A Morning in Panzano

Maybe the best coffee view in Tuscany.

There are mornings in Italy that stick with you, and this was one of them.

Michelle and I were exploring Panzano in Chianti when we stopped for coffee near the church. We found a table overlooking the hills, ordered our cappuccinos and just sat there for a while.

No museum to get to. No reservation. No schedule.

Just coffee and what might be one of the best views in Tuscany.

A Different Side of Tuscany

Panzano isn’t one of Tuscany’s dramatic walled medieval towns. You don’t come here with a long checklist of monuments you need to see.

That’s part of what I like about it.

Panzano sits right in the heart of Chianti, surrounded by vineyards, olive groves and those rolling hills that somehow look even better in person than they do in photographs.

The village itself invites you to wander. Stop in a shop. Have a glass of Chianti. Find a café. Look down a side street simply because it looks interesting.

You could probably walk through Panzano in a couple of hours.

But that would be missing the point.

This is the kind of place where slowing down is the attraction.

Sometimes Lunch Finds You

Eventually, we made our way back toward the piazza and came across a little enoteca.

We hadn’t planned to eat there. It wasn’t a restaurant I’d researched ahead of time or somewhere we’d built our day around.

We were hungry. It looked inviting.

So we went in.

And we had a wonderful lunch.

It’s something I’ve learned after spending more time traveling through Italy: leave some room in your itinerary for things you didn’t plan.

Not every meal needs a reservation. Not every hour needs an activity. Sometimes the little enoteca you happen to walk into becomes one of the things you remember most about the day.

Travel Tip: Tuscany Is Different With a Car

I love traveling Italy by train, and for cities such as Florence, Rome and Bologna, it’s often my first choice.

But rural Tuscany is different.

A rental car gives you the freedom to reach places like Panzano, stop at a winery, explore the countryside and pull into another small village simply because you saw a sign and wondered what was up the road.

That freedom can completely change a Tuscany trip.

If you’re considering driving on your next trip, I’ve put together practical information on renting a car, driving in Italy, international driving permits, trains, staying connected and more in my Italy Travel Essentials library.

EXPLORE ITALY TRAVEL ESSENTIALS →

Just Down the Road…

Panzano is only part of the story here.

Continue through Chianti and you’ll find Greve in Chianti — and just above it, the tiny medieval village of Montefioralle.

Two very different places, only minutes apart.

We’ll wander through those soon.

Buon Viaggio, 🇮🇹

Dan
Nomad With Dan

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