Tourism in Tuscany
Tuscany, located in the heart of Italy, is one of the Italian regions that attracts the highest number of tourists thanks to its extraordinary landscape and climate, excellent accommodation facilities and the great variety of scenic, artistic, historical and cultural attractions.
With its famous cities of art, such as Florence, Pisa, Volterra, San Gimignano, Siena and Lucca, Tuscany’s economy is centred around the service industry, of which tourism is the most important.
The region is a popular destination for both foreign and Italian tourists and it is responsible for more than one tenth of Italy’s total arrivals of tourists.
In Tuscany the favourite tourist destinations are seaside, mountain and hill resorts, but more than one third of foreign visitors are attracted by its cities of art, spa resorts and rural areas.
Tuscany benefits greatly both from the high percentage of Italian tourists who visit the region, making Tuscany the most visited region in Italy and from the high percentage of foreign visitors, who come to Tuscany on holiday. About 100 million tourists visit Tuscany every year.
In 2017 Tuscany received 100 million tourists. 46.3 million visitors stayed in official tourist accommodation facilities, plus 48 million stayed in private homes and apartments and a further 3.9 million stayed in other accommodation facilities.
Tuscany is the second region in Italy as far as the number of tourists is concerned. It is very popular with German, Austrian and Swiss tourists, but it also attracts tourists from the USA and Canada , the UK ,the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Japan, Spain, China, India, Russia and Brazil.
Most tourists prefer staying in hotels, while a few tourists like staying in other types of tourist accommodations such as youth hostels, camping sites, farmhouses, villas, B&Bs, apartments and guest houses.
32%
hotels
68%
other tourist accoodation
Most tourists are between the ages of 24 and 44 and book their holidays on the Internet. Some tourists book their holidays in travel agencies. Visitors come to Italy by plane, train, car and ship. A small number of visitors come by train or ship.
Florence
Livorno 27%
30%
Grosseto 7%
18% 18%
the Tuscan Archipelago
other cities and areas such as Versilia and Siena
Tuscany accounts for 42 million presences per day in tourist accommodations and more than one quarter of them are concentrated in Florence, Siena, Leghorn, Pisa, Grosseto, the Tuscan Archipelago and Versilia.
Versilia, which is a well-known region of natural and international appeal and a popular destination for summer holidays, is located in the province of Lucca.
It is situated on the . northern coast of Tuscany, between the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Apuane Alps...
...and comprises charming seaside resorts
such as Torre del Lago, Viareggio, Forte dei Marmi and Marina di Pietrasanta, which is divided into three charming areas: Focette, Tonfano and Fiumetto.
Torre del Lago
Viareggio
Marina di Pietrasanta
Focette
Tonfano
Fiumetto
Forte dei Marmi
This area attracts lots of tourists in summer thanks to its long, sandy beaches, bathing establishments, ...
...lovely promenades ,shady pine woods, sports facilities,...
... elegant tree-lined avenues, ...
...luxury hotels, wonderful villas, restaurants ,exclusive cafĂŠs, pubs and discos.
Tourists can hire bikes and go cycling along the promenades or through the pinewoods...
...or hire a beach umbrella or a beach tent with two deckchairs and two sunbeds in a bathing establishment...
...and sunbathe and relax in the sun...
...or go swimming in the sea or in the swimming pool.
Florence, the capital of Tuscany, is located on the River Arno and is surrounded by the gentle hills of the Apennines.
Florence embodies the intellectual, artistic and cultural centre of Tuscany... maybe even Italy. A holiday in Tuscany could not be complete without a visit to this charming city.
All roads in Tuscany lead to Florence, the region's biggest city and one of Europe's premier tourist magnets!!!
Florence is known as the Cradle of the Renaissance, because many famous artists such as Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo
lived and created stunning works of art in this city.
34
The city is filled with fine art, splendid architecture and magnificent Renaissance monuments. Its architectural treasures include:‌
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…the Cathedral, dedicated to Santa Maria del Fiore, Brunelleschi’s Dome, Giotto’s Bell Tower and the Baptistery with its famous Porta del Paradiso and…
‌the magnificent Palazzo Vecchio, also known as Palazzo della Signoria,which towers on the north side of Piazza della Signoria and is one of the most spectacular squares in Italy.
Michelangelo’s David
The city is an open-air museum and, although many treasures are inside museums and churches, there are plenty of squares and streets that offer masterpieces of their own.
The Uffizi Gallery
The splendid medieval Ponte Vecchio, Piazzale lined with expensiveMichelangelo shops, souvenir shops and goldsmiths, jewellers and silversmiths’ workshops is worth a visit.
Florence offers a large variety of activities including history tours, shopping tours, wine and food tours, cooking courses and much more!
Tourists can go shopping in the main shopping streets such as Via Roma, Via dei Calziaioli and Via dei Tornabuoni.
Via Roma
Via dei Calzaiuoli
Via dei Tornabuoni
They can have dinner in the famous Florence Central Market, which is the perfect place to taste Tuscan delicacies.
Here they can attend cooking lessons and learn how to cook Italian dishes, buy homemade pasta, bread, high-quality ice cream and chocolate , fresh seafood, “salumi” and other delicacies and…
…taste “ lasagne” “ribollita”, “pappa al pomodoro” or “ panzanella” ,Florentine steak with beans , “panna cotta” with raspberry sauce, zuccotto and Chianti wine in a typical Tuscan restaurant .
PISA
Pisa attracts thousands of Italian and foreign tourists every year. The city is worldfamous for its amazing Leaning Tower and contains more than twenty famous churches, several palaces and various bridges across the River Arno.
The city is rich in history and artistic monuments and is famous for its extraordinary Piazza dei Miracoli, also known as Campo dei Miracoli, a miracle of architectural achievement.
Four buildings, all in PisanRomanesque style: the Cathedral, the Baptistery, the Monumental Cemetery and the famous Leaning Tower form one of the most outstanding architectural complexes in Italy.
Tourists can wander through the best shopping streets in Pisa: Corso Italia and Borgo Stretto‌
…lined with bookstores, exclusive and elegant shops, boutiques and jewellers’ stores, such as “Guess”, “Liu Jo”, “Kiko”, “Zara”, “Borbonese”, “Feltrinelli”, “Les Copains”, “Sisley”, hotels, restaurants...
...and cafés such as the famous “Salza”, where they can have delicious cakes and sandwiches.
In the evening they can wander through the cobbled streets of the city and sit in a pub or a cafÊ’ or attend one of the events which are held in the city centre.
While in Pisa, tourists can have a Vespa tour with a tour guide,‌
‌who can show them the villages and the attractions with a particular focus on the landscape,...
‌the local traditions and the historical and agricultural features of the area.
San Miniato
San Miniato attracts many tourists also because it is situated in the heart of Tuscany. From this area visitors can easily reach the main Tuscan cities of art such as: Florence, Pisa, Lucca and Siena also thanks to its central location and its good road and railway network.
The town has a lot of attractions and offers high-quality tourist facilities and accommodations. Tourists can stay in hotels, guest houses, villas, B&Bs, apartments, farmhouses or holiday farms, which are immersed in the beautiful countryside and offer the possibility of excursions.
Tourists come to San Miniato not only for its ancient churches, museums, monuments and historical sites ‌
The Cathedral
The Tower of Frederick II
The Palace of the Seminary
…but also because the town offers a great deal of events during the year such as Prima del Teatro, La Luna è Azzurra, A Castle of Sounds, Francigena Melody Road, …
…La Notte Nera and…
‌the National White Truffle
Exhibition, which has been held here in November for 46 years and is a market which attracts thousands of Italian and foreign visitors.
The town is also famous because it is located on the famous Via Francigena, which was the main connecting route between Northern Europe and Rome in the Middle Ages.
Low cost “pilgrim” accommodation religious facilities such as hostels, guesthouses and “tourist” accommodation hotels such as B&Bs, accommodation in farms are available along the Via Francigena.
I.T. “CATTANEO” SAN MINIATO (PISA) ITALY YOUNG TOURISM: listen and discover.
ERASMUS PLUS K2 2017-2019 Teachers : Maria Beatrice Bianucci Mila Nuti