We are down a small, pedestrian-only arched alleyway that runs off Piazza del Popolo, the main piazza in town. You’ll find it between the Piccola Osteria del Tartufo and Pizza al Popolo. You can also reach us through via Francesco Guicciardini. We are number 2.

The train station of San Miniato is called San Miniato-Fucecchio; from here you can catch regional trains direct to and from Florence or towards Pisa and the coast. It is not walking distance to the town centre (about 45 mins walk uphill, 3.5-4.5km depending on the route) but it is a quick 5 minute drive.

You can catch the 320 bus up (it departs station every 30 mins and takes about 15 minutes to reach Piazza Dante Alighieri, the last stop, in San Miniato). Here is a visual on how to do that. Tickets are sold at the Caffe Marconi just below the bus stop or via the local bus app — which is also the most reliable source for the schedule, note that Google does not always get this right!

Otherwise, send a WhatsApp to the local taxi driver (Antonio, +39 338 298 5310, he speaks English well) to get dropped off. If there are others coming too you might be able to carpool and split the taxi cost (15 euro). As he is the only driver in town, it is a good idea to book him early.

If taking the bus to meet for the market class and you arrive on the 8:53am train direct from Florence to San Miniato at 9:33am you can catch the next bus to meet us in time for the market visit.

There is limited paid parking in the centre of town in Piazza del Popolo which is very close to the Enoteca, otherwise the largest parking lot is Fonte alle Fate, where you reach the centre of town via a large elevator. If it isn’t a market day (Tuesday), then you can also find a large parking lot in Piazza Dante Alighieri, which is where the local bus arrives and departs; this is a 5 minute walk to the Enoteca. You can park in the blue spots, white spots are for residents.

Our town has an evening and weekend ZTL (limited traffic zone) that begins at 8pm on weekdays and 2pm on Sundays. On these days you have to avoid entering the centre of town if you aren’t a resident — the points of entry are clearly marked with a ZTL sign that will be red or green according to the time. To be on the safe side, you can park at Fonte alle Fate and arrive right in the centre by elevator (a 2-3 minute walk to the Enoteca) or Piazza Dante Alighieri (5 minutes walk).

We meet at 10:15am in Piazza Dante Alighieri, which is a large parking lot where the market is held on Tuesdays. As it’s very large, we will plan to meet in front of Lo Chalet, which is a little wooden cafe/bar in the gardens next to Piazza Dante Alighieri.

We usually cook a three course meal inspired by what we find in the market and what looks good! There will be plenty of nibbles for antipasto, we usually make a few starters or salads, a main and a dessert. It is a vegetable-forward, seasonal cooking class. While everything we make is vegetarian, there is usually some kind of cured pork product to try as part of the antipasto. If you have any dietary issues, please let us know when booking.

There are plenty of places to stay in San Miniato for a variety of budgets. See my list here, you can also look on booking.com and airbnb for even more options.

For my guide on where to eat in San Miniato see here.

This special annual festival is one of the highlights of Tuscany’s gastronomic offerings! It is held in November, usually the last three weekends. There is a lot to know about how to get in, what there is to see and how to plan your visit, so see this article here for more about it. For updates on the program, see San Miniato’s local tourism office website.

Spring and autumn are our personal favourite months, but we are open year round.

The spring months are a great time to be in Tuscany and although the weather can be unpredictable, it is generally mild, not too cold or hot, and the start of an exciting season of fresh produce such as artichokes, fava beans, wild asparagus and also the bianchetto truffle (a pungent spring truffle available until around April).

The summer is swelteringly hot, with temperatures hovering around 40°C (104°F) for most of June, all of July and most of August. Be prepared to find Tuscan towns like San Miniato quietly but completely closed for siesta time between the hours of 1-4pm at least, but you will find the evenings lively as people come out to enjoy the cooler night air. The local produce is bursting at this time with beautiful tomatoes, melons, stone fruit and more. We can also find plentiful, earthy black summer truffles around this time of year.

From September, you feel a slight change in the air as autumn brings a cooling reprieve from the summer. The wine harvest starts, hot days continue, but produce is at its most abundant — figs, eggplants, grapes, tomatoes, porcini mushrooms. October brings also the start of the white truffle season in San Miniato, the most prized of all truffles, which is celebrated with its own 3 week long festival in November. Around this time new olive oil is pressed, saffron is picked and chestnuts harvested. It is truly a delicious season.

December is a festive and wonderfully quiet time to be traveling in Tuscany too, and while January and February are probably the colder winter months, they are fairly mild, with lows barely going past freezing point. Hearty greens like cavolo nero, silverbeet, puntarelle, and artichokes are plentiful, and you’ll see the citrus trees around San Miniato laden with fruit. The white truffle season ends officially on the 31 December (by Tuscan regulations) but January sees the beginning of the bianchetto truffle season until spring.

No matter what season you come in, there are plenty of delicious offerings, but if you are able to visit in the off season (from October until Easter) you will find travel a little easier and less crowded.