Guardian names six Tuscan alternatives

The Guardian has added Florence to Europe’s overtourism map and told readers to look elsewhere in Tuscany: Monteriggioni, Pienza, Arezzo, Volterra, Livorno and Porto Ercole. (15minutenews.com) The article says Florence’s 365,000 residents shared the city with 4.6 million visitors last year, a ratio it uses to explain why a “skip Florence” pitch now lands. It also points to complaints about “hit and run” day-trippers crowding the historic center. (15minutenews.com) This is not just a travel-editor whim. Florence’s own tourism officials say the city is trying to “decongest the historic center” by promoting neighboring municipalities and less-frequented destinations. (fondazione.destinationflorence.it) The timing fits a wider European debate over how cities stay livable while visitor numbers keep climbing. Eurostat recorded 3.1 billion overnight stays in European Union tourist accommodation in 2025, up 61.5 million from 2024, according to Euronews’ summary of the data. (euronews.com) Monteriggioni is the most compact pick on the list: a medieval walled town with 14 towers, still defined by the fortifications that ring its center. Visit Tuscany also flags its Via Francigena setting and the walkable medieval core inside the walls. (visittuscany.com) (monteriggioniturismo.it) Pienza brings the art-history argument. UNESCO says Pope Pius II remade his birthplace in 1459, turning it into an early real-world test of Renaissance town planning. (whc.unesco.org) Arezzo is the fresco stop. The Basilica of San Francesco houses Piero della Francesca’s “Legend of the True Cross,” which Arezzo’s museum network calls one of the best-known pictorial cycles in the world. (museiarezzo.it) (discoverarezzo.com) Volterra offers the archaeological version of the same tradeoff: less crush, more room to look. Local tourism sites describe its Roman theatre as one of Italy’s best-preserved, with Etruscan layers still central to the town’s identity. (volterratur.it) (visittuscany.com) Livorno shifts the list toward the coast and food. Local tourism officials center the city’s identity on cacciucco, the dense seafood stew that Visit Tuscany calls the “king” of Livorno cuisine. (visit-livorno.it) (visittuscany.com) Porto Ercole rounds it out with a harbor-and-headland alternative. Visit Tuscany describes Monte Argentario, where Porto Ercole sits, as a mild-climate coastal area built around coves, beaches and two main centers: Porto Santo Stefano and Porto Ercole. (visittuscany.com) (portoercole.org) The thread running through all six places is the same one Florence is now openly grappling with: send some of Tuscany’s demand away from the most saturated streets, without sending travelers out of the region. (fondazione.destinationflorence.it)