Beato Angelico, exhibition views, Palazzo Strozzi e Museo di San Marco, Firenze, 2025 - Credit: Ela Bialkowska, OKNO Studio
The 1ˢᵗ weekend of January coincides with the 1ˢᵗ event of the year with the Arezzo Antiques Fair, the oldest in Italy. Every month, the extraordinary setting expanding from Piazza San Francesco, Piazza Grande and the Logge Vasari is transformed into a realm for collectors and the curious, who rush here to vie for the rarest objects among the stands of more than 500 antique peddlers from all over Italy.
Astronomical instruments and boats from the Roman era, Leonardo’s studies on flight, a large meteorite to touch, the skeleton of a 50-foot whale, an old mining train ... If the forecast for the next few days threatens rain or the temperatures are not so great for going for a pleasant stroll, or perhaps if someone in the family needs a nice distraction, have no fear: the best children’s museums in Tuscany are interactive and fun places to visit!
Those who prefer to start the year with an excursion that combines exploration and relaxation, walking and pampering, should instead head to Monsummano Terme. Visit a castle, explore a village and a Medici Villa, swim in a thermal pool inside a thousand-year-old cave, called “the 8ᵗʰ wonder of the world.”
And have a Happy New Year!
