Vineyards, Food and Frescoes - Italian Road Trip in Tuscany and Umbria

Nine days from Florence into Umbria at the pace of a long lunch, which is the correct speed for this part of Italy. Two nights in each of four places and very little driving between them.

Florence opens it with skip-the-line access to the Duomo museum complex, which is the better half of the cathedral: Brunelleschi’s dome, the Baptistery, the Campanile, the crypt, Ghiberti’s gilded bronze Gates of Paradise, and an unfinished Michelangelo where the figures are still half inside the marble. A private tour of the Accademia and the David can be added.

Chianti follows for two nights of vineyard visits and Romanesque churches, with an optional trip to Siena for the Palio, the bareback horse race run around the Piazza del Campo twice each summer. Cortona comes next, staying at a historic villa with vineyards and old tobacco-drying fields in the grounds, and Arezzo is nearby for Piero della Francesca’s fresco cycle in the Basilica of San Francesco, which is among the finest in Italy and far less visited than it deserves. Montepulciano and its wine are an optional addition.

Perugia closes the trip, a city with Etruscan walls, Roman gates and medieval streets stacked on top of each other, with Assisi an optional day out. Original Travel include the hire car, the accommodation, a private transfer on arrival, the Duomo tickets, local concierge access, a 24-hour helpline and carbon absorption through their own programme. Flights and most meals are separate, the car is collected in Florence and returned at Perugia airport, and prices run from 2,400 to 3,600 pounds per person.