Revised and Expanded for 2018 / 2019

Where do you find some of the best small hill towns in Tuscany? In the Valdichiana.

Visit eight charming Valdichiana hill towns in Tuscany to learn more about the culture and people. I suggest setting up a base in Arezzo to visit the hill towns in its valley.

• Visit Civitella in Valdichiana to learn its tragic history during a World War II massacre.
• Shop at the daily market in Monte San Savino and visit the unique art and ceramic museum in its fortress tower.
• Go back in time in the Etruscan museum and excavation in tiny Castiglion Fiorentino.
• Meander through small Foiano della Chiana and discover its hidden art treasures.
• Explore the small medieval town of Lucignano with its intact medieval walls and fascinating Museo Civico.
• Spend a day at two at the best museums in Cortona, then sit in the Piazza Repubblica with a gelato and watch people go by.
• Study Etruscan artifacts at the superb Etruscan museum in Chiusi and then go underground to visit the old Roman labyrinth of tunnels and cisterns.

What is the Valdichiana?

The Valdichiana is a large flat valley stretching south from the Umbrian border at Lake Trasimeno near Cortona to the town of Civitella in the north. Originally a swamp, it is now the breadbasket of Italy with fruit and olive orchards, crops of grain and corn, vineyards, and grazing land for the famous chianina beef, the source of bistecca Fiorentina.