Central Italy Travel Reviews by People who Visit Italy

Travel reviews for Italy by those in the know. Get the inside scoop on the best hotels, restaurants and top places to visit in Central Italy. And, you may also be interested to know that we have reviews on Northern Italy and Southern Italy too.

These travel reviews are submissions made by people who want to share their best tourist attractions in Central Italy, their best Italian restaurants, and Italian cooking recipes.

The following states make up Italy's Central region: Lazio, including Rome, Le Marche, Umbria and of course Tuscany.

Each of these regions has its own culture and food, but the one that is nearest to my heart is the one where we have our little farm, Tuscany. Tuscany is a beautiful area that is well justified in being called the "crown" of Italy. The food is delicious, the rolling hills crested with stone houses inviting and the cypress trees meandering up long, narrow roads are seen everywhere.

    Tuscany is steeped in history and you can find layers of it in the buildings     if you look very closely. It is a region that has many UNESCO protected        buildings and cities. Florence is one of these that definitely shouldn't be missed. Siena is another along with San Gimignano that should be visited out of peak-season to truly enjoy its beauty without the hordes of tourists who descend every summer. Then there is Pienza, the Pisa Cathedral and Val d’Orcia for your quintessential, Tuscan landscape in Central Italy.

However, there are less travelled spots in Tuscany that are so appealing, more so because they don't have the tour buses and you feel that you have discovered a little bit of Tuscany for yourself. There are so many little places to mention I don't know quite where to start. Suffice to say, that if you headed towards the Casentino Valley you wouldn't be disappointed. There are some beautiful towns here, one of them being Arezzo.

Arezzo is surrounded by olive groves and vineyards, an Etruscan city, once of great importance. History lives on in its architecture and its festivals, one of the most spectacular is the Giostra del Saracino The Joust of the Saracen which takes place in the Piazza Grande. It is also here that the Antique Market takes place on the first weekend of every month.

Poppi is another interesting town in the Casentino with a castle that dominates the landscape. Poppi castle can be seen as far away as Bibbiena and has been standing for nearly 1000 years, belonging at the time to the Counts Guidi. It also houses a magnificient library of ancient books.

Lucca is another gem seldom visited, but well worth the trip. It too was a town of great importance during the Etruscan period. It is completely walled, and one of the sites is the town's amphitheatre which became a circle of houses over time. However, the traces of the amphitheatre can clearly be seen and it is a thrill to stand in the middle of what is now a piazza and just imagine the scenes all those years ago.

Cortona cannot be dismissed, for it was the town that will forever be linked to Frances' Mayes "Under the Tuscan Sun". A must read for anyone either wanting to visit Italy, or who is thinking of restoring a house in Italy. However, long before Frances Mayes, Cortona was an Etruscan town of importance.

I could enthuse about Tuscany forever, but there are also lovely spots in the other 3 regions. Rome goes without saying with so many Roman monuments that were left behind for us to enjoy. The city itself has a history spanning two and a half thousand years, and there is lots to see that is surprisingly still standing or in evidence. However, what is more mind boggling is the fact that human beings have occupied the area for more than 14 000 years.

The Etruscans lived throughout this region. Etruscan tombs can be seen in Cerveteri that are truly fantastic. They are not far from Rome, to the west of the city, in Northern Italy. Despite these tombs being a UNESCO site, very few people know about them. Having been there myself, I would say that if you are going to be in the region these tombs should be on a "Must See" list without a doubt. These burial sites will hold you in awe with their size and grandeur and you can see the cart tracks that have become fossilized over time that were used to carry the bodies to the tombs.

Umbria, is known as the "Green Heart of Italy" and its jewel is Perugia. It is a town that has the highest arches to the entrance of the city than I have ever seen and there is even an ancient aqueduct that is still visible. Part of the thrill of visiting  Perugia 

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is approaching it from the bottom end of town near the bus depot and taking the escalators to the top. On route the escalators enter an old palazzo and you travel through layers of history before getting off at the top where you wend your way through the cobbled pathways and passages to daylight.

The Palazzo dei Priori dominates the Piazza IV Novembre, a large piazza that has become a meeting place. In the center is a beautiful fountain, the Fontana Maggiore, surrounded by the Duomo (said to hold the Virgin Mary's wedding ring), the Palazzo dei Priori, and other Medieval buildings with shops and bars.

Le Marche is another region in Central Italy and has a large coastline, and borders Tuscany, Umbria and Emilia-Romagna. It is an intensely hilly region that is often difficult to traverse because of its topography and you never seem to be able to travel from A to B without having to go to C, D, and E first. However, having said that, the trip to The Renaissance town of Urbino is a must. It is another UNESCO site in Central Italy, and the Medieval town clings to a rising hillside with the Palazzo Ducale in dominance.

There are so many more places to mention in Central Italy, and I am sure that you have some of your own favourite places that you would like to write about. So why don't you drop us a line and tell us where your favourite place is in Central Italy and why. All you have to do is know how to use a keyboard and type, it is that simple!

Recommended Restaurants in Tuscany

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See our Sightseeing Pages on Central Italy:

• Travel to Tuscany
• 10 Things to do in Rome in 24 Hours
• The Etruscan Tombs at Cerveteri

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Regions of Italy

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Northern Italy

Central Italy

Southern Italy

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