What's the best time of the year to visit Tuscany?

In Spring the temperature gets warmer, flowers blossom everywhere, tourists from all over the world arrive to see with their own eyes the beauty of the Tuscan landscape.

If you want to visit Florence during the Easter holidays, take a walk in the Bardini Garden to admire the spectacular blossoming of wisteria. Then, don't miss the Explosion of the chart in front of the Duomo: every year hundreds of people take part in this social event and follow a procession with traditional costumes, musicians and flag-wavers.

Are you traveling with kids? Take them to the Pinocchio Park in Collodi. The inventor of Pinocchio was a Tuscan writer called Carlo Lorenzini, known as Carlo Collodi. He took his surname from Collodi, the small village set in the Valdinievole area.

If the weather is milder, generally from the end of May, locals start going to the Tuscan beaches. Even if the water is generally still too cold to swim, it's possible to get the first tan of the year and enjoy the sight and the smell of the sea.

If you prefer walking, spring and autumn are the best period for hiking. From the mountain peaks of the Apennines to the Tuscan Maremma, from the Via Francigena to the Renaissance ring around Florence, Tuscany offers itineraries for all kinds of trekkers.

Summer is the season of sunflowers, medieval festivals, open air events and long days on the beach! If it's too hot you can also choose to take shelter in a museum like the Uffizi Gallery. Otherwise we suggest this 3 days itinerary in the Tuscan archipelago or - if you prefer the countryside atmosphere - one week in Tuscany with Cortona as home base.

If you like adventure and discovery you should add to your bucket list one of the Tuscan parks or the vie cave, an ancient itinerary with incredibly narrow paths that the Etruscans cut into mile-high tuff (tufa) stone in the Maremma area.

Remember that in July it's easy to get the shopping fever because of the summer sales (read our article about the outlets in Tuscany).

There are many good reasons to visit Tuscany in Autumn: it's grape harvest time; truffles, mushrooms and chestnuts abound; the temperature is mild and the colours are beautiful; there are sport events like Florence Marathon...

Speaking of sports, if you like bycicles don't miss "L'Eroica vintage bike race" in Gaiole in Chianti, happening every first Sunday of October. There, with a vintage bike, you can take a tour on gravel roads through the wonderful landscapes of Chianti and Crete Senesi.

Tuscany is definitely not one of the coldest places in Europe. If you are not going up to the mountains, temperature hardly goes below 0°C (32F) and when it snows in a city like Florence everyone wants to take photos of the best views as it's really uncommon to see a "white Florence".

Winter is not a popular season for tourism, so you have the possibility to discover how people really lives around here. It's a good season to visit museums, drink red wine, go shopping, visit hot springs like Saturnia or playing snow sports.

If you love nature you will surely apreciate Lunigiana, Garfagnana, the Pistoia Mountains and the Casentino. In February/March immerse yourself in the Viareggio Carnival. You can also read these tips to enjoy your winter!