Open air holidays in the nature of Tuscany: what to do and see

Lovers of open-air holidays, this is your moment! Maybe it’s because of that desire for nature that has infected more and more compatriots after the pandemic. Or for that desire to be outdoors in freedom. The fact is that the outdoors is increasingly a trend! This is underlined by the survey conducted at the end of 2023 by Enit – National Tourism Agency, Istituto Piepoli and Human Company, a historic brand of open-air hospitality: 1 in 4 Italians declares their love for camping. This is also confirmed by the success of the most important trade fair in the sector, Salone del Camper, which this year will take place from 14 to 22 September. And this is reiterated by the forecasts of the Outdoor Tourism Observatory 2024, which speak of important numbers such as 56.5 million presences for this season. In line with the volumes of last summer, when 56.3 million chose open-air holidays, a slight increase compared to the pre-pandemic period.

And it is precisely the main actor of this kind of holiday that created the new brand hu openair turning more and more to those who want to stay in nature in an informal and relaxed way. As happens at the hu Montescudaio village: an oasis in the shade of the pine forest just a few minutes from village of Montescudaio, green zipper between the Pisan hills and the Etruscan Coast. Completely renovated, the area has existed for several years and welcomes nature-friendly tourism, loved, not surprisingly, by Dutch tourists. Families, pet-friendly travellers and campers find relaxation and fun here, among mobile homes, rest areas and glamping. For those looking for aquatic fun, there are the swimming pools and slides of the 9,500 square metre park, with a large lagoon, outdoor fitness equipment, sports fields and entertainment for all ages. But taste also wants its part, with Tuscan cuisine restaurants, pool bars, minimarkets and takeaways, with special mention for the excellent Neapolitan pizza.

A 10-minute drive is enough to find yourself in the placid Montescudaio, one of the most beautiful villages in Italy in the shade of centuries-old holm oaks. Climbing the walls of the ancient castle you can enjoy a wide panorama from terracotta terrace that embraces the hills and the sea, with Gorgona in the background and, on the clearest days, even the tip of Corsica. Here, on August 10th it is held The night of wishes when you entrust your dreams to the stars on the tickets left in the urns between alleys and noble palaces. Step by step it is worth sharpening your gaze to discover painted corners. They are the work of the internationally renowned artist Stefano Tonelli who decorated the counters with faces waiting to smile. A project that began during Covid, and continued with the war in Ukraine, when Tonelli decided not to add mouths to the figures. Today you can admire them by looking for the names of the characters to whom they are dedicated.

“The cypresses that go from San Guido to Bolgheri, tall and straight, in double rows, almost like young giants in flight, leaped towards me and looked at me.”. Thus Carducci fondly remembers “the little cypresses” of his childhood in the poem Davanti a San Guido. And the name of is dedicated to him Castagneto Carducciwhich preserves the extraordinary one 5 km long cypress avenue traveled by cyclists and tourists looking for photos. All around olive trees and vineyards. We are in theBolgheri DOC area, a small portion of territory that has around 60 wineries, whose fame has surpassed Chianti. Moreover, the area boasts a particular microclimate that is affected by the sea breezes and the hills that block the cold without temperature changes. In the ferrous, clayey and mineral terroir, French vines grow like in Burgundy. No Sangiovese: Bordeaux wines are made here. And among the family-run Bolgheri Doc wineries there is Tenuta Vincenzo di Vaira, with 11 hectares of Cabernet and Merlot supported by olive trees and beautiful roses: true natural sentinels of the healthiness of the vineyard.

Just a few kilometers and you find yourself in another historical jewel: Volterrathe Velatri Etruscan founded in the 6th century BC where you can walk along cobbled alleys between arched doors, Roman remains and buildings in ocher-coloured sedimentary stone. The city of alabaster, defined as ‘City of wind and rock’ by D’Annunzio, also boasts mines of the purest rock salt in Italy. One of the many resources of this territory, enriched over the centuries by the extraction of copper, iron and silver from the Colline Metallifere. In nearby Larderello there are also boraciferous blowholes, smoking hills once considered manifestations of the devil and today exploited with geothermal energy. A mysterious valley that not surprisingly attracted the vampire Vulturi in the saga of Twilight.

Back in nature, towards the mouth of the Cecina river, there is a 15 km long coastal strip of great environmental importance. We are in the Tomboli di Cecina nature reserve which combines holm oaks and pines with dunes covered in Mediterranean scrub. It was planted in 1839 by order of the Grand Duke Leopold of Tuscany who chose domestic and maritime pines with the aim of protecting the crops from strong winds and saltiness. Today it is an area of ​​400 hectares under the control of the Forestry Corps, later absorbed by the Carabinieri, to be crossed by bike or on foot. Far from the more anthropized parts there are porcupines, hedgehogs, foxes and birdlife that also includes the rare European roller. The wild part is the southernmost, where pairs of plovers and turtles nest here between dunes and juniper groves. The beach at this point is natural and far from the beach resorts. To protect yourself from the sun, it is common practice to erect improvised shelters with wood found on the sand.

Almost like totems dedicated to nature, so dear to those who choose an open-air holiday.