Well hello, Sea Lover!

Are you enjoying our Italy itinerary? We hope it's been inspiring some overseas adventures. I am truly looking forward to sharing our Tuscan times with you, as this was the first leg of our trip. As we were travelling with kids, we thought it would be a great idea to avoid sightseeing and anything too busy/touristy for the first week. Here's our Tuscan Itinerary.

Day 1.

We left home, and 36 hours later (that's not a typo, Australia is very far away from everywhere), we arrived in Rome and hired cars to drive to Tuscany. We stayed at the most beautiful Tuscan farmhouse just south of Montepulciano, and it was perfection. If you aren't in a rush, I recommend staying somewhere with plenty of outdoor spaces to help beat the jet lag and get on the time zone. We lay in the vineyard that first afternoon, walked through the orchard, picking cherries and swimming in the pool until sunset. That first night we ordered pizza and wine from a local place and went to bed happy, all 13 of us.

Day 2.

We spent the morning shopping for local produce, and as we are all food obsessed, this took half a day. We filled a carload with the most incredible produce and loaded our kitchen with the most delicious food. We made the decision that when we were driving around, if we saw anything open to the public, we would pop in and taste, see, and purchase whatever they might have… On this day, we bought some incredible local wine, beer, olive oil etc. All of it was grown and made near where we were staying. Pinch me. We got home and decided to cook up a feast. We lit the outdoor kitchen fire, grilled fresh bread over the flames, and made bruschetta with burrata. We spent the afternoon walking the local vineyards and swimming in the pool. It was the perfect first day to acclimatise and adjust to the new country. At dusk, we popped into a local gelateria for the kids to have their first gelato in Italy, something we had been discussing for months. Little hack, we discovered that the best ones are in silver barrels with lids. Thank me later.

Day 3.

We decided to visit a hot spring. We had a big decision to make as we had heard so many mixed reviews about the very Instagramable Saturnia Hot Springs. We ummmed and ahhhed and thought about visiting the less popular White Whale Hot Springs nearby. After much deliberation, we decided to head off early and attempt to beat the crowds. We were not disappointed. It was truly one of the most memorable natural experiences we have ever had. We arrived around 9am, parked nearby, walked in, and didn't leave for hours. The springs were warm and soft underfoot. We could have laid in them all day! We headed home just after lunch. Our parents offered to watch the kids by the pool for the afternoon while the 4 of us (my sister and I with our husbands) went to a wine tasting. We could walk to a local vineyard and have a private tasting with one of the members of the family who run the farm. It was heaven on earth after the travel time to get to this location. Our hosts didn't speak a word of english, so we used the google translate app, which was great.

Day 4.

We visited Pienza this day. My mother recommended it as a very easy town to visit with kids, and it was! Easy to access, mostly flat and not too many crowds. We arrived and had espresso outside the Pope's Palace. The kids wanted to see inside, so we did an audio-guide tour which they loved. Then we walked around the town's walls, visiting cheese shops, fruit stalls and toy shops. I can't recommend this town enough. It was preserved so well and picture pretty everywhere you looked. From there, we drove to Montepulciano for lunch. We sat just inside one of the walls with views over Tuscany and had pasta and wine of course. On the way home, we ducked into a vineyard for another tasting and to watch the sunset on our last night in Tuscany.

Day 5.

We drove south to Amalfi from here and had heard of a town to stop at on the way called Orvieto. It's famous for the caves under the entire town dating back millennia. We did a tour, and only one of us (my sister) freaked out and had to "get me out of here" from underground. All in all a success. We didn't linger long as we drove from here to the 3 hours south to Amalfi. I will fill you in on the drive in our Amalfi Itinerary, standby and much love.

Victoria.

The girls are wearing Marlow and Mae
Emma is wearing Shona Joy
Travel Strollers are from Baby Zen