For almost two weeks we travelled through Tuscany in our van, marvelled at the towns and overate every single day. Our first longer stop was Greve in Chianti, a good base for day trips in every direction.
Autumn in Chianti
Around Greve the autumn colours glowed. We strolled through old little towns such as San Gimignano or Castellina and hiked through the vineyards.
Siena, Montepulciano and the Orcia valley
Then on to Siena, one of the highlights of the trip, and then towards Montepulciano. There the landscape became more barren, marked by the famous cypress avenues – quite different from Chianti. Places such as Monticiano and Monticchiello and the Orcia valley also lay on our way.
Tuscany from above
Of course I sent the drone up too. From above, the hills, vineyards and cypresses appear as a calm pattern of lines and autumn colours. The Val d’Orcia stretches from the hills south of Siena to Monte Amiata and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004; its towns include Pienza, rebuilt as an “ideal town” in the 15th century under Pope Pius II.
A stone house above the valley and a tall stone tower – the old towns of Tuscany.A narrow lane of stone and brick, a sign on the wall: Foto.Olive groves and a yellow house in the hills around Greve.Rows of vines as if drawn with a ruler, a red dot in the middle.An estate with a pool and tennis court and dense rows of vines, from the air.A farmhouse with a pool among olives, cypresses and vineyard.An iron gate between stone pillars, oaks and hills behind.Icons on the stone wall and a veiled figure in the half-light.White flowers in front of a weathered stone wall.A gravel path along tall cypresses.Umbrella pines with crooked trunks against a blue sky.A row of cypresses at the edge of a yellow field, the hills behind.A stone church with a round window and outdoor stairs, an olive tree in front.A break on the stone steps and a poster with the word Chianti.A hill town with a defensive tower and town wall, from the air.A cemetery with rows of graves in the middle of the forest.Woodpiles at a turning loop among the trees.A stone house behind a rubble-stone wall, olive trees beside it.Olive trees in the meadow and a track between the vines.A track through yellow vines – we hiked through the vineyards.Olives on the branch and a gnarled old tree.A small stone chapel among olive trees and cypresses.Chin resting on folded hands – a portrait in Tuscany.A track and two cypresses between the fields.Vineyards, paths and wooded hills – autumn colours in the Chianti.Olive trees in plots framed by stone walls.A villa in red autumn leaves between the rows of vines.A hill town with church and tower above the vineyards.Pink streaks of cloud in the twilight sky.The sun sinks behind the dark hills.A lantern on a house wall in a lane at night.The cathedral and striped tower of Siena in the distance.A narrow lane between tall houses, a souvenir sign below.Siena Cathedral with its tall, unfinished façade above the rooftops.Green shutters and a planted balcony on a weathered façade.At the end of the lane, Siena's brick-red tower rises up.The Piazza del Campo with its tall tower and palace – one of the highlights of the trip.Crenellated brick palaces along the edge of the square, crowds in front.The palace and tower of Siena, once through raindrops.A marble loggia with figures in front of the crenellated brick palace.An arch of the marble façade and the rose window of Siena Cathedral.A Latin inscription on a pale, weathered stone slab.Storm clouds above a low row of cypresses in the Val d'Orcia.A dense cluster of cypresses on a bare hill – the landscape grows sparser.Two lone cypresses on pale, rolling hills.A cluster of cypresses on the hilltop in the evening light.A row of cypresses at the foot of dark hills, clouds gathering.Tiled roofs of a hill town, a church tower among them.Galleries of columns stacked on top of each other, a figure at the very top – a church façade in Tuscany.Church and colourful houses on the square and a graffiti: a couple with phones.Two silhouettes in front of a richly decorated church portal.A herringbone pattern of red bricks and a white dome with a round opening.A baroque church façade of pale stone with columns and pediment.A pale domed church on the lawn, nothing but sky around it.A wooded knoll and fields on rolling hills.An avenue of umbrella pines beside the vineyard.A winding road lined with cypresses through the hills of the Val d'Orcia, from the air.A long row of cypresses in front of rolling fields.Cypresses between ploughed field and olive grove – a calm pattern of lines.Cypresses on the horizon of a harvested field.Two cypresses in an autumn vineyard in front of hazy hills.Colourful gourds and tomatoes in red and green – we overate every single day.A stone house and an umbrella pine above a valley of cypresses.Through a narrow window onto the pale hills.A lane with flowerpots and an older man in a cap beside his red car.Hairpins lined with cypresses and a farmstead in the Val d'Orcia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004.
