If you only have one trip to Tuscany, don't choose between the city and the countryside. Choose three bases about an hour apart: a Renaissance palazzo in Florence, a sixteenth-century monastery above the Valdinievole, and a medieval borgo in the hills near Montaione. Together they show you three Tuscanies. Florence is art and noise and genius. The Valdinievole is thermal towns, olive terraces and silence. Montaione is the slow, rolling Tuscany most people picture before they arrive.
We chose these three hotels the way we choose every place in our collection. We read what guests actually write, check the scores against Booking.com and Expedia, and then ask a simple question: would we send someone we love here? For Palazzo Portinari Salviati, La Monastica and Castelfalfi, the answer was yes.
Where to stay in Tuscany: the short answer
| Base | Hotel | Guest score | Best for | Car needed? |
|---|
| Florence | Palazzo Portinari Salviati | 9.9 from 156 reviews | First visits, art, couples | No |
| Valdinievole, between Lucca and Pistoia | La Monastica Resort & Spa | 9.8 from 227 reviews | Couples, rest, wellness | Yes |
| Montaione, between Florence and the coast | Castelfalfi | 9.7 from 625 reviews | Families, friends, golf, food and wine | Yes |
Guest scores combine verified Booking.com and Expedia reviews at the time of writing.
The three hotels sit roughly 40 kilometres from each other as the crow flies, so no drive between them takes much more than an hour. That makes them easy to combine into one trip of eight to ten nights.
Florence: Palazzo Portinari Salviati
Stay here if you want Florence on foot, and want to come back to a house with a story at the end of each day. The palazzo carries the name of the Portinari family, whose daughter Beatrice became the woman Dante wrote about for the rest of his life. Today it is a small hotel a few minutes' walk from the Duomo, with fifteenth-century frescoed ceilings, a glass-roofed courtyard full of classical statues, and a rooftop terrace that looks straight at Giotto's bell tower.
Guests give the staff a perfect 10. In their reviews they mention the people first, then the location, then breakfast, which is the single most praised thing in the house. Guests rate value for money lowest, at 9.3. That is still high, and honest: this is central Florence, and it is not cheap.
Insider notes for Palazzo Portinari Salviati
- Don't drive into the centre. Central Florence is a limited-traffic zone watched by cameras, and fines arrive by post months later. Arrive by train or taxi and pick up a car only when you leave the city. If you must arrive by car, ask the hotel about valet parking before you set off.
- Book the spa when you book the room. The spa is called Vita Nuova, after Dante's book about Beatrice. It has an indoor pool, sauna and steam room, and it is for adults only. Guests advise reserving treatments in advance.
- Take the rooftop at dusk, not at noon. The Campanile turns gold just before sunset, and the terrace is the quietest place in the city to see it.
- Use the concierge for the museums. Guests mention it often: the team can help you plan timed visits, which matters most for the Uffizi in spring and early autumn.
The Valdinievole: La Monastica Resort & Spa
Stay here if what you need most from Italy is rest. La Monastica is the former Monastery of Santa Scolastica in Buggiano Castello, a small, inhabited medieval village on a hill above the Valdinievole. The town council decided to found the monastery in 1517, on the remains of a castle that was already centuries old. Benedictine nuns lived here on and off until the twentieth century. Restoration began in 2005 and took years of research before a single wall was touched. The owners describe the approach as "the art of subtraction": removing what was added later, keeping what was true.
The result is quiet. There are only 19 rooms and suites. The restaurant, Devoti, is partly set in the former monastery church. The spa pool is carved into the rock and lit by candles. The garden looks across the valley toward Montecatini. With a 9.8 score from 227 reviews, it is one of the most consistently loved small hotels in our Italian collection, and guests have rated its cleanliness, comfort and staff a perfect 10.
Insider notes for La Monastica
- Walk the village before breakfast. Buggiano Castello is almost free of traffic, and its narrow stone streets are at their best in the first hour of light. The photograph at the top of this guide shows the village at golden hour.
- Ride the funicular to Montecatini Alto. A funicular has climbed from the spa town of Montecatini Terme to the old hilltop village since 1898. Have an aperitivo in the piazza at the top.
- Lucca is about half an hour away. Rent bicycles and ride the tree-lined city walls, then lose yourself inside them.
- Visit the garden at Villa Garzoni in Collodi. It is a short drive, a baroque garden of staircases and water, and the village gave its name to the author of Pinocchio.
- This is a hotel for couples. Children are welcome, but there are no extra beds and anyone from 14 is charged as an adult. Families will be happier at Castelfalfi.
Montaione: Castelfalfi
Stay here if you want the whole of Tuscany in one place: vineyards, olive groves, a medieval village and things to do every day. Castelfalfi is a 2,700-acre estate wrapped around a restored hilltop borgo in the countryside of Montaione, roughly equidistant from Florence, Siena, Pisa and the sea. It has its own wine and olive oil, golf, the RAKxa wellness spa, and piazzas where life still happens in the evening.
It is also the largest of the three, and the most remarkable result: 625 reviews and still a 9.7. Guests rate its cleanliness, comfort and facilities a perfect 10. Value for money is the lowest score, at 9.1. Guests most often praise the views, then the staff.
Insider notes for Castelfalfi
- Book the experiences early. Guests recommend truffle hunting, wine tasting, cooking classes and spa treatments above everything else, and they advise reserving activities in advance.
- Eat in the borgo, not only at the pool. Guests single out La Rocca for a special dinner and the trattoria Il Rosmarino for a simpler evening.
- Go to San Vivaldo. A few kilometres away, Franciscan friars built a "Jerusalem of Tuscany" in the early 1500s: chapels filled with terracotta scenes, made for pilgrims who could never reach the Holy Land. Almost nobody goes.
- Do San Gimignano and Volterra early. Both are within easy reach. Arrive at opening time and leave before the coaches.
- Come in November for truffles. On the last weekends of November, nearby San Miniato holds its national white truffle market.
For more on the estate and the village around it, read our guides to Castelfalfi and Montaione.
How to combine the three in one trip
Start in Florence without a car, then drive into the countryside. A route we would follow ourselves:
- Three nights in Florence at Palazzo Portinari Salviati. Museums, churches and long dinners, all on foot.
- Three nights in the Valdinievole at La Monastica. Collect a hire car as you leave Florence. Rest, the spa, Lucca and the hill villages.
- Three or four nights near Montaione at Castelfalfi. Wine, truffles, San Gimignano, Volterra and the white roads of the Val d'Elsa.
If you have only five nights, choose two: Florence and La Monastica for a couple's trip, or Florence and Castelfalfi with children.
When to go: the best months for Tuscany
May, June and September are the most comfortable months, and late October and November are the quietest. July is the warmest and driest month at all three hotels; in Florence it is also the most crowded. The table below shows the ten-year averages (2015–2024) we keep for each hotel. The temperatures are day-and-night averages, so afternoons are several degrees warmer.
| Month | Florence | Valdinievole (La Monastica) | Montaione (Castelfalfi) |
|---|
| April | 12.4°C · 85 mm | 13.3°C · 72 mm | 10.7°C · 79 mm |
| May | 17.0°C · 98 mm | 17.3°C · 91 mm | 15.4°C · 81 mm |
| June | 22.8°C · 70 mm | 22.3°C · 65 mm | 21.4°C · 70 mm |
| July | 25.8°C · 32 mm | 25.6°C · 21 mm | 24.4°C · 31 mm |
| September | 21.1°C · 120 mm | 20.7°C · 120 mm | 19.7°C · 95 mm |
| October | 16.5°C · 100 mm | 16.1°C · 139 mm | 14.9°C · 88 mm |
| November | 11.6°C · 157 mm | 11.1°C · 156 mm | 9.8°C · 169 mm |
September brings the grape harvest, and more rain than most people expect, usually in short storms. November is the wettest month, but it is also when the countryside empties, the olive oil is new and the truffles appear. For us, that is the quiet luxury of Tuscany: a fire, a glass of wine, and a village that belongs to the people who live there.
What these three hotels have in common
None of them is a hotel of ceremony. Each one has the qualities we describe in the new five-star hotels: people guests remember by name, a setting that could exist nowhere else, buildings with a true history, and stays that guests themselves consider worth what they paid. A palazzo bound to the family of Dante's Beatrice. A monastery restored by taking things away. A medieval village brought back to life. You can see all of our Tuscan places on our Tuscany page.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the best place to stay in Tuscany for a first visit?
Split your stay. Spend two or three nights in Florence to see the art and architecture, then move to the countryside for the landscape. Palazzo Portinari Salviati in Florence, followed by La Monastica or Castelfalfi, gives you both without long drives.
Do you need a car to stay in the Tuscan countryside?
Yes, for La Monastica and Castelfalfi a car makes the trip much easier, and guests at Castelfalfi recommend renting one to explore. In Florence you don't need a car at all; the historic centre is a limited-traffic zone, so pick up your car as you leave the city.
What is the best month to visit Tuscany?
May, June and September are the most comfortable, with average temperatures between about 15°C and 23°C. July is the warmest and driest. Late October and November are the quietest, with new olive oil and white truffles, but more rain.
Which Tuscany hotel is best for families?
Castelfalfi. Guests travelling with children mention the kids' club, the adventure park and the spacious villas. La Monastica is better suited to couples, as it has no extra beds and charges adult rates from age 14.
Is Tuscany worth visiting in November?
Yes, if you like quiet. It is the wettest month, with around 155 to 170 mm of rain at these three hotels, but crowds disappear, the new olive oil is pressed, and San Miniato's white truffle market takes place on the last weekends of the month.
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Lead photograph: Buggiano Castello, the village of La Monastica, at golden hour. Photo by Fraefe, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.