If you’re flying to Florence from Delhi, Swiss Air (via Zurich) and KLM (via Amsterdam) are among the shortest hauls; tickets cost approx. Rs 40,000 return. From Mumbai, Lufthansa (via Munich) and Austrian Airlines (via Vienna) also offer one-stop connections in a similar range. You can also fly to Pisa from Delhi and Mumbai.

Visas

Applications for Schengen visas are accepted at the Embassy of Italy in Delhi and at the consulates in Mumbai and Kolkata. You can also apply at VFS, the visa outsourcing agency, centres. Single-entry and multiple-entry (up to 5 years) visas cost Rs 3,840. For forms and lists of documents required, see vfs-italy.co.in.

Where to stay

Florence in summer is like Times Square on New Year’s Eve. So book ahead if you want first dibs. At the high end, there are the 18th-century villas of the Four Seasons Hotel (from € 295; fourseasons.com) or the boutique options from the Lungarno Hotels Collection (from € 170; lungarnocollection.com). Grand Hotel Adriatico (from € 85; hoteladriatico.it) and Hotel Davanzati (from € 122; hoteldavanzati.it)—within walking distance from the Duomo —are more affordable.

But a Tuscan holiday is incomplete without the family-run inns in the countryside or villas in the medieval towns perched on the humps of knolls. Consider the Fattoria di Petrognano (from € 80; fattoriadipetrognano.it), not 20 minutes from Lucca with an olive press and a winery or La Pievuccia (from € 85; lapievuccia.it), near Arezzo. If you’re willing to loosen the purse strings, you could bed at Castello di Velona (€ 345; castellodivelonasiena.com) near Siena or Il Falconiere (from € 290; ilfalconiere.it), outside Cortona. My personal favourite is Il Chiostro (from € 150; relaisilchiostrodipienza.com), adjacent to a church at Pienza, a small, atmospheric town.

Culinary Tuscany

Check out the neighbourhood café. The best way to introduce yourself to any town or city in Tuscany is to find your way to the busiest piazzas. And where there’s a piazza, there will be a host of cafés—all with very similar menus. In Florence, especially around the Duomo, the food is rarely disappointing. And that holds true for most cities and towns. In Siena, though, the cafés at the main square or the Piazza del Campo serve lousy food at ridiculous prices.

The first coffees in the morning are cappuccinos, but Italians famously shun anything other than espressos through the rest of the day. A plate of biscottis and dainty pastries often appears ‘magically’ with the coffee. But if you want something more substantial, order a panini or a ham, cheese and pickled vegetable platter.

Have a couple of Michelin-starred meals. It leaves no room for surprises, but I see the point of following the herd in this case. Because, no matter how much time you have at hand, you can’t quite ‘eat it all’ in Tuscany. The trick is to choose wisely from among the starred restaurants and book ahead (many months in advance). In Florence, the recently feted Il Palagio at the Four Seasons Hotel serves Italian cibo with a contemporary twist in a setting that’s just as appetising—with vaulted ceilings in formal dining areas and outdoor terraces overlooking the garden. At Pisa, the Osteria del Porton Rosso (osteriadelportonrosso.com) is a less formal and heartier affair, while in Lucca, the Buca di San Antonio (bucadisantantonio.it), bang opposite Puccini’s house, serves a mean roasted guinea fowl with muscatel grapes. The family-run Enoteca Del Duca (enoteca-delduca-ristorante.it) in Volterra, where they also conduct cooking classes, and Montepulciano’s Le Logge del Vignola (leloggedelvignola.com) are great places to reserve an afternoon or evening for. A meal at one of these places will set you back by at least € 50.

Visit wineries and cantinas. Practically every other wine in Toscana is made of the Sangiovese or red Italian wine grape. And there are at least two great Sangiovese wines you must uncork here. Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is one, and the Cantina del Redi, a 500-year-old underground cellar, is the best place to get a taste in town. For a bottle of the deeper, darker and full-bodied Brunello produced in the neighbouring region of Montalcino, head to Castello di Romitorio (castelloromitorio.com). A beautiful winery overlooking the Val d’Orcia, it’s set apart from the more traditional wineries by the quirky sculptures planted around the estate and the colourful labels designed by owner and artist Sandro Chia. To experience the wines made of Vernaccia, a local white grape, visit the Meseo del Vino next to the Parco della Rocca (fortress) in San Gimignano. Add a prosecco, the local sparkling wine, a vin santo, a dessert wine, and a limoncello, a lemon liqueur, to your stash and you’ll have (almost) corked Tuscany.

Go shopping. A gourmet shopping list in Tuscany can be as long as the river Arno. But the good news is that there’s at least one—and that’s an understatement—makeshift food market or store in every neighbourhood. In smaller towns like Cortona and Pienza, you’ll have to only walk towards the main square to run into friendly grocers who stock fresh, seasonal produce that the neighbouring cafés and restaurants depend on. Several artisanal cheese and ham shops that also sell condiments, oils and vinegars are tucked away in the lanes that radiate from the piazzas. The main shopping areas in Siena and Florence also have a number of shops selling baked delicacies like biscotti and cavallucci, panpepato and panforte, as well as dry pastas, including the local pici. For those with deep pockets, add a tiny container of saffron from San Gimignano and white truffles to your list. The latter is rarely bought over the counter, but a good restaurant might be willing to part with its riches for a good price. Steer clear of the synthetic truffle oils though.

Take a food tour. For foodies who want a larger slice of the culinary pie, there are several operators who offer food tours; tours that include visits to farmers’ markets, cookery classes and wining and dining at some of the best restaurants. Try Tuscan Away (tuscanway.com), Ecco la Cucina (eccolacucina.com) and Gourmet on Tour (gourmetontour.com). Tours cost about € 2,000 per person for a week.