expert advice for your Tuscan itinerary send Katja an email (more about me here ). My t ailor-made tips for recommended sights, winery visits and booking service of hands-on activities or guided tours during  your holiday normally ...

Chef Roberto Rossi at Michelin starred restaurant Silene in Seggiano If you ask my Tuscan native about memories of his best meal at restaurant Silene - the latest arrival among southern Tuscany's Michelin starred restaurants - he won't recite the dishes of an epicurean tasting menu but deliver the account of an epic football game right after his best friend's wedding lunch.  C hallenged by a group of local teenagers during a post wedding cake cigarette break, my Tuscan native and friends were  drunk and stuffed with Roberto Rossi's gourmet food, but must have managed to look smart nevertheless when entering the village's football pitch in their designer suits . Legend has it that team Armani managed to battle off the assault of the sober 17-year-olds, but seemed on the verge of a break down when o ne of the wedding guests summoned for a penalty had to excuse himself behind the goal post to throw up a mix of vintage Brunello, wedding cake and homemade tagl...

It was the sea - not wine, food, a man or the rolling hills - that made me move to Tuscany in 1999. Having grown-up in a landlocked country,  from day one at work I pestered everybody in Montalcino for advice on  the best beach town and the perfect sea view on the Tuscan coast. It turned out to be an easy  mission since the locals sent me unanimously to Castiglione della Pescaia. The preferred seaside destination for people from Siena and Arezzo, Castiglione della Pescaia is also loved by the Swiss and Swedish, hence all the h oliday resorts and camping villages along some of its best beaches.  But unlike Marina di Grosseto or Principina a Mare, Castiglione della Pescaia has been a proper town way before the tourist boom took hold of the Tuscan coast. To  this day the  former fishing village has managed to keep its historic town center, clean beaches and even a handful of fishermen.  WHAT TO DO IN CASTIGLIONE DELLA PESCAIA  Swim and s...

Corrupt politicians, appalling national TV and a never-ending economic crisis. So what was I doing in Italy again? Grazie a dio , there are still a  few r easons which confirm that I wasn't totally meshugga when moving from clockwork nation to a Southern European bureaucratic hell: b each  side lunches are one of them (and  on a less mundane level  public schools and a healthcare system Obama can only dream of). A MAP FOR C OCKTAILS, SEAFOOD AND SUNSET VIEWS ON THE TUSCAN SHORE ROSSO E VINO ALLA DOGANA    CAPALBIO/CHIARONE SCALO  +39 0564 890344 As south as it gets in Tuscany.  One step to the left and you're in Lazio and on your way to Rome. But Rosso e Vino's foo d, beach bar and deckchairs are way too nice to consider a trip to the eternal city. With the luxury lodge tents at Camp Capalbio next door, this is a great option for a beach side eat and sleep.  IL PELLICANO    PORT'ERCOLE +39 0564 858 275 ...

Ever wanted to swim or walk from Tuscany to Lazio? That's exactly what I did during our week at  La Dogana beach. My kids jumped waves in the Tuscan sea and I kept fishing them out in the northernmost corner of Lazio (the Italian region Rome belongs to).  Dogana means customs in Italian, and what is now a stylish brolly and deck chair rental, was once a checkpoint on the border of Papal State and Gran Duchy of Tuscany (and entirely free of sunburnt Swiss moms running from one side to the other).  But La Dogana beach has more to  offer than borderline swims and history lessons. Every summer, the team of  Grosseto's restaurant Rosso e Vino  moves pots, pans and ladles to the shore for the season and turns La Dogana beach into the perfect location for a meal with a view. 

Whenever my brother and my sister-in-law visit with us, they go for a special treat, which normally consists of a ludicrously expensive fine dining experience in one of Tuscany's best restaurants. They say they do this wherever they go. I suspect they do it only in Tuscany - a sort of premium for having gotten through a holiday in the company of our over-excited children. By now I've learnt to take advantage of their foodie passion (or utter desperation) and send them every year on a new tasting mission to one of Tuscany's Michelin or Gault Millau temples.  This summer I recommended Da Caino, one out of four  restaurants in Tuscany , which have been honored with two Michelin stars.  A curvy drive from the southern Tuscan coast, Da Caino lies in Montemerano, a quiet hilltop town near the ancient Saturnia thermal baths . O nce a simple wine shop which also offered small bites to eat, the Michelin stars and fine dine critiques have been quick to arrive  since Valeri...

Pitigliano isn't just another Tuscan hilltop town. It's the  Tuscan hilltop town. No other of them manages to balance so elegantly on top of a rocky cliff. In fact Pitigliano is also called suicide town (at least by my Tuscan native). You'll get the idea once you look down from one of the buildings located right on the edge; but don't do it if you're having a difficult moment in  life.  Pitigliano's skyline

The isle of  Monte Cristo as a perfect backdrop for luxury hotel Andana, home of Alain Ducasse's Michelin starred Trattoria Toscana Tuscany's Michelin star count for 2013 looks similar to the one in 2012. As in the previous years the only three starred restaurant of the region remains ever-green Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence. Whereas Southern Tuscany is still the Mekka for lovers of two starred Michelin restaurants: Massa Marittima's Bracali , Da Caino in Montemerano and Il Pellicano in Porto Ercole are all based in the region's south. The only exception to the rule is restaurant Arnolfo , which sports two Michelin stars in central Tuscany's Colle Val d'Elsa (30 minutes from Siena).  The only change in regard to Michelin stars handed out this year has been in the one star section. Comparing the 2012 and 2013 lists of Michelin starred restaurants in Tuscany, two establishments in Viareggio have lost their stars (or maybe closed their doors). However i...

Let's be honest. I never liked San Vincenzo. Okay, it has a long and sandy beach, but if you're looking for ugly town planning along the Tuscan coast - you've found a good example. It's a shame that places like Follonica, Marina di Grosseto or San Vincenzo have grown too fast and without any aesthetic standards during the second half of the last century. Luckily these towns managed to keep their lovely beaches, but what else do they have in store? Il Bucaniere: foodie and pirate meeting point on San Vincenzo beach  In the case of San Vincenzo the reason I keep visiting is a restaurant. Or actually, two. Two restaurants linked to one family. When I moved to Tuscany in the late 90s I often heard the name Gambero Rosso, when asking for the region's (if not Italy's) best seafood restaurant. The restaurant in San Vincenzo's town center used to sport two Michelin stars and even though my olive picker wage didn't allow for it, I was lucky enou...

Michelin stars come and go. Connoisseurs say it's worse to lose a Michelin star than to never have received one in the first place. Considering these wise words, all the Michelin starred restaurants in Southern Tuscany are on the safe side: nobody lost a star. As last year La Pineta  and  Andana's Trattoria Toscana hold on tightly to one, Il Bracali , Il Pellicano and Da Caino to two stars. Nobody moved up, nobody moved down. Therefore the big (and positive) news this year are that there is a new entry. With the  2012 edition of the Michelin guide Southern Tuscany got a new Michelin star restaurant in Saturnia .

It's obvious, only the best Italian chefs make it onto the pages of the precious Michelin guide to Italy. Their top restaurants adorned with one ore two Michelin stars are yet another good reasons for a trip to Southern Tuscany, even if you happen to be based in Rome or Florence. The 2011 edition of the Michelin Guide to Italy includes five Michelin starred gourmet temples south of Siena.  

Starting the day with caffè shakerato (ice coffee) at Fiumara Beach No doubt, my favorite time to hang out at Fiumara is the early evening. Grab your Prosecco and wait for the delicious fish to arrive whilst everybody else is swearing under their holiday apartment's lousy shower.  Fiumara's beach can get busy with locals and tourists during the day, but it is an oas is of calmness at aperitivo time (happy hour). Kite-surfers leave once the wind drops in the early evening, and everybody else seems to desert the beach once it's not sizzling hot anymore (I'll never understand it). Perfection really: with the wind gone you'll have the ideal te mperature for an early evening swim and once dried off a marvelous view and sunset  all to yourself.  Even the shower has style Should you not be able to get a table for dinner try for lunch, which is a simpler DIY affair from the counter, but food tastes still great and nobody worries if you look a bit dishevel...