That of the Crete Senesi region is probably the weirdest landscape in Tuscany. Spending your vacation in a villa in this corner of Tuscany will mean waking up in the morning, open the window of your bedroom and gazing over a bare landscape made of biancana badlands.

In the Middle Ages, this area south-east of Siena was called "Accona desert". To many tourists, it recalls the photos of the lunar landscape in books or in television. You can choose to spend your holidays in a villa in the Crete Senesi in:

• Rapolano Terme, which is renowned for the Terme Antica Querciaiola;

• Asciano, where every year in September takes place the "Palio dei Ciuchi" (Donkey Palio);

• Buonconvento, which is considered one of the most beautiful hamlets in Italy;

• San Giovanni d`Asso, which hosts the "Museo del Tartufo", a museum dedicated to truffle;

• Monteroni d`Arbia, a small village surrounded by parish churches scattered in the countryside.

But that is not all. There are more than a hundred places of interest that are worth to be visited during your stay in Tuscany.

And do not forget the food-and-wine "treasures": "Brunello" and "Rosso di Montalcino"; "Vino Nobile di Montepulciano"; "Pienza pecorino" cheese; truffles and pici (handmade spaghetti, excellent with a game or a tomato-and-garlic sauce.

Last but not least, making a trip from your holiday villa in the Crete Senesi region to the town of the "Palio" and the "contrade" will be like drinking a glass of water: Siena is so close by!