Tuscany month by month
What to see, eat and plan around from April to November, from our farmhouse in the hills between Florence and Lucca.
Where Florence Meets the Sea
There is a narrow window, between the last cool mornings of March and the first truly warm afternoons of May, when Tuscany feels like it belongs to no one else.
Read → May 02Vineyards, Poppies, and Open Cellars
May is the month locals will quietly tell you is the real secret.
Read → June 03Long Days, Medieval Fire, and the First Swim
June is the hinge month — Tuscany still feels unhurried in its first two weeks, then tips into full summer by the solstice.
Read → July 04Horses, Opera, and Blues Under the Stars
July is when Tuscany's calendar of centuries-old traditions collides with its calendar of open-air festivals, and for a few weeks the region runs on very little sleep.
Read → August 05The Sea, the Second Palio, and a Canal Festival in Livorno
August is Tuscany at its most unapologetically festive — the coast fills with Italian families on their traditional summer holiday, inland towns empty out in the heat of the day and come alive after dark, and the region's two biggest traditions of the year, one equestrian and one aquatic, both land in the same fortnight.
Read → September 06The Harvest, and the Crowds Go Home
September might be Tuscany's best-kept secret for a certain kind of traveller: the August crowds evaporate almost overnight, the sea is still warm enough to swim through most of the month, and the region's most important agricultural event of the year — the grape harvest — turns the countryside into a genuine working landscape rather than a backdrop.
Read → October 07Olive Harvest, Golden Hills, and the First Truffles
October is the month Tuscany trades one harvest for another.
Read → November 08Truffle Season and the Quietest Version of the Region
November is not a month most first-time visitors put on a Tuscany itinerary, and that is precisely its appeal.
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