Tuscany

Here is everything you imagined Tuscany to be: palazzi, villas and churches in that enchanting landscape of olive groves, vineyards and lofty cypresses. Masterpieces of Renaissance painting and sculpture are there, but so is a great Chianti with a plate of steaming pasta. After the treasures of Florence, the pageant of Siena's Palio, the magic towers of San Gimignano and the Leaning Tower of Pisa, take it easy on a beach at Viareggio, do some designer shopping or cycle round the vineyards. Tuscany is eternal.