People & Places We Love in Val d’Orcia
We believe the best way to share Italy is to celebrate the people who make it extraordinary.
Castiglione d’Orcia
A quiet medieval hill town that most visitors never find. We come here on the final morning of the tour — beautiful views in every direction, and a chance to…
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Abbazia di Sant’Antimo
After days of cooking, cheese-making, flower-picking and thermal bathing, this 12th-century abbey in its silent valley is a chance to take a breath. Benedictine monks still chant the hours.
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Azienda Tornesi
This is where we end every Val d'Orcia tour. Four generations of Tornesi, Mamma Renata's cooking, Nonna Renata's eggs, and a farewell lunch on the terrace looking out at Monte…
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Agriturismo Il Rigo
The Cipolla family's agriturismo — a working organic farm — is our home base for the Val d'Orcia tour. Luisa cooks a new four-course menu every evening from the garden;…
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Poggio Etrusco
Pamela Sheldon Johns moved here from California over forty years ago. She chose to make this place her home. You'll pick produce from her organic garden, then cook a full…
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Montepulciano
Tuscan wine is about more than Chianti. Montepulciano, perched on a limestone ridge at 605 meters, has Renaissance palazzi, underground Etruscan cellars, and a main street that climbs to the…
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Cortona
Yes, it's the "Under the Tuscan Sun" town — but Cortona has been drawing visitors for millennia. One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Italy. Etruscan walls from the…
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Pienza
Pope Pius II's dream of a perfect city is intimate — as you walk its streets, every corner reveals something new and unexpected. Narrow lanes have names like Via dell'Amore.
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Fattoria Bistecca
You'll make three cheeses with your own hands, then eat them on the terrace looking out toward Cortona. And yes, Lapo, Paola, Ilaria, and Laura's sheep are the famous flock…
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Puscina Flower Farm
Nobody expects the flower farm to be one of the most moving experiences of the week. Three sisters, 200 species of organic flowers, and a morning in the fields with…
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Bagno Vignoni
The main square is a vast pool of steaming thermal water — 49 metres long, open to the sky. Saints, popes, and Lorenzo de' Medici came for the waters. Tarkovsky…
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Hotel La Posta
Three outdoor thermal pools fed by the same volcanic spring that fills the medieval piazza. You'll float in the warm mineral water while looking at the Rocca d'Orcia with Val…
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Debora Bresciani
You'll love Debora. She's more than a guide — she becomes a member of the group. Born and raised in Arezzo, she brings the history, art and food of Tuscany…
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