May in Tuscany: Vineyards, Poppies, and Open Cellars

May is the month locals will quietly tell you is the real secret. The countryside between Florence, the Chianti hills, and the Etruscan Coast turns properly green, wild poppies edge the wheat fields in streaks of red, and the region's wineries fling their doors open to anyone curious enough to knock. It's warm enough for lunch on a terrace, still cool enough to walk a hill town at midday without wilting — a rare balance.

Where to go

The Chianti wine road (the SR222, the "Chiantigiana") between Florence and Siena is at its most cinematic this month: cypress-lined driveways, stone farmhouses, vines just leafing out in bright acid green against dark soil. Stop in Greve in Chianti for its unusual triangular piazza, or push on to Castellina and Radda for smaller, quieter villages with the same views and none of the crowds.

Volterra, west of Siena, is a detour worth making — an Etruscan hill town with a genuinely dramatic setting, alabaster workshops that have operated for centuries, and Roman ruins that most visitors to Tuscany never see. Pair it with San Gimignano on the same day; they're twenty minutes apart.

Toward the coast, the Etruscan Riviera (Costa degli Etruschi) starts to make sense as a day trip in May — the sea is still cool but the pine-shaded coastline around Castiglioncello and Populonia, with its Etruscan necropolis sitting almost on the sand, is at its emptiest and most atmospheric before the summer crowds arrive.

What to eat

May is asparagus, fresh peas, and the very last of the season's artichokes, alongside the first strawberries from the hills around Pistoia — a well-known local specialty. It's also the best month to actually taste the wine at source.

Worth timing your trip around

Cantine Aperte ("Open Cellars"), organised by the Movimento Turismo del Vino Toscana, is the region's flagship wine-tourism weekend — dozens of estates across Chianti, the Val d'Orcia, Montalcino, and Bolgheri open for tastings, vineyard walks, and cellar tours, many with food pairings included. It's traditionally held over the last weekend of May (30–31 May in 2026); exact participating wineries and hours vary year to year and are worth checking closer to your dates.

Why stay at Redolina

Redolina's position between Florence and Lucca puts the Chianti wine road, Volterra, and San Gimignano all within a comfortable drive, while the Etruscan Coast remains reachable for those willing to make it a full-day excursion — ideal for a May stay built around wine, hill towns, and long lunches rather than a fixed itinerary.