{"id":2212,"date":"2019-06-12T09:00:16","date_gmt":"2019-06-12T09:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/?p=2212"},"modified":"2025-01-24T15:46:49","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T15:46:49","slug":"five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/","title":{"rendered":"Five hidden treasures on the outskirts of Florence"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

It\u2019s one of Europe\u2019s most well known, and visited, cities. Every year it draws over 10 million people to its narrow streets and rickety bridges. This means it\u2019s often extremely busy, which is pretty off putting sometimes. Let us answer the question of \u201cwhere can I go near Florence that\u2019s great but quieter?!\u201d.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

San Gimignano<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Just an hour away from the hustle and bustle of Florence lies San Gimignano. It\u2019s not strictly a hidden gem, as it\u2019s already a popular place for tourists, but when compared to Florence it\u2019s a world away. A classic, medieval Italian city, San Gimignano has some stunning architecture including 14 towers. Built by competitive Tuscan families in the 11th to 13th century, there was once around 72 of them –\u00a0 some were as high as 50 metres and intended to showcase a family\u2019s wealth. Today you’ll find busy streets crammed with local art and handicrafts.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Fiesole<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Many moons ago, Fiesole was the bigger and more important town than Florence. However its increasingly noisy neighbour won the battle and Fiesole became a quiet suburb of Florence instead. You can actually walk there from Florence, it\u2019s that close. It\u2019s most famous today for its views over Florence. Situated in a slightly elevated position, you\u2019re afforded a fabulous view over the sprawling red roofs of the city and the hills beyond.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Medici Villas<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Florence was once ruled by the Medici family, and the Medici Villas are a collection of their former homes across Tuscany. Not all over them are open to the public, but a handful are and they\u2019re really worth visiting. Perhaps the pick of the bunch is the Rennaissance Villa at Poggo a Caiano. Around a half hour drive away, it has lovely gardens and is situated within a pretty little village. Information on this and the other villas can be found at any tourist information office in Florence – why not spend the day touring them?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Siena<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Again, perhaps not entirely a hidden treasure, but less famous than Florence and very much worth a visit. It\u2019s well known for its Palio contests, where ten horses and riders ride bareback through the Campo. These ten racers represent ten of the 17 city wards. It\u2019s held twice each summer and if you\u2019re in the area at the time, it\u2019s well worth stopping to see. Siena is full of museums, street cafes, churches and cathedrals, making it an architect’s dream. The views from the top of the hill over the surrounding Tuscan countryside are stunning too.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Arezzo<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This is one of the wealthiest towns in Tuscany. But the reason for this is perhaps unexpected – goldsmithery! There are some gold shops in the town, where they manufacture their own jewellery. They make an unusual souvenir; great if you want to take home an authentic piece of Tuscany as a keepsake. Elsewhere in the town there are lots of museums, monuments and churches, allowing you step back through the history of the region. The historic centre of the town was sadly destroyed in World War Two, but the beautiful suburbs remain untouched.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Inspired? Check out our properties in Florence >\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s one of Europe\u2019s most well known, and visited, cities. Every year it draws over 10 million people to its narrow streets and rickety bridges. This means it\u2019s often extremely busy, which is pretty off putting sometimes. Let us answer the question of \u201cwhere can I go near Florence that\u2019s great but quieter?!\u201d. San Gimignano Just an hour away from the hustle and bustle of Florence lies San Gimignano. It\u2019s not strictly a hidden gem, as it\u2019s already a popular place for tourists, but when compared to Florence it\u2019s a world away. A classic, medieval Italian city, San Gimignano has some stunning architecture including 14 towers. Built by competitive Tuscan families in the 11th to 13th century, there was once around 72 of them –\u00a0 some were as high as 50 metres and intended to showcase a family\u2019s wealth. Today you’ll find busy streets crammed with local art and handicrafts. Fiesole Many moons ago, Fiesole was the bigger and more important town than Florence. However its increasingly noisy neighbour won the battle and Fiesole became a quiet suburb of Florence instead. You can actually walk there from Florence, it\u2019s that close. It\u2019s most famous today for its views over Florence. Situated in a slightly elevated position, you\u2019re afforded a fabulous view over the sprawling red roofs of the city and the hills beyond. Medici Villas Florence was once ruled by the Medici family, and the Medici Villas are a collection of their former homes across Tuscany. Not all over them are open to the public, but a handful are and they\u2019re really worth visiting. Perhaps the pick of the bunch is the Rennaissance Villa at Poggo a Caiano. Around a half hour drive away, it has lovely gardens and is situated within a pretty little village. Information on this and the other villas can be found at any tourist information office in Florence – why not spend the day touring them? Siena Again, perhaps not entirely a hidden treasure, but less famous than Florence and very much worth a visit. It\u2019s well known for its Palio contests, where ten horses and riders ride bareback through the Campo. These ten racers represent ten of the 17 city wards. It\u2019s held twice each summer and if you\u2019re in the area at the time, it\u2019s well worth stopping to see. Siena is full of museums, street cafes, churches and cathedrals, making it an architect’s dream. The views from the top of the hill over the surrounding Tuscan countryside are stunning too. Arezzo This is one of the wealthiest towns in Tuscany. But the reason for this is perhaps unexpected – goldsmithery! There are some gold shops in the town, where they manufacture their own jewellery. They make an unusual souvenir; great if you want to take home an authentic piece of Tuscany as a keepsake. Elsewhere in the town there are lots of museums, monuments and churches, allowing you step back through the history of the region. The historic centre of the town was sadly destroyed in World War Two, but the beautiful suburbs remain untouched. Inspired? Check out our properties in Florence >\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2245,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-right-sidebar.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[454,411,173,404],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-florence","category-inspiration","category-italy","category-tuscany-italy"],"yoast_head":"\nHidden treasures on the outskirts of Florence<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover five hidden treasures on the outskirts of Florence, perfect for day trips from Florence during your city break\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hidden treasures on the outskirts of Florence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Discover five hidden treasures on the outskirts of Florence, perfect for day trips from Florence during your city break\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blog by Bookings For You\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-06-12T09:00:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-24T15:46:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/images\/2019\/06\/florence.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"240\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lucy Mackay\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lucy Mackay\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lucy Mackay\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/699653fb5b9eacaa02273b8988a74bb8\"},\"headline\":\"Five hidden treasures on the outskirts of Florence\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-12T09:00:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-24T15:46:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/\"},\"wordCount\":542,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/images\/2019\/06\/florence.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Florence\",\"Inspiration\",\"Italy\",\"Tuscany\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/\",\"name\":\"Hidden treasures on the outskirts of Florence\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/images\/2019\/06\/florence.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-12T09:00:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-24T15:46:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/699653fb5b9eacaa02273b8988a74bb8\"},\"description\":\"Discover five hidden treasures on the outskirts of Florence, perfect for day trips from Florence during your city break\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/images\/2019\/06\/florence.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/images\/2019\/06\/florence.png\",\"width\":400,\"height\":240},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Five hidden treasures on the outskirts of Florence\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Blog by Bookings For You\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/699653fb5b9eacaa02273b8988a74bb8\",\"name\":\"Lucy Mackay\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/17435dd29c58272e2620257e5cb9da900efe050c4ec2f86df7c71030046e81b4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/17435dd29c58272e2620257e5cb9da900efe050c4ec2f86df7c71030046e81b4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lucy Mackay\"},\"description\":\"Lucy has always had a love of Italy. She has particularly fond memories of childhood holidays spent with family in the Italian Lakes. Her favourite Italian city? Florence!\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/author\/erowley\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hidden treasures on the outskirts of Florence","description":"Discover five hidden treasures on the outskirts of Florence, perfect for day trips from Florence during your city break","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hidden treasures on the outskirts of Florence","og_description":"Discover five hidden treasures on the outskirts of Florence, perfect for day trips from Florence during your city break","og_url":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/","og_site_name":"Blog by Bookings For You","article_published_time":"2019-06-12T09:00:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-01-24T15:46:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":400,"height":240,"url":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/images\/2019\/06\/florence.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Lucy Mackay","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lucy Mackay","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/"},"author":{"name":"Lucy Mackay","@id":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/699653fb5b9eacaa02273b8988a74bb8"},"headline":"Five hidden treasures on the outskirts of Florence","datePublished":"2019-06-12T09:00:16+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-24T15:46:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/"},"wordCount":542,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/images\/2019\/06\/florence.png","articleSection":["Florence","Inspiration","Italy","Tuscany"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/","url":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/","name":"Hidden treasures on the outskirts of Florence","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/images\/2019\/06\/florence.png","datePublished":"2019-06-12T09:00:16+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-24T15:46:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/699653fb5b9eacaa02273b8988a74bb8"},"description":"Discover five hidden treasures on the outskirts of Florence, perfect for day trips from Florence during your city break","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/images\/2019\/06\/florence.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/images\/2019\/06\/florence.png","width":400,"height":240},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/five-hidden-treasures-on-the-outskirts-of-florence\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Five hidden treasures on the outskirts of Florence"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/","name":"Blog by Bookings For You","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/699653fb5b9eacaa02273b8988a74bb8","name":"Lucy Mackay","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/17435dd29c58272e2620257e5cb9da900efe050c4ec2f86df7c71030046e81b4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/17435dd29c58272e2620257e5cb9da900efe050c4ec2f86df7c71030046e81b4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lucy Mackay"},"description":"Lucy has always had a love of Italy. She has particularly fond memories of childhood holidays spent with family in the Italian Lakes. Her favourite Italian city? Florence!","url":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/author\/erowley\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2212"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20828,"href":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2212\/revisions\/20828"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookingsforyou.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}