Farmhouse ringed by cypresses on a hill above misty rolling fields at dawn

Photo essay · Val d’Orcia, Italy

Terra di Siena

When my wife and I settled in Italy, the first people we wanted to visit us were our friends Lori and Tony and their kids. I planned their trip carefully: a few days on their own in Venice and Florence, then a few more with us in my hometown.

What they didn’t know was that I had a surprise in between. Their wedding anniversary fell during the trip, and I wanted to give them a weekend in Tuscany they would never forget. After some searching, I found a small B&B in the hills near San Quirico d’Orcia, south of Siena. It was run by a gentleman whose family had lived on that land all their lives, and it looked out over the Chapel of Vitaleta and the hills rolling away around it.

On paper, it was perfect. But a surprise like this had to be right, so I decided to see it for myself first. My friend Jeff came along, and we spent two days driving the white roads of Val d’Orcia, out before dawn while the mist still filled the valleys, chasing the light until the storms rolled in. I went to check on a B&B. I came home with the colours of a land the whole world knows by name.

Cypress-lined farmhouse emerging from morning mist above a green field

Soft folds of hills and scattered trees under early morning haze

Round hay bales scattered across a ploughed field above green wheat

Farmhouse and cypresses on a knoll above a patchwork of fields and a winding road

Red poppies in a green field under a pale sky

A lone cypress on the crest of a pale hill above a flowering meadow

Brick farmhouse on a golden ridge under a deep blue sky

Row of cypresses and a farmhouse on a hillside of striped golden grass

Bright green hills crossed by a wire fence under a blue sky

Hay bales on stubble before a smooth green hillside

Dirt road along a grassy ridge overlooking a pond and distant farms

Chapel of Vitaleta flanked by tall cypresses under a blue sky

White gravel road winding through fields under scattered clouds

Ochre hills with a distant farmhouse beneath a cloud-filled sky

Gravel road curving through golden fields under bright cumulus clouds

Wide valley with a small pond beneath a deep blue sky and clouds

Bare ochre hill with a line of distant cypresses under a hazy sky

Wild grasses and fence posts before rolling harvested fields

Billowing white clouds over dark rolling hills

Avenue of cypresses beside a green meadow under a blue sky

Cypresses lining a dirt road beside a stone wall

Chapel and farmhouse on a distant ridge above dark woods under grey cloud

Storm clouds massing over a harvested golden hillside

Long avenue of cypresses silhouetted against a dramatic sky

Distant chapel on a hilltop above woods under a pale cloudy sky

Chapel and farmhouse on a golden hill above dark trees under a stormy sky

Valley of woods and fields under breaking clouds

Dark rolling hill beneath a band of pale light and grey cloud