Hidden Tuscany: three easy escapes from Florence

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Hidden Tuscany: three easy escapes from Florence

See the city, then get active in the surrounding wilds with canyoning, cycling and Chianti sipping...

Laura Holt

BY Laura Holt20 September 2018

No trip to Tuscany would be complete without a visit to its capital. But even within Florence’s confines, there are opportunities to get active, too – by rafting along the River Arno, for example. And your appetite for adventure doesn’t have to stop there, with our guide seeing the city, then side-tripping to the countryside…

GARFAGNANA
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This verdant valley in Tuscany’s northernmost Lucca province is cleaved from mountains and the snaking Serchio River. Only two hours from Florence, it’s accessible as a day trip, or by teaming it an overnight stay at another Tuscan hotel. In this wild and untamed landscape, you can go canyoning with adventure guide Simone Cecchi. If you haven’t tried this adventure sport before – which includes slipping, sliding and abseiling your way down river canyons – you’ll be in good hands: Simone is the president of the Italian Association of Canyoning Guides. Alternatively, go hiking amid the two mountain ranges that collide in the Garfagnana – the Apennine and the Apuan Alps – whose glossy-green slopes are cloaked with wildflowers in spring and summer.
Stay For a bucolic base in Florence, choose Villa Cora, which borders on the Boboli Gardens and has frescoed rooms that worship at the altar of Italian opulence. After a day out hiking and canyoning, submit to rural splendour of Locanda al Colle, a hillside hotel near the commune of Camaiore, or at Principe Forte Dei Marmi, within stone-skimming distance of the Versilia coast.

MUGELLO
See An hour north of Florence, you uncover another of Tuscany’s scenic valleys: the Mugello. Here, you can go cycling along twisting roads, truffle hunting in autumn and winter, or Armadillo trekking in the leaf-shaded folds of the Casentinesi Forest. Armadillo trekking, in case you’re wondering, involves walking with a man-hauled cart – the ‘Armadillo’ – strapped to your body, which can be used to carry goods over long distances. You can also tour the untouched Maremma coast with the amphibious Armadillo, in an activity known as aqua trekking, where you switch between sand and sea.
Stay One of the slickest and most affordable hotels in Florence is Continentale, with a romantic riverside terrace overlooking the Arno. After bidding goodbye to your Armadillo, bed down at Villa Sassolini, which has a spa, sauna and pool, surrounded by classic Chianti countryside.

CHIANTI RUFINA
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The smallest of Chianti’s eight wine-making sub regions is just an hour from Florence, yet remains lesser-known. Most oenological explorers head straight for the bigger, more established vineyards of the Chianti Classico, whose bottles appear on restaurant menus the world over. However, Chianti Rufina shouldn’t be overlooked – not least for its location on the slopes of the Apennines, wafted by cool breezes, which makes for an elegant end product. One of the best places to sample it is Azienda Agricola Frascole, a rustic agriturismo that’s run by the affable Lippi family, who offer tastings in their atmospheric cellar.
Stay Idle away your time in Florence at Il Salviatino – a 15th-century villa which sits on the eastern outskirts of the city, within easy reach of Chianti Rufina. On return from wine-tasting, there’s a pool and parterre gardens to explore, and the grand Greenhouse Suite to collapse in, complete with a curved glass roof and foliage to remind you of the rural reaches beyond Florence.

Continue your adventures by exploring the rest of our Italian hotel collection