Travelers’ Guide to Central Italy

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The Travel Exchange is a Whatsapp group where we focus on one country at a time, with a day or 2 dedicated to a different city. Members describe their personal experiences and tips. To join our next conversation send a message to PadovaTravels to get an invite to the group.

In July, we started a conversation about Kosher travel to Italy. After covering Rome, and Southern Italy the conversation continued to focus on Central Italy including Tuscany and surrounding cities.

Below we tried to sum up thoughts and helpful links shared regarding food, accommodations and activities. Feel free to add your own experiences in the comments below.

Tuscany

Where to Eat

Terra di Seta
- Really a good place with restaurant on site.
- An hour drive from Florence.
Cantina Guiliano
- Nice family run seasonal restaurant and winery.
- 40 minutes drive from Pisa.
- They have dairy lunch and meat for dinner. Chalav Yisroel and glatt with a good hashgach
- They have a bunch of activities you can do with them including: Wine tasting, pasta making workshop, truffle hunting, professional photo shoots, vintage car rentals, private sailing days
Regarding any of the kosher food in Tuscany (both Florence and wineries) ask your LOR

What to Do

Driving
You can rent a car from Rome and drive north through Tuscany. The drive through the rolling Tuscan hills is amazing.
You can rent a car one way from Rome to Venice or Milan or vice versa and spend a few days in between exploring Tuscany. Aside from the main tourist attractions and cities, it’s worthwhile to take scenic routes, off the beaten track. Spend some time in old small towns along the way. You’ll get a really authentic Italian countryside experience. Some towns have only a few hundred residents, and always a main square where the locals are hanging out and drinking espresso…

Another thing people should realize is Italy a lot of times requires a international driver license.

There are many beautiful small towns along the way to stop in… Including:
- Civita di Bagnoregio
  Incredible tiny town above a hilltop. Must walk about 10 minutes on a pedestrian bridge but is worth it. Navigate to Parcheggio “Alberto Ricci” (closest parking lot to bridge), then walk the bridge to town. Or can just navigate to Caffe Belvedere and then walk until Terrazza su Civita di Bagnoregio and see the beautiful panoramic views of the mountains with Civita’s walled city rising above.
- Orvieto Montepulciano Cortona
- Arezzo
- Sienna
  Sienna is another good old Tuscan hilltop walled city. You can park your car in the parking lot below the mountain and then take a series of escalators to the top of the town. There’s a beautiful cathedral and great town square all within a few minutes walk.
  Also has a nice old shul that just reopened after restoration.
- San Gamigano
- Volterra

Tuscany Ebikes – Had a great time ebiking in Tuscany , gorgeous vineyards and castles

Florence

What to Do

Ponte Vecchio
- The bridge is one of the oldest in Florence and Filled with little shops and stalls, the market is nice with big crowds.
- Its one of the best things to do in Florence if you haven’t been before. Walk around the banks of the river Arno, too. You’ll get some impressive views of Ponte Vecchio from there.
Piazza della Signoria
Piazza della Repubblica
- Once an old Jewish ghetto within Florence (hundreds of years ago), Piazza della Repubblica is now one of the city’s open piazzas that’s great to see.
Piazzale Michelangelo
- Has to be one of the best spots in Florence if you want to see a gorgeous sunset.
- It’ll take you around 30-minutes to walk to the piazza from Ponte Vecchio, but it’s worth it for the views.
- You can even see across the Tuscan landscape and across the mountains
Famous Art Museums
- Pitti
- Uffizi
- Accedemia
  - Home to David by Michelangelo – Cool statue of dovid hamelech
Great Shul in Florence
- They claim to have shachris at 7:20 every day, but when I went they only had 9 including me
- I was there in the winter, they had only Thursday’s. Heard about them having only 9 people usually, as well.

Where to Stay

Golden Tower Hotel & Spa
12 min walk from Florence train station. Really good option

Pisa

Pisa is a very quick trip. Especially if you’re renting a car. You can find parking very easily a block away. It’s then a 3 minute walk to the square. You can also climb the tower.

Lucca

We went to Lucca typical Italian small town it’s 25 min from Pisa
In Lucca you can rent bikes and bike around on the city walls

Livorno

About 25 minutes South from Pisa.
A beautiful port city with Jewish history.
There is a gorgeous shul there but not very old. Was rebuilt after being destroyed in WWII. – I believe in the 50s or 60s

Forte de Marmi

Very nice beaches near pisa

Cinque Terra

Just an hour from Pisa
Beautiful place if you have time.
It’s 5 old towns on the coast that you travel across either by train or boat or hike.
Park by train station in La Spizia

We took a private boat to travel trough Cinque Terre. I would not recommend the water was extremely choppy we were all very nauseous and we only saw the beautiful towns from the water . If I would do it again I would go with a ferry to one or two towns and explore that way . Just wanting to share our not so lovely experience. The place is truly beautiful though !
We kayaked between two of them
Please be careful about renting a Vespa, especially in these mountain towns with their windy narrow roads. I got into a serious accident on one. Wasn’t a fun experience.
Another thing people should realize is Italy a lot of times requires a international driver license.