Having sworn off guided coach tours after a poor experience in Poland, I somehow had lapse in judgement and ended up booking myself on one from Rome up to Tuscany for the day. I thought, how bad could it be? In all honesty, not too bad at all although the day was clearly aimed at tourists looking to experience some Tuscan cuisine and culture rather than appreciate some Outstanding Universal Value and obsessively tick off another site on a somewhat arbitrary list. As such, we spent 1.5 hours in Montepulciano, which is a delightful village but tantalising just outside the core zone of Val d’Orcia, then 1.5 hours at lunch, which again was lovely although I would have liked larger portions, and finally just 30 minutes in Pienza itself. Admittedly, it is possible to see pretty much everything there is in Pienza in that time but I would like to have been a little less rushed.

Whilst the morning in Montepulciano had been too foggy to admire the view, from the terrace on the south side of Pienza by the afternoon the weather had cleared and there was a great view across the valley below with its iconic cypress trees and rolling hills. There is only one main road and you can walk across the whole town in no time at all but the all the little side alleys were a pleasure to explore, however briefly, with hidden tiny piazzas. On the main square, Palazzo Piccolomini is free to look in and see the cats lounging in the courtyard but a ticket is required to go inside the building for which I did not have time. The church is intriguing as it looks like any other Italian Renaissance church on the outside, which is no bad thing, whilst the inside is in a totally unexpected Gothic style (see picture attached). Were it not for the obviously Catholic paintings and surfeit of marble, I would easily mistake it for a church back home in England. Apparently, the design was inspired by Pope Pius II’s travels in Germany. Had this remained simple Corsignano, it would be no different to any other of the hundreds of picture-perfect villages dotted throughout Italy. The return of local boy Enea Piccolomini, who would go on to become Pius II, created this charming small Renaissance town that is certainly worth visiting. Our tour group seemed to be the only tourists there although this was in mid-November so your mileage may vary. Nevertheless, one of the finest towns in a country where every town might be inscription worthy if it were transplanted elsewhere in the world.