The vineyards in the Maremma in Tuscany Photo: stock.adobe.com/stevanzz
From our editorial team
Tuscany is not a holiday destination. It is a daydream in the collective memory. Hardly any other region is as romanticised as Tuscany - and the longing is not diminishing.
An attitude to life as a holiday magnet: The popularity of the region has ensured almost 50 million overnight stays per year in 2023. Maybe it's the light, maybe it's the wine, maybe it's just the idea that life feels a little easier there. Every summer, millions go in search of flavour, serenity and a touch of Italian perfection. Here are ten reasons:
1. this light.
Photo: stock.adobe.com/Marco Saracco
It is warm, soft and has the amazing ability to make even people in functional clothing look for a moment like extras in a classic Italian film. When the sun slowly disappears behind the hills and everything in a rich orange colour the everyday suddenly becomes picturesque. The landscape becomes a backdrop, the wine tastes a little fuller - and you wonder whether you shouldn't open a small studio after all. Just for fun.
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2. because there is culture with gelato here
In the Tuscany high culture and everyday life are surprisingly close together. In the mornings you can wander through museums where Renaissance masterpieces gleam quietly, in the afternoons you can sit on the steps of a piazza and enjoy a dripping pistachio ice cream - without any inner debate about dignity or style. Here, Michelangelo and the ice-cream man next door don't have to compete for attention. Both simply belong together.
3. because the GPS fails - and that passes for an adventure
Losing your bearings somewhere in the Tuscan countryside is not a navigation problem. It's part of the experience. Anyone who panics in Germany when Google Maps says "route being recalculated" suddenly finds it charming here to jolt along a white gravel road with potholes to the next winery.
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4. because "agriturismo" sounds nicer than "holiday flat".
What sounds like floral bed linen and a shower cubicle with a folding door in Germany promises rural luxury with olive grove views in Tuscany. Plus a breakfast of ricotta that was practically goat's milk yesterday - and all for less than one night in a mid-range hotel on the Baltic Sea.
5. because Tuscany is what life should look like according to Instagram.
Peach-coloured evening light. Cypresses. Old stone houses with ivy vines. It's as if someone has put a pastel filter over reality - without an app. In Tuscany, everything is somehow harmonious. And you suddenly look ten years more relaxed in holiday photos.
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6. because you don't have to explain yourself while eating.
Two Courses plus pasta plus bread plus vino? In Tuscany, nobody asks: "Are you really going to eat all that?" But rather: "Why so little?" Here, eating is not an event - it's the joy of being. And anyone who has ever eaten bistecca alla Fiorentina knows that: Vegetarian is okay - but not here.
7. because you can't do anything here without a guilty conscience.
In Germany, idleness is suspect. In Tuscany, they call it "dolce far niente" and praise it as an art of living. Sitting on a terrace, looking out over the hills and simply doing nothing? Here, this is not seen as laziness - but as a contribution to inner contemplation and appreciation of life.
8. because nobody here asks what you do for a living.
In Germany, it takes exactly two minutes of small talk before the question comes: "And what do you do?" In Tuscany? Nobody cares. You're there, you eat, you breathe - that's enough. Whether you're a CEO, freelancer or freshly made redundant: the only thing that matters at dinner with a view of the hills is whether you pour the wine and appreciate the bruschetta. A welcome time-out from the German performance subscription.
9. because "wine tasting" doesn't sound like a compulsory appointment.
In Germany, wine tasting is often an appointment with a PowerPoint presentation and cheese cubes, where you end up feeling like you're at a sales seminar. In Tuscany, this means: you sit somewhere under a tree, the winemaker talks about his vines with his hands and heart, you don't understand a word - but the wine explains itself.
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10. because you feel that life can be simple.
Tuscany makes us believe that life can be like this: slow, beautiful, full of flavour. Without the stress of traffic lights, without to-do lists, without neighbours complaining about the lawnmower. And to be honest, this illusion is often enough to make us take a deep breath - and finally leave our mobile phones in flight mode.
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