Day-trips from Florence to the Best Towns in Tuscany by Donald Strachan
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Pisa: Long before Florence hit its peak, Pisa experienced a golden age of maritime supremacy in the Med. The legacy of those glorious 1200s have bequeathed us the Campo dei Miracoli: a fine Gothic cathedral, a Baptistery embellished by the finest sculptors in Europe, and most famously the free-standing campanile, aka the Torre Pendente or Leaning Tower. Don't limit your visit to just this tourist set-piece, however, magnificent though it is. La cucina Pisana is on fine form at Cavalieri (on Via San Frediano) and cantina-like Porton Rosso, close to the produce market on Viacolo del Tidi is another fantastic place to slip away from the crowds for a relaxed spot of lunch.
Regular direct trains link Santa Maria Novella with Pisa; alight at Pisa San Rossore (not Centrale) if you're heading direct to the Campo dei Miracoli. Pisa's official tourist information is at pisaunicaterra.it.
Siena: Where muscular Florence has the Renaissance, feminine Siena showcases the ultimate in Italian Gothic. At the height of its power it was the equal of any city-state in central Italy - and the legacy of those early 1300s formed the city you see today. The Palazzo Pubblico, started in 1297, houses enormous frescoes by Simone Martini and Ambrogio Lorenzetti. Duccio di Buoninsegna's Maestà, paraded from his workshop to the cathedral when it was completed in 1311, now resides in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo - the top floor of which provides access to the Facciatone and one of the city's great views. (You'll find another from the top of the 102m Torre del Mangia, that rises above Siena's scallop-shaped main square, the Campo.)
Throw in an exquisite Gothic cathedral, a frescoed pilgrims' ward in the former hospital of Santa Maria della Scala, traditional Sienese fine dining at Cane e Gatto (on Via Pagliaresi) and a gelato from Brivido, and you've just about scratched Siena's surface. You need more than a day here, ideally, but it can be done.
The best way to get here from Florence is by SITA/Tra.In bus (sitabus.it). For tourist information, consult terresiena.it.
Lucca: The genteel, aristocratic atmosphere and prosperous shopping streets of Lucca are just an hour and a half away from the Tuscan capital. Come to enjoy the lanes that Puccini called home, to take in expansive Apennine views from the top of the Torre Guinigi, and come prepared for some cycle rental, too: the complete, flat circuit of ilex-lined 16th-century walls provide the best views into every corner of the city. If you have kids with you, they'll love it.
Half-hourly trains leave Santa Maria Novella for Lucca. For tourist information, check luccaturismo.it.
San Gimignano
If this tiny walled town named after a Bishop of Modena looks frozen in medieval time, that's because it is. The once prosperous stop on the Via Francigena never recovered from multiple outbreaks of bubonic plague in the 14th and 15th centuries. Almost all you see today - from its 13 remaining towers to the Gozzoli frescoes in Sant'Agostino and the Collegiata - date from those glory days. San Gim can get very crowded, but in the early morning and late at night, there's nowhere quite like its cobbled streets and perfect twin piazzas.
To get there from Florence, take the SITA bus; journey time is about an hour and a quarter. For tourist information, see sangimignano.com.
Prato: A glorious restoration of Fra' Filippo Lippi's frescoes in the apse of Prato Cathedral has put this overlooked garment town back on the tourist map. Also inside the Cathedral is the Virgin's Girdle, supposedly caught by St Thomas Apostle on the Virgin Mary's Assumption to heaven. The streets of the medieval centre also reward a morning's aimless wander. End your visit with lunch at Cibbè in Piazza Mercatale, and you'll be back in Florence for afternoon tea.
Prato is around a half-hour by train from Santa Maria Novella; alight at Prato Porta al Serraglio (not Centrale) for the Duomo. For tourist info, see pratoturismo.it.
Pistoia: The town that gave its name to the "pistol" is now home to Tuscany's altogether tamer market gardening industry. What you'll want to see is in the medieval core: a monumental piazza, octagonal baptistery and the Pisan-influenced Cattedrale di San Zeno. Just north of the piazza, the old pilgrims' hospital, the Ospedale del Ceppo, sports a glazed terracotta frieze by Giovanni della Robbia. Pistoia is also home to Giovanni Pisano’s most exquisitely carved pulpit (inside Sant’Andrea) and Tuscany's best zoo, a short hop from the centre by cab or bus.
A couple of trains an hour head to Pistoia from Santa Maria Novella. The official tourist website for the city and its surrounds is pistoia.turismo.toscana.it.
Arezzo: It's worth the short hop down the fast rail line to Rome to view one of the giant (literally) achievements of Western art. Piero della Francesca's Legend of the True Cross, frescoed in the apse chapel of San Francesco in the 1440s, is the town's main draw - book your timed-entry ticket ahead of arrival at pierodellafrancesca.it - and rightly spoken of in the same breath as Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel.
Arezzo was also the home city of Renaissance man Giorgio Vasari. He designed the loggia along the top edge of lopsided Piazza Grande and decorated his own house, the Casa di Vasari, which has been restored and opened to visitors.
The train from Santa Maria Novella takes about 90 minutes. Arezzo's tourism information portal is at apt.arezzo.it.
Italy-bound this spring? See all our luxury hotels in Tuscany.
Or if you're looking for the definitive holiday reading list, have a thumb through Donald's selection of ten books to take to Tuscany.
Donald Strachan‘s latest app, Instant Florence, an iPhone guide to the best the city has to offer, costs £1.79/€2.99 from Apple’s iTunes Store. His latest guidebook, Florence and Tuscany Day by Day, is available from Amazon.co.uk.