Must-see attractions in Southern Tuscany

  • Necropoli di Sovana

    Southern Tuscany

    At Tuscany's most significant Etruscan tombs, part of the Parco Archeologico 'Città del Tufo', signs in Italian and English guide you around four…

  • Il Giardino dei Tarocchi

    Southern Tuscany

    Twenty-two oversized Gaudí-influenced sculptures tumble down a hillside at this fantastical sculpture garden created by Franco-American artist Niki de…

  • Cattedrale di San Cerbone

    Southern Tuscany

    Presiding over photogenic Piazza Garibaldi (aka Piazza Duomo), Massa Marittima's asymmetrically positioned 13th-century duomo (cathedral) is dedicated to…

  • Parco Regionale della Maremma

    Southern Tuscany

    This spectacular regional park incorporates the Uccellina Mountain Range, marshy plains and 20km of unspoiled coast. Access is limited to 12 signed…

  • Parco Archeologico 'Città del Tufo'

    Southern Tuscany

    The picturesque towns of Pitigliano, Sovana and Sorano form a triangle enclosing a dramatic landscape where local buildings have been constructed from the…

  • Garden of Daniel Spoerri

    Southern Tuscany

    Set in the wild surrounds of Seggiano, this sculpture garden is the passionate project of Romanian–Swiss artist Daniel Spoerri (b 1930), who created many…

  • Museo Archeologico e d'Arte della Maremma

    Southern Tuscany

    Grosseto's major tourist drawcard features an archaeological museum on the ground floor and a museum of ecclesiastical art upstairs. Items unearthed from…

  • La Piccola Gerusalemme

    Southern Tuscany

    Head down Via Zuccarelli and turn left at a sign indicating 'La Piccola Gerusalemme' to visit this fascinating time capsule of Pitigliano's historic but…

  • Fonte dell'Abbondanza

    Southern Tuscany

    A rather risqué surprise lurks in the street-level loggia (balcony) of a 13th-century former wheat store close to Piazza Garibaldi. The loggia shelters…

  • Museo Civico Archeologico 'Isidoro Falchi'

    Southern Tuscany

    Piazza Vatluna off Vetulonia's main street boasts spectacular views over the surrounding countryside and is also home to this small museum, which brings…

  • Scavi di Città

    Southern Tuscany

    In 2009 a small team of archaeologists began excavating these foundations of a 2300-year-old Etruscan domus (house), on the main road just below Vetulonia…

  • Mineral Park Museum

    Southern Tuscany

    Cinnabar, the red-coloured mineral from which mercury is extracted, was mined in the hills around Abbadia San Salvatore from Etruscan times until quite…

  • Museo Civico Archeologico di Pitigliano

    Southern Tuscany

    Head up the stone stairs to this small but well-run museum, which has rich displays of finds from local Etruscan sites. Highlights include some huge…

  • Roselle

    Southern Tuscany

    In the 7th century BC Roselle (Rusellae) was already an Etruscan town; it fell under Roman control in the 3rd century BC. Although there are no great…

  • Museo di Arte Sacra

    Southern Tuscany

    A splendid Maestà (c 1335–37) by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, as well as sculptures by Giovanni Pisano that originally adorned the facade of the duomo, are the…

  • Cattedrale di San Pietro

    Southern Tuscany

    Built over a 200-year period starting in the 12th century, this Romanesque–Gothic cathedral was commissioned by local boy-made-big Pope Gregory VII …

  • Fortezza Orsini

    Southern Tuscany

    Work on this massive fortress started in the 11th century. Today it still stands sentinel over the town, its sturdy walls linking two bastions surrounded…

  • Abbadia San Salvatore

    Southern Tuscany

    Founded by the Lombards in the 8th century, this abbey was originally entrusted to the Benedictines but later passed to the Cistercians. An important stop…

  • Area Archeologica di Vitozza

    Southern Tuscany

    More than 200 caves pepper a high rock ridge here, making it one of the largest troglodyte dwellings in Italy. The complex was first inhabited in…

  • Museo di San Mamiliano

    Southern Tuscany

    In 2004 archaeologists excavating beneath the ruined 9th-century Church of St Mamiliano made the discovery of a lifetime – a cache of 498 gold coins…

  • Oasi WWF Laguna di Orbetello

    Southern Tuscany

    An extraordinary 140 species of birds have been seen on Orbetello Lagoon. The best place to spot some of them is at the L'Oasi WWF north of town. As well…

  • Santa Maria Maggiore

    Southern Tuscany

    Designed in a Romanesque–Gothic transitional style, the 16th-century frescoes in the apse of this church are perhaps the main reason to head inside; there…

  • Torre del Candeliere

    Southern Tuscany

    Climb to the top of this 13th-century, 30m-high tower on the border between the Città Vecchia and Città Nuova for views over the old town. It's the only…

  • Museum of Asian Art & Culture

    Southern Tuscany

    Opened in 2017, this beautifully presented multimedia museum next to the medieval fortress in Archidosso showcases the art, craft and cultures of the…

  • Parco Renato Pollini

    Southern Tuscany

    Conveniently located next to Porta Corsica, this park is home to a large and extremely popular children's playground filled with well-maintained equipment…

  • Museo Archeologico

    Southern Tuscany

    Housed in the 13th-century Palazzo del Podestà, the historic residence of the town's chief magistrate, this archaeological museum has a small collection…

  • Caravaggio's Tomb

    Southern Tuscany

    One of the greatest painters of the Renaissance, Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio, died in Porto Ercole on 18 July 1610 after a tempestuous and short life…

  • Cattedrale di San Lorenzo

    Southern Tuscany

    Grosseto's late-13th-century duomo has a distinctive Sienese character and a particularly beautiful rose window above the main entrance. Much of the…

  • Cattedrale dei Santi Pietro e Paolo

    Southern Tuscany

    Construction of Pitigliano's duomo commenced in the late 13th century; the campanile was added a century later and the facade and interior were given…

  • Parco delle Biancane

    Southern Tuscany

    At this geothermal park 21km north of Massa Marittima, steam has been transformed into power by vapour turbines since 1916, supplying power to one million…

  • Museo di Palazzo Orsini

    Southern Tuscany

    Enlarged by the ruling Orsinis in the 16th century, this 13th-century castle later became the residence of the local bishop and is now a museum. Its rooms…

  • Concattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta

    Southern Tuscany

    It may be modest as far as many Tuscan churches go, but Orbetello's duomo is still attractive, retaining its 14th-century Gothic facade despite being…

  • Old Town

    Southern Tuscany

    Porto Ercole's centro storico stretches up the hillside, past the sandwiched-in Chiesa di Sant'Erasmo and up towards the largest of the three Spanish…

  • Chiesa di Sant’Erasmo

    Southern Tuscany

    This small baroque church is one of the most prominent sights in Porto Ercole's hillside centro storico (historic centre). Sadly, it is rarely open.

  • Forte Stella

    Southern Tuscany

    Built by the Spanish, this 16th-centry fort, an unusual star shape (hence its name), is the only Porto Ercole fort open to the public.

  • Arco Senese

    Southern Tuscany

    Massa Marittima's immense, medieval Arco Senese soars overhead as you pass between the Città Vecchia and Città Nuova.