Casa Martina

The splendid Piazza del Campo in Siena (35 minutes’ drive) is the setting for a summer horse race known as ‘Il Palio’, in which the city’s various districts compete against each other. Grab an outdoor table, and sip a drink while gazing at the Palazzo Pubblico, or head to the cathedral, with its ornate facade and distinctively striped belltower. In Montalcino (35 minutes), the Tempio del Brunello interactive museum takes you on an immersive journey exploring the soil, the grapes and the people that have made the local wine – Brunello di Montalcino – such a prestigious product. Then head out into the surrounding countryside to visit vineyards and wineries. On the outskirts of Poggibonsi (45 minutes), the Fortezza di Poggio Imperiale is a military fort built by order of Lorenzo de’ Medici in the 1480s and never fully completed. On the same hill is Poggibonsi Archaeodrome Open Air Museum, with reconstructed huts and other structures from the ninth century.