Fly & Drive Toscane en Umbrië

About the destination: The city of Pisa once rivalled Genoa and Venice as a maritime power, emulated Padua and Perugia as a university town, and developed a distinctive style of Romanesque architecture. Today, the city draws its fame from an architectural project gone terribly wrong and relies on the tide of tourists who flow into the city every day. The most important monuments are concentrated in the piazza del Duomo. The baptistery, cathedral, Leaning Tower, and Camposanto shine like carved ivory, rising out of a broad expanse of emerald green grass. The duomo contains Giovanni Pisano’s masterful pulpit, with its violently dramatic Gothic reliefs. You can make your unbalanced way to the top of the Torre Pendente, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, from which local boy Galileo Galilei dropped a variety of objects in his attempt to understand gravity. Education has fuelled the local economy since the 1400s, and students from across Italy still compete for places in its elite university and research schools and help keep a vibrant and affordable cafe and bar scene. This metropolis of a hundred thousand inhabitants is much more than a tower, is a city full of art and history.

About the destination: Montecatini Terme is an Italian district within the province of Pistoia in Tuscany, Italy. The most important center in Valdinievole. The town is located at the eastern end of Piana di Lucca. Montecatini Terme is a beautiful town that was built around its mineral water springs. The most famous spa in town is the Tettuccio Terme located on the main street of Montecatini Terme - Viale Verdi next to the park, on the same street you can find the municipality building and the tourist information center. The first three spas that were built were the Tettuccio, the Regina and Leopoldine. These three spas made Montecatini Terme famous all over Europe, and a favorite place for the rich and the royalty.

About the destination: Florence is as vital and beautiful today as when its wool and silk merchants and bankers revolutionized the economy of 13th century Tuscany, and the art of Dante and Michelangelo stunned the world. Florence was the centre of the Italian Renaissance. The fruits of the city’s rebirth are still evident in its seemingly endless array of museums, churches and palazzi. With its historic centre classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Duomo, the elegant and beautiful cathedral, dominates the city and is an unmistakable reference point in your wanderings. The River Arno, which cuts through the oldest part of the city, is crowned with the Ponte Vecchio bridge lined with shops and held up by stilts. Dating back to the 14th century, it is the only bridge that survived attacks during WWII. Standing by the river at night, when the city is illuminated with a myriad twinkling lights, is unforgettable. But more remains of Florence’s incomparable heritage than stones and paint, the city’s indomitable spirit has also survived the centuries, ensuring Florentine life today its liveliness and sophistication.

About the destination: Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. MAIN TOURIST ATTRACTIONS • The Piazza del Campo, the unique shell shaped piazza at the centre of the city, and twice a year the racetrack for the Palio • The Palazzo Pubblico, Siena's City Hall for almost 800 years, contains the famous frescos on good and bad government by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, frescoes by Simone Martini and Duccio, and access to the Torre del Mangia, from whose top you can view a beautiful panorama of the Sienese countryside. • The Duomo, Siena's magnificent black and white Italian Romanesque cathedral including the Libreria Piccolomini, Baptistery and an attached Museo dell'Opera del Duomo which includes the famous Maestà by Duccio. • The Pinacoteca, full of Sienese painting from the city's Medieval heyday. • The Palazzo Salimbeni, built in 1472, is the world headquarters of Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the major banking corporation which has a hand in much of the economic and cultural life of the city. • The house where St. Catherine of Siena was born is just a few blocks from the duomo. • The Piccolomini Palace built in 1459 by the well-known architect Bernardo Rossellino, disciple of Leon Battista Alberti. The Piccolomini Palace is one of the most popular sites on the Piazza del Campo. The Florentine style palace is home to the official archives of Siena.

About the destination: Assisi is a town and comune of Italy in the province of Perugia in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Monte Subasio. Super medieval city with narrow and charming streets MAIN TOURIST ATTRACTIONS • Piazza Matteotti cross the street and go down towards San Rufino Cathedral, that has probably the most beautiful façade of all the churches in town. • Via San Rufino. There is a small fountain known as the ""lions fountain"". There are two main attractions on the Piazza: the ""Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo"" with the clock tower and the beautiful church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva with its impresive roman columns. • St. Claire's Basilica. There is a lovely piazza in front of the Church, with wonderful views of the valley. • San Damiano • Santa Maria Maggiore Church, a little look for the monastery of St Quirico. • Rocca Maggiore a lovely site with wonderful views. • Eremo delle Carceri.

About the destination: Rimini is capital city of the Province of Rimini. It is located on the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia and Ausa. An art city with ancient Roman and Renaissance monuments, Rimini is the hometown of the famous film director Federico Fellini. MAIN TOURIST ATTRACTIONS • The Augustus Arch, a Roman arch built to celebrate the Roman emperor who lent it his name • The Tiberius Bridge, the Roman bridge that marks the beginning of the Aemilian Way • The Domus of the Surgeon an impressive archeological area documenting 20 centuries of Rimini history. • The Federico Fellini Museum is located within Rimini's historic centre and is popular with both Italian public and foreign visitors alike. • Tempio Malatestiano.

About the destination: People have strained themselves over the years inventing nicknames for wondrous Bologna: la Dotta, the learned, for being the home of Europe’s oldest university, an institution which still attracts thousands of students; la Grassa, the fat, for being a gastronomic marvel with more and better restaurants than many world capitals; finally Bologna Rossa, due to its leftist politics. Stroll among the endless miles of porticos which grace the burnt-orange buildings, and catch the energy which hums quietly in the streets. Check out the elegant galleries of vie dell’Indipendenza and via Ugo Bassi. At piazza Nettuno and Maggiore the crowds gather under the Corinthian columns of the Palazzo del Podestà, shifting in the afternoon with the shade to the steps of the Basilica of San Petronio, a huge Gothic structure with a spectacular doorway. In the fountain outside, the bronze Neptune and Attendants splash happily. The two towers to the west of piazza di Porta Ravegnana are considered the symbol of the city. You can climb the taller of the two for a great view of Bologna and the Po valley. The capital of the Emilia-Romagna region is rich in history, art, culture, cuisine and music, and is often overlooked in favour of the country’s more well-known tourism honeypots nearby but is all the more appealing for it.