Our Honeymoon Part 2: Tuscany

Part two of our honeymoon: Tuscany! We spent three nights in Tuscany and stayed at Borgo Pignano. I discovered this hotel when my friend Janelle stayed there and it far surpassed our expectations. My favorite part of the hotel was the main pool, which is carved out of limestone. It overlooks the most picturesque views of the Tuscan landscape—we couldn’t get enough.

Borgo Pignano has a main building and lots of little cottages and maisonettes to stay in. We ended up staying in Villa La Fonte, which is pictured above. The building itself was so sweet and for the majority of the time we had it to ourselves. If I were to do it again, I probably would have booked a room in the main building so we could be closer to the larger pool and have more privacy. I would recommend the Villa if you are traveling with a group of friends or family. It has it’s own little pool that they were just starting to fill with water when we stayed.

On our first full day in Tuscany, we spent the early part of the day exploring the property and lounging by the pool. After lunch we headed out to go wine tasting at Antinori nel Chianti Classico. The winery is housed in a very modern building and structure that is quite innovative and different from others you’ll find in the region. It essentially disappears into the Tuscan landscape, with vines covering the roof of each level.

After our time at Antinori, we headed to the hilltop town of Panzano for dinner. If you are a meat-lover, you cannot miss dinner at Officina della Bistecca. It’s a truly unique dining experience shared around a communal table.

The next day, we headed to San Gimignano to explore. It was definitely my favorite of the towns we visited as it is very charming and surrounded by views of rolling hills and vineyards. I loved popping in and out of the little shops filled with homewares made from olive wood and lots of table linens. We had a delicious lunch at Osteria Baccano—I had an amazing pizza with prosciutto and truffles.

After lunch we headed to another hilltop town: Ghizzano. It’s an extremely tiny town and we were there to do a wine tasting at Tenuta di Ghizzano. Our hotel set us up with a private tasting, which included a tour of the original estate. After climbing up numerous flights of stairs, we were led onto the roof, which had 360-degree views of all of Tuscany. It was truly breathtaking and we felt so grateful to experience such a special moment.

We made it back to Borgo Pignano in time to witness one of Tuscany’s golden sunsets. It literally looked like a painting!

We spent our final day in Tuscany exploring the area on a Vespa! It was a really cool and different way to explore the towns and see the landscape. We scootered all over, stopping in Monteriggioni and Castellina in Chanti before heading back to San Gimignano.

After a long day of exploring, we spent the remainder of the day poolside soaking up our final hours of Tuscany before heading to Florence.