While it never comes as a surprise when Tuscany is awarded with yet another accolade, it is always welcome—and well deserved of course.
Top U.S. business publication Forbes has included Tuscany on its ‘The World’s Most Beautiful’ list, researched by professional travel writers and journalists from around the globe. Sharing the varied list with Tuscany are such remote natural wonders as the Lau Archipelago in Fiji and glittering cities, among them Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro.
One of the travel experts that Forbes consulted is Patricia Schultz, author of the bestselling 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. Commenting on Tuscany, Schultz said, ‘From Piemonte to Sicilia, each of Italy’s regions has its own magic, but hill-town-studded Tuscany (Toscana)—like the timeless location you’ve seen in Merchant-Ivory films—takes the prize.’ She continues, ‘The showcase city of Florence is its zenith, but look just beyond the city walls to a painting-perfect campagna of rolling hills blanketed with Chianti vineyards and olive groves, ancient Etruscan sites and history-rich towns like Lucca, Siena and San Gimignano.’ Schultz also praises Tuscany’s coastline and the cleanliness of its beaches.
Forbes is not the only list that points to Tuscany’s charms. In other awards news, Tuscany appears in travel review portal TripAdvisor’s Travelers’ Choice Hotel Awards 2014. Four Seasons Florence was named one of the Top 25 hotels in the world, scoring seventh place in Europe and the second best hotel in Italy.
