Streetwise Tuscany Map - Laminated Road Map of Tuscany, Italy - Folding Pocket Size Travel Map » (Revised and Laminated Map)

2010 UPDATED Streetwise Tuscany Map - Laminated Road Map of Tuscany, Italy - Folding pocket size travel map

This map covers the following areas:
Main Tuscany Map 1:405,000
Florence Area Map 1:180,000

If you happen to be in driving around south of Siena, and it happens to be lunch time, you might want to head for a trattoria in San Angelo in Colle called Il Pozzo. Taking you to your seat in the small comfortable dining room, your host will recommend the pinci. "Pinci?" you ask, not knowing what it is exactly. "Pinci," explains your host, "is a hand made pasta and today it is being served al ragu, with a rich meat sauce." He seats you, hands you a well worn menu, folds his hands over his well endowed midsection and continues "When I have a particularly long day my wife will look at me lovingly and ask if I want a little pinci for supper and I always say yes." Judging by the girth of your host, you realize that having a long day may not be such a bad thing in these parts and you put down your menu and tell him to bring on the pinci. You have made a wise choice.

Such is an excursion in Tuscany. You don’t push it here, you go with the flow. If someone asks "Pinci?," you say "Yes please." This is one of the most magical places on earth, and has been since well before the Romans, so trust that there is a reason that things are the way they are here and go with it. You won’t be disappointed and if you are, then you probably have a good story to tell anyway.

Now this advice applies to the authentic that you’ll find in Tuscany, and not the hyped up tourist venues. There’s plenty of authentic to be found and that’s where the STREETWISE®Tuscany Map comes in. Instead of the packaged itinerary that you find in most guide books, venture off on your own. Explore a little. Drive down that twisty road to a village that isn’t listed in anything that you’ve read. Find that piazza where you can enjoy an espresso in a café and do absolutely nothing except watch life take its course in true provincial fashion. Fill your picnic basket with goodies from several shops and head for the top of a Tuscan hillside where you can enjoy the view of sloping fields lined by cypress trees, softened by the warm hazy light that washes over everything.

It’s all there; you just need to find it. And find it you will with our STREETWISE® Tuscany Map; from the green hills and vineyards of Chianti to the beaches on the Tyrrhenian coast, to the peaks of the Apennines and on to the spas of Montecatini.

This map of the most famous region in Italy is complete with topographic terrain features and has all of the major A roads and local D roads to enable you to drive from town to town throughout Tuscany. Fully indexed and easy to read with scenic routes, regional / provincial boundaries, distance between points, car ferries, small and large towns, towns of special interest or charm, major urban areas, airfields, railways, bathing beaches, points of interest, state parks, campgrounds, mountain peak elevations, rivers and more.

A separate inset area map of Florence, capital of the Renaissance, will simplify your travels in and out of the city.

Our pocket size map of Tuscany is laminated for durability and accordion folding for effortless use. The STREETWISE® Tuscany map is one of several detailed and easy-to-read regional road maps designed and published by STREETWISE®. Buy your STREETWISE® Tuscany map today and you too can navigate Tuscany like a native. For a larger selection of our detailed travel maps simply type STREETWISE MAPS into the Barnes & Noble search bar.

About STREETWISE® Maps

STREETWISE® is the first map to be designed with modern graphics and is the originator of the laminated, accordion-fold map format. We've set the standard that every map company has imitated but never duplicated. Our mission is to make you feel comfortable, to make you feel safe in a place where you've never been before and to enable you to experience a familiar place more fully.

The company was founded in 1984 by Michael Brown, who had been in international publishing for many years, setting up subsidiaries for textbook publishers. In the 1970's, Brown traveled extensively throughout Africa, India, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Brown would take a large paper map, cut out the city center, folded it up and slip it into his pocket, thus preventing him from looking like a tourist in areas where discretion is the better part of travel. This was his tool for surviving.

After many years on the road, Brown settled back in New York and decided to start his own business, based on the adaptations he had made to maps in his travels. His goal was to give someone the ability to navigate easily in unfamiliar terrain.

He started with a new map format: the accordion fold. Such a simple idea, but at the time it was revolutionary. No more struggling to fold an awkward, oversized paper map. This new format would enable the user to blend in like a native, instead of stick out like a tourist. Brown then added lamination to ensure that the map would be a lasting tool.

More important than the format was the design of the map itself. It had to be a map that not only succeeded above and beyond any map he had used, but was esthetically appealing as well. The look of it had to be as striking as the functionality. Color was introduced in a way that was never seen before in a map - vivid purple for water, soothing gray for the background of street grids, gold to highlight elements of the map. Clarity, conciseness and convenience in a very stylish package.

Building the business was a 24 hour job. Brown sold the maps during the day, zipping around Manhattan making deliveries on his Harley Davidson. At night he packed the orders and did the design work. More titles were added, each title requiring months of research and design.

Today, STREETWISE® produces over 130 titles for major destinations, regions and countries throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Europe, the United Kingdom and Asia. We have grown from the back of a motorcycle to selling millions of maps around the world.

Yet each title is still painstakingly researched and updated. STREETWISE® is one of the only, if not THE only map company that conducts research by walking or driving an area to ensure accuracy. After all, what good is the map if what you hold in your hands doesn't match what you see on the street sign? This lengthy fact checking results in superior accuracy; in effect, we've done the work, now you have the adventure.

In the end, it's not about the map, it's about getting out and finding your own authentic experience wherever you go. It's about being in a city or a region and discovering things that you never thought you would find. You can do this if you have confidence and you have confidence if you have a great map. STREETWISE® is the great map that you need.

Travel + Leisure Magazine

"STREETWISE is an absolute travel essential."