After our wonderful, and energetic, time in Vernazza, we settled into our semi-rural digs in delightful Panzano, a small Tuscan hilltop village in the heart of Chianti.

We were here for just over two weeks.

And rather than simply passing through Tuscany, we had the chance to settle into village life and watch spring slowly unfold around us.

Our villa-style apartment was everything you’d imagine for Tuscany. The front door opened directly onto the village piazza, while the back door led into a fabulous garden with an outdoor eating area overlooking the rolling Tuscan hills.

The vines were beginning to wake up, the countryside was turning green and every day seemed to bring another little sign of spring.

It was deliciously Tuscanish!

Our apartment opened onto the Village Piazza through the front door, and into a private garden overlooking the Tuscan landscape through the back door.

The view from our back garden – spectuacular!

Being early spring, we had a front-row seat to the changing landscape.

The trees slowly moved from bare branches to fresh green, the vines began to shoot and flowers started appearing in the garden.

Over the six weeks, we watched Tuscany gradually wake up.

Sunset drinks on the terrace with our neighbours.

A glass of something cold, the hills turning golden and nowhere else we needed to be.

This was village life in Panzano.

The local residents were very much part of our stay too.

There were plenty of cats around the apartment, and our host was the proud carer of quite a collection of them, along with a Border Collie with Australian connections.

This lovely fellow clearly knew a good sunny spot when he found one, settling himself at our back door for a little afternoon sun.

It didn’t take long before the cats became part of the scenery.

You know you’ve settled in when the barista at the local café starts making your regular espresso macchiatos as you walk through the door.

And when the local shopkeepers begin forgiving your terrible Italian.

We loved the afternoon life of the piazza with locals gathering for a chat, children playing, old men sitting side by side in the sunshine and aperitifs being enjoyed as the day wound down.

It didn’t take us long to fit right in.

Panzano felt like home.

We walked every day, wandering through Panzano and out into the surrounding countryside.

There was always something to notice with interesting architecture, quirky statues, local life unfolding around us and menus to peruse as we decided what was for dinner.

Would we cook with the fresh Tuscan produce we’d picked up that day, or eat out?

It was a pretty good dilemma to have.

Sunday was market day in the piazza.

Every Sunday morning, we were woken by the sound of stallholders setting up right outside our front door. Not exactly a lie-in, but we soon became very accustomed to it.

The noise, the crowds, the fresh produce and the general busyness of market day became part of our Sunday routine.

We’d wander out, practise our stumbling Italian with the stallholders, choose what we needed and head home with bags of fresh ingredients for the week ahead.

We loved it all.

Dario Cecchini

One of Panzano’s many claims to fame is Dario Cecchini.

A rather famous butcher, and very much a larger-than-life character in person.

His flagship shop sits just off the piazza and is devoted to the art of Tuscan meat. And because Tuscany is, after all, a meat-loving region, there was plenty to admire.

While browsing, you could enjoy a glass of Chianti and a chunk of bread spread with cured pork lard.

Jeff was particularly taken with the place. He kept going back each day, apparently unable to decide what he wanted for dinner.

Or perhaps it was the free Chianti?

Meet Dario Cecchini

And then there are Dario Cecchini’s famous lunches.

We joined the crowds of locals and visitors for one of his long, leisurely feasts, where the theme is very much meat, meat and more meat.

Plate after plate arrived, featuring meat in varying degrees of rawness. The lunch goes on for several hours, but with plenty of Chianti flowing, the time seemed to pass rather quickly.

I chose the vegetarian option.

Even so, by the end of it we were both very well fed, and there was certainly no need for dinner that night.

A Little More Walking

We decided to take a longer walk around the district, setting off with visions of ambling along beautiful country roads, taking in the vineyards, wineries and rolling Tuscan landscape.

And there were plenty of beautiful country roads.

What we hadn’t quite anticipated was that we’d also stumbled onto an 8.5km orienteering track.

Suddenly, our leisurely walk involved searching for red and white markers hidden amongst the undergrowth, taking a few wrong turns and, on more than one occasion, backtracking to work out where we’d gone wrong.

Google Maps eventually came to the rescue.

Nearly three hours later, we made it back to Panzano — tired, slightly challenged and very pleased with ourselves.

Some of our easier walking days around the district led to some wonderful discoveries.

One day, we came across a church with a beautifully quiet and serene cloister. Originally built in the 10th century and updated in the 12th, it was a lovely place to stop and take a breath.

What surprised us most, though, were the exquisite artworks inside.

Another reminder that when you’re wandering around Tuscany, you never quite know what you’ll find.

More walking.

Looking back towards Panzano, perched high on the hilltop.

And another detail we began noticing on our walks were the roadside shrines dotted throughout the countryside.

Some were simple, others surprisingly ornate. We found them along roads, at corners and bends, and tucked into old walls.

Little reminders of the history and traditions woven into everyday life in this part of Tuscany.

Eating In

With so much beautiful fresh produce available at the local market, and a great rustic kitchen at home, we took full advantage of cooking for ourselves.

Shopping for local ingredients, deciding what to make and sitting down to enjoy it in our little Tuscan home became part of the rhythm of village life.

Here’s a taste of some of our home-cooked meals.

Eating Out

Spring had arrived, and asparagus was everywhere.

It seemed to make an appearance on just about every menu we came across, alongside plenty of meat — Tuscany is certainly not short on that and, to my delight, a good selection of vegetarian dishes too.

Eating out became another part of our village routine.

And, that’s a wrap on Panzano.

We loved this little Tuscan village. The people, the piazza, the food, the walking, the countryside and the wonderfully slow rhythm of everyday life.

Two weeks wasn’t nearly long enough.

We knew we’d be back.

And we were.

In 2025, we returned to Panzano for six weeks – but that’s another story.

Catherine & Jeff