Tuscany Umbria Vacation

The highway of well-being and taste: Val di Chiana.

The Chiana Valley extends from Umbria (Lake Trasimeno) to Tuscany, an area from the foot of Monte Cetona in the south of Siena Province to Castiglion Fiorentino, just south of Arezzo.

Only in the Sienese area, Valle del Gigante Bianco (the White Giant Valley) are there landscapes of pleasant hillsides with vines and olives; small mediaeval towns known all round the world, Montepulciano and Sarteano for example; highways of taste with genuine food from traditional cooking, such as the Fiorentina steak from Chianina beef, pecorino cheese, wine, olive oil and vegetable soups; highways of well-being  with the hot-water springs ( some with open-air baths which are freely accessible) of San Casciano dei Bagni, a jewel of a small town, and Chianciano Terme; highways through nature with the Lake Montepulciano Nature Reserve and the thousands of tracks to be discovered on foot; highways back in time with castles, towers, monuments, underground labyrinths (under the centre of Chiusi) and the Etruscan tombs ( those near Chiusi should not be missed).

The municipalities included in this area of the Val di Chiana  (which extends to Lake Trasimeno and Arezzo) are in the province of Siena: Cetona, Chianciano Terme, Montepulciano, Chiusi, Pienza, San Casciano dei Bagni, Sarteano, Sinalunga, Torrita di Siena, Trequanda.