Author: Samuele Sodini

The weather in Tuscany

To talk of the ‘weather in Tuscany’ is to generalise somewhat. Tuscany encompasses many diverse terrains and landscapes and the rules change from one zone to the next. You can be sure that July and August in Tuscany will be hot, sometimes stiflingly so, thanks to the afa and humidity levels that can make Florence and the major cities of Tuscany veritable hothouses.

This situation is supposed to break around the day of feragosto in the middle of August, when the first rains are expected and with them a beginning of a decrease in temperature. September can still be very hot with October being a fine month to visit Tuscany – blue skies without the packed cities and the intense heat. But, some like it hot!

November sees night-time temperatures really begin to drop, with crisp Autumn days to accompany the main olive harvest throughout Tuscany.

Winter in Tuscany can be cold and wet but spring always seems to come quickly. March is azalea and camelia time, whilst April and May are sometimes very wet months.

Weather forecast today in Tuscany

Half day hands on session with either lunch or dinner

The Tuscan Chef offers half day cooking courses as either a morning session followed by lunch or an afternoon session followed by dinner in the comfort of your own rental home. Hands-on lessons of about 4½hours are under the guidance of a professional chef and sommelier, and are fun, informative and full of tips and tricks of the trade. You will discover and explore the tastes and textures of some of the finest Italian ingredients from fresh home-made pasta and plump potato gnocchi with their various complimenting sauces to truffles, fragrant garden Italian herbs, porcini mushrooms and wild asparagus, freshly pressed olive oil, creamy pecorino cheeses and classic Italian wines.

Discover a taste of Tuscan heaven and savour the very best in Tuscan living gathered together in the kitchen and around the table.

Journeys through history, culture and tradition

LUCCA (half day morning or afternoon)

Join our guide for a walking experience, taking you back in time to 180BC when Lucca was founded as a Roman colony.  The day will start with a stroll on top of the medievel walls (built between 1504-1645) and wind its way into the heart of the city to discover the anfiteatro, an arena shaped piazza, the church of San Michele in Foro (where Puccini began his musical career as a choirboy), the 11th century Cathedral of San Martino housing the Volto Santo, a cedar-wood crucifix said to be a true portrait of Jesus sculpted by Nicodemus, an eyewitness to the crucifixion, Matteo Civitali’s marble tabernacle the “Tempietto”, the Tomb of Illaria del Caretto (1408) by Jacopo della Quercia and Tintorettos’s “Last Supper”.   A typical Tuscan lunch is offered in one of the best restaurants in Lucca and your afternoon is at leisure to stroll, shop and discover this enchanting city for yourself or join our sommelier for a wine and olive oil tasting in the cellars of Enoteca Vanni.

Inspiring food & wine journeys around Tuscany

A CHEF’S HI-LIGHT OF LUCCA (half day morning)

A culinary journey through the winding, cobbled streets of Lucca with tastings of local produce at Roberto’s Delicatezze and Il Forno di Guisti. Visit the authentic wine-cellars of Enoteca Vanni (voted one of the top 3 wine shops in Italy) for a Tuscan wine and olive oil tasting before lunch in one of the best restaurants in town.