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Experienced and first-time travelers alike rely on Fodor's Gold Guides for rich, reliable coverage the world over. Smart travel tips and important contact info make planning your trip a breeze, and detailed coverage of sights, accommodations, and restaurants give you the info you need to make your experience enriching and hassle-free. If you only have room for one guide, this is the one for you. Artistic riches, romantic vistas, ancient spas, magical hill towns, Etruscan ruins -- what to see in the time you have 16 mix-and-match itineraries, Renaissance-quarter walks, wine country drives, side trips to castles, gardens, and abbeys Where to shop, from Ferragamo boutiques to street markets The Palio, hiking, horseback riding, biking, and parks Where to stay and eat, no matter what your budget Luxurious villas, classic pensioni, stylish city hotels, country farmhouses, seaside B&Bs, monastic lodgings Family-run trattorias, elegant terrace restaurants, wine bars, rustic osterie, piazza cafes and the best gelato Fresh, thorough, practical -- off and on the beaten path Costs, hours, descriptions, and tips by the thousands All reviews based on visits by savvy writer-residents 27 pages of maps and more Important contacts, smart travel tips Fodor's Choice What's Where Pleasures and Pastimes New & Noteworthy Festivals Tour to the Marches Further reading, videos to watch Complete index

On the Road with Fodor's About Our Writers: Each year the Gold Guides are written and updated by more than 500 resident writers
New This Year: Keeps you up to the minute on recent changes
Connections How to Use This Book: Describes organization, icons, and other key information
Don't Forget to Write: Tells you how to get in touch with our editors
The Gold Guide Smart Travel Tips A to Z: An easy-to-use section divided alphabetically by topic
Under each listing you'll find tips and information that will help you accomplish what you need to in Florence, Tuscany, and Umbria
You'll also find addresses and telephone numbers of organizations and companies that offer destination-related services and detailed information and publications
Destination: Florence, Tuscany, and Umbria: Helps get you in the mood for your trip
Introduction New and Noteworthy: Cues you in on trends and happenings
What's Where: Gets you oriented
Pleasures and Pastimes: Describes the activities and sights that make Florence Tuscany and Umbria unique
Fodor's Choice: Showcases our top picks from special restaurants and one-of-a-kind accommodations to out-of-the-ordinary sights and activities..
Let them inspire you! Festivals, Seasonal Events: Alerts you to special events you'll want to seek out
Florence North of Florence Cities West of Florence Chianti Siena and the Hill Towns Arezzo, Cortona, and Southern
Tuscany Perugia and Northern Umbria Assisi, Spoleto, and Southern Umbria Portraits of Florence, Tuscany, and Umbria Florence, Tuscany, and Umbria at a Glance
A Chronology Artistically Speaking: A Glossary Books and Videos
Index
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This excerpt, from the Pleasures and Pastimes section, gives you a taste of what Florence, Tuscany, and Umbria have to offer and the sights and scenes that make them great places to visit.

The Art of Enjoying Art

Travel veterans will tell you that the endless series of masterpieces in Italy's churches, palaces, and museums can cause first-time visitors to lean, Pisa-like, on their companions for support.  The secret, of course, is to act like a turtle -- not a hare -- and take your sweet time. Instead of trotting after briskly efficient tour guides, allow the splendors of the age to unfold -- slowly. Get out and explore the actual settings -- medieval chapels, Rococo palaces, and Romanesque town squares -- for which these marvelous examples of Italy's art and sculpture were conceived centuries ago and where many of them may still be seen in situ.

Museums are only the most obvious places to view art; there are always the trompe l'oeil renderings of Assumptions that float across Baroque church ceilings and piazza scenes that might be Renaissance paintings brought to life. Instead of studying a Gothic statue in Florence's Bargello, spend an hour in the medieval cloisters of the nearby convent of San Marco; by all means, take in Michelangelo'a David and Slaves in Florence's Accademia, but then meander down the 15th-century street, a short bus ride away, where he was born. You'll find that after three days trotting through museums, a walk through a quiet neighborhood will act as a much-needed restorative of perspective.

Dolce Far Niente

The idea of vacation was probably invented by some hardworking Roman emperor and, ever since, the Italians have been fine-tuning what they call dolce far niente -- the sweet art of idleness. It takes more than trading in a silk tie for a T-shirt; you have to adjust to the deeper, subtler rhythms of leisure, Italian style. Hours spent over a Campari in a sun-splashed cafe[ac]; days spent soaking up the sun on the Amalfi Coast; an afternoon spent painting a watercolor on the shores of Lake Como.

Dining

In Italy, cookery is civilization. In the days of the Roman legions, pundits used to say,  "Ubi Roma ibi allium: where there are Romans, there is garlic). Ever since the days of the Caesars -- when emperors quickly learned the wisdom of "stomaco pieno, anima consolata" (Full stomach, satisfied soul) -- Italian chefs have taken one of life's sensory pleasures and made it into an art, and today you can feast on an incredible array of culinary delights.

Dining is a marvelous part of the total Italian experience, a chance to enjoy authentic specialties and ingredients. You have a choice of eating places, ranging from a ristorante (restaurant) to a trattoria, tavola calda  or rosticceria.  The line separating ristoranti from trattori have blurred of late, but a trattoria is usually a family-run place, simpler in decor, menu, and service than a ristorante, and slightly less expensive. Some rustic-looking spots call themselves osterie but are really restaurants. (A true osteria is a basic, down-to-earth tavern.) At a tavola calda or rosticceria, prepared food is sold to be consumed on the spot or taken out; you choose what you want at the counter, and pay at the cashier. An enoteca is a wine bar where you can order wine by the glass or bottle; most have tables, and many serve savory, light meals and nibbles. A caffe (coffee bar) serves those beloved coffee drinks replicated abroad, plus sandwiches, pastries, and other snacks. Tell the cashier what you want, p
ay for it, and then take the stub to the counter, where you restate your order, and then drink and eat standing at the counter. Remember that table service is extra, almost double; don't sit at a table unless you want to be served.  Buon appetito!

Shopping

"Made in Italy" has become synonymous with style, quality, and craftsmanship whether it refers to high fashion or Maserati automobiles. The best buys are leather goods of all kinds -- from gloves to bags to jackets -- silk goods, knitwear, gold jewelry, ceramics, and local handicrafts. The most important thing to keep in mind when shopping in Italy is that every region has its specialties: Florence is known for leather, straw goods, gold jewelry, antiques, and paper products; Assisi produces wonderful embroidery; and Deruta and Gubbio have for centuries been centers for ceramics.

Thermal Baths

Thanks to its location in the Mediterranean region -- one of the world's most active volcano belts -- Italy is rich in thermo-mineral springs. Consequently, the Italians have developed a special attitude about what we call spas since the ancient Romans advanced the idea of "mens sana in corpore sano" (a sound mind in a healthy body). Perhaps old-fashioned today, taking the waters remains a unique part of Italian culture; it is state-supported and medically supervised. Never mind Greco-Roman worship of the body in templelike baths, choices now range from antiaging cures to American-style aerobic workouts to fangotherapy (medicinal mud therapy). Today, more and more travelers are taking vacations from their vacations by visiting one of Italy's sybaritic spas.

But don't say spa (in Italian, s.p.a. denotes a business corporation). Forget the Roman origins: The term in Italy is terme (baths).  At these centers, drinking and bathing cures are based on naturally produced thermal mineral waters, with mornings devoted to sipping and strolling as well as occasional forays into espresso bars. Then come hot mud packs, muscle massage, anticellulite treatments, and sinus-targeted steam inhalations.

Cura means "treatment," not miracle(s). After the obligatory evaluation by a staff doctor, a regimen is designed which allows plenty of time for sightseeing, jogging, and post-lunch shopping. If staying at a terme in places like Abano and Montecatini, you can add outings to nearby Etruscan ruins, country inns, and wineries.

Vineyards surround hillside terme where Tuscan food and wine can restore your spirits just in case the waters don't. Diversions range from golf to horse races, but hiking the unspoiled countryside -- dotted with castles and Roman ruins -- is the best way to discover the region's riches.

Excerpted from Florence, Tuscany and Umbria: The Complete Guide with the Best of the Art Treasures and Hill Towns by Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc. Staff
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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Fodor's Florence, Tuscany and Umbria, 4th Edition

Fodor's Florence, Tuscany and Umbria, 4th Edition

0679036113

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