An October Wine Tour Through Tuscany (from Florence!).

We took our second Tuscan wine tour from Florence in October 2024. Our first Tuscan wine tour was back in 2016 and we had so much fun, we booked another when in Florence last October (2024). This year’s wine tour was similar to the 2016 tour but with some notable differences, which I will explain in this article. There are many, many wine tours from Florence through Tuscany at varying price points, so do your research before booking. I highly recommend a Tuscan wine tour from Florence if you have the time, and Grape Tours is a decent outfit offering such tours.

On our wine tour back at Fattoria Corzano e Paterno in 2016.

Like our 2016 tour, we met our tour guide and group in Oltrarno outside Grape Tours’ shop and wine bar, only about a 10 minute walk from our hotel in Santo Spirito and 20 minutes from the Duomo area. We arrived right on time, so we only had time to climb into the van before departing Florence for the Tuscan countryside. I suggest leaving extra time walking to the tour, as there are many beautiful panoramas to photo graph en route along the Arno River. Our first stop was about 30 minutes from Florence proper, at Fattoria Corzano e Paterno. This was also our first stop back in 2016! Our guide provided some information on Tuscany during our drive, but most people “shut their eyes” for the drive.

Everyone woke up as we pulled into the rocky driveway of Fattoria Crozano e Paterno. Fattoria means “farm” in Italian, and Fattoria Corzano e Paterno is a winery as well as a farm producing delicious cheese and olive oil. We began our visit at Corzano e Paterno with a walk to the edge of the vineyards. We didn’t go in as it had recently rained (and the ground was muddy), and it was harvest season, so workers were busy harvesting the grapes. It was cool to see large grapes on the vines and employees working with the grapes. We also walked through the barrel room and saw more grape harvesting in action after visiting the vineyards.

Arriving at Fattoria Crozano e Paterno.

We’re ready to taste the wine.

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My Favorite Florence Eats!

Being one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world and one of Italy’s favorite cities, Florence is never short on delicious and new restaurants.  The “best restaurant” lists change frequently and Florentines each have their own favorite spots!  To cut through all the lists and endless research on Florence eats, here are my favorites based on a recent visit!

Best Coffee – News Cafe

In a city (and country) filled with outstanding coffee, my favorite Florence coffee shop for tourists is hands down the News Cafe.  Located in the Santa Maria de Novella neighborhood, News Cafe not only makes delicious coffee, but does amazing coffee art at no extra charge!  I am sure coffee aficionados will disagree with me, but for tourists, the Florence -inspired coffee art really takes the cake!

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Yes, I visited Florence in (off-season) November, and it was amazing!!

I traveled to San Miniato, Florence, Venice and Milan with Dan, my mother, Dan’s aunt, our friend, Pryor, and her mother in November and our second stop was Florence (or Firenze in Italian!) for three days and three nights!  Dan and I had been to Florence once before (eight years ago in the Summer) but it was most of the group’s first time in Florence, so we focused on Florence’s main tourist sites!  Plus, Florence’s main sites are pretty amazing and warrant a new visit at least every 8 years!

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First glimpse of the Duomo!

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