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Hey everyone! It’s been a while since you’ve heard from me as I just took a three week trip in Italy with my parents and boyfriend.

Below is a little taste of what my September looked like.

Our first destination was Fatorria di Maino, a hotel on an olive oil farm in the hills overlooking Florence. Only a 10 minute drive from the city, it was a fantastic and easy place to begin our trip and recommendable as a base for those wanting to explore Florence.

Fattoria di Maino, in the hills north of Florence. Photo by Sarah Page Maxwell
Fattoria di Maino, in the hills north of Florence

Next up was a couple nights in an Airbnb in Fiesole, also in the hills north of Florence.

Then we took the scenic road south, enjoying the hills of Tuscany, and ended up in a small, walled-in medieval town overlooking the Val d’Orcia called Pienza. Our base for exploration of southern Tuscany, Pienza is situated between Montalcino and Montepulciano, an hour southeast of Siena.

View from Pienza of the Val d'Orcia. Photo by Sarah Page Maxwell
View from Pienza of the Val d’Orcia

While our original thought was to visit the Amalfi coast or Cinque Terre towards the end of the trip, we changed gears at the last minute when we found an incredible Airbnb on a small island off Italy’s Mediterranean coast between Florence and Rome called Monte Argentario. We couldn’t resist the low-key charm, natural beauty, relative tranquility, and price tag of a place that appears popular with Italian tourists but not exactly on the map internationally.

 Our charming and incredibly well-located Airbnb on the edge of Porto Santo Stefano, Monte Argentario. Photo by Sarah Page Maxwell
Our charming and incredibly well-located Airbnb on the edge of Porto Santo Stefano, Monte Argentario

After two nights in Naples and three meals of Pizza in a row we boarded a Lufthansa flight to San Francisco via Munich. Ciao Italia.

Bottom Line

Tuscany is not unchartered territory. I’d bet half of you regular readers have driven its rolling hills, sipped its Brunellos, and eaten its truffle and wild boar stuffed pastas.

Hungry yet? Photo by Sarah Page Maxwell
Hungry yet?

That being said, I stumbled across some gems (think restaurants, Airbnbs, a winery, interesting things to do) that I want to share and have too many good photos to keep to myself, so a highlights of Tuscany trip report will be coming your way once I get my feet back under me.

Happy weekend!

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