Where we are in Southern Tuscany

Southern Tuscany is one of the most beautiful areas of Italy and one of the most popular. Its lunar landscapes are portrayed in most guidebooks, postcards and calendars dedicated to Tuscany. Its gentle rolling hills, the cypress-lined roads, the countryside churches, the beautiful stone houses, the medieval hilltop towns and the ancient abbeys. “What to see in Southern Tuscany” is a blog post that quickly introduces the main landmarks of this area. You can find more on all of that in this section of our website.

The largest cities in Southern Tuscany are Siena and Grosseto. The most popular areas are the Val d’Orcia with famous towns like Montalcino, Pienza, and Montepulciano, and the Crete Senesi with towns like Asciano and San Giovanni d’Asso made famous by truffle hunting.

These are not the only beautiful areas of Southern Tuscany. There are indeed several other interesting areas that certainly deserve to be visited. Just to mention a few in the area of Siena:

• the Val di Merse with well-preserved medieval villages such as Chiusdino and Monticiano and architectonic treasures like the Abbey of San Galgano;
• the woods and hills of the “montagnola senese” which includes beautiful towns such as Monteriggioni and stretches to Volterra;
• the area on the border with Umbria, with beautiful towns like Cortona, made famous by Frances Mayes’ book “Under the Tuscan Sun”.

In the province of Grosseto, the most popular destination is the Maremma and its coast, with sun-drenched beaches, lively coastal towns, peaceful coves, large pine tree forests, and the many isles of the Tuscan Archipelago.

Other areas of interest are the Etruscan towns of Pitigliano, Sovana and Sorano, built in tuff and the natural hot springs that surface in various parts of Southern Tuscany. To name just but two, the hot springs of Petriolo and the thermal baths of Saturnia provide unforgettable opportunities to relax and rejuvenate in the unspoilt countryside of the Upper Maremma.

The Maremma is also home to heritage towns and villages like Massa Marittima,the villages of Pari and Roccatederighi, and the castles of Monte Antico and Porrona.

Monte Amiata provides travelers with the opportunity to discover a completely different face of Tuscany. It is the highest mountain in the region and its slopes are covered in chestnut trees and beech trees. For centuries the people of the mountain have lived somewhat isolated from the people of the plains and the villages and the landscapes of the mountain bear traces of the hardship of mountain living. In summer the silent forests on the mountain top offer a pleasant escape from the summer heat and get-away from the hectic routine of everyday life. In winter, the mountain provides numerous opportunities for entertainment both in its beautiful villages and on its ski runs.

The perfect home base in Southern Tuscany

Casina di Rosa is located in Civitella Marittima, a medieval hilltop village in the heart of Southern Tuscany. Contrary to many other locations, Civitella is a very convenient base to explore each and every one of these areas of Tuscany, because it has easy access to the major road that runs across southern Tuscany, the highway SS223-E78. A car is highly recommended (read our article “To drive or not to drive in Tuscany?“)

Please visit the new tourist council’s website for photos and videos.

Moreover, the village is equally distant from Siena and the coast of the Maremma, from the Monte Amiata and Massa Marittima, from the Val d’Orcia and the Val di Merse, from the Etruscan area and the Chianti area. For this reason, when planning their daytrips, our guests do not have to choose one area of Southern Tuscany over the others, because they can reach most of these sites in maximum 30 to 50 minutes. And there is more than enough to fill two full weeks and more: this and the care we put into pampering our guests are the reasons why so many of them have returned to Casina di Rosa over the years.