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Many places around Florence are well-known because famous people were either born or lived there: Giotto and Beato Angelico were born in Vicchio del Mugello; Boccaccio was born in Certaldo; the house where Leonardo was born and the museum dedicated to him are in Vinci; Petrarch's former home is in Incisa Valdarno, the humanist and philosopher Marsilio Ficino was born in Figline; Macchiavelli wrote "The Prince" at the Albergaccio di S. Andrea in Percussina.
Another attraction around Florence is the Medici villas and their gardens including Villa Demidoff in Pratolina where the gigantic statue of Giambologna's Appennino can be admired. Many places conserve precious old crafts traditions: ceramics and glass in Montelupo, terracotta in Impruneta, wrought iron in Scarperia.
Another unforgettable feature linked with Tuscany and Florence is the prestigious Chianti region with its notorious undulating landscape covered with vines in perfect lines whose different orientation creates geometric shapes of different colours and tones. The vines alternate with olive trees and here and there lines of cypress trees, castles, manor houses, old villages, villas and gardens. Every year in the most famous villages the Chianti Classico, the noble product of this land, is celebrated with well-known events.  A final word as regards the landscape and the environment around Florence should be said for the mountains: Vallombrosa, surrounded by age-old fir tree woods at 958 m and Consuma at approximately 1.000 m on the N.70 state road in the Casentino area.


Canottieri Firenze

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The company "Canottieri Firenze" is an important part of the cultural and sports heritage of the town. Its clubhouse and landing dock lie on the right bank of the River Arno, just 20-30 metres up from the Ponte Vecchio, below the Uffizi Gallery.
The clubhouse directly overlooks the river. Inside, the club's fleet is lined up in a corridor 100 metres long: originally this was used as a shelter for the horses belonging to the guard corps of the Medici Grand Dukes. As well as training its professional team "Canottieri Firenze" offers canoeing for amateurs too. Other facilities available for club members are two well-equipped gyms, an inside pool for practising canoeing, numerous rowing machines, spinning cyclettes, a five-a-side football field and a sauna.


Golf Firenze

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Golf is really at home in Tuscany. The temperate climate, the naturally undulating land and the large open spaces lined by trees create a landscape where the fairways fit in as natural elements.
In Tuscany golf can be played in any season and most clubs are open 12 months a year. Many of these are located in important tourist spots at the sea, on the hills and even in the mountains. You can play all day long or enjoy a moment’s relaxation after a visit to a museum, a spa or a swim in the sea.


Maggio fiorentino

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Music has always played an important part of the artistic life in Florence. Melodrama first came to life here at the end of the sixteenth century based on the theories and experience of the Bardi Camerata and the Florentine Camerata. Today the centre of Florentine music is the theatre of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino which is housed in the Council Theatre and organises the Maggio Musicale, the oldest and most prestigious European music festival.
From the very beginning the Maggio Musicale hit the public eye for certain basic, original cultural choices that have never changed. First of all the attention to the problem of "visuality" in opera works by calling the leading theatre and cinema producers of our times as well as a throng of famous painters and sculptors, choreographers and costume-makers: a choice pursued by Florence before anywhere else which has turned out to be decisive for the development of modern opera drama.




Outlet made in Tuscany
In addition Florence offers its visitors the opportunity to go shopping for the best Italian names in fashion and what’s more, at good prices, in the various outlets located in the outskirts of the city, approximately 40 minutes away by car or with the shuttle bus that runs to the outlets from the city centre on a daily basis.


Names such as Gucci, Giorgio Armani, Valentino, Fendi, Burberry are just a few of the important names to be found in the shops in The Mall, the luxury outlet situated in a place called Leccio, near to the Incisa exit in Valdarno on the A1 motorway; not very far from this centre you can also visit the Dolce&Gabbana and Prada outlets.
Another two centres, designed as actual shopping “villages” are the Grande Designer Outlet di Barberino del Mugello, designed as a Renaissance village, and the Val di Chiana Outlet Village, in the province of Arezzo.