Golf near Pisa and Florence: one landing, three coasts

Two airports, four different distances

Every number below is a straight line from the terminal to the itinerary’s anchor, not a drive, and at these two airports the line moves a lot depending on where you land. Chianti & Florence is 14 km from Florence and 73 km from Pisa, by far the widest gap on this route. Val d’Orcia runs 82 km from Florence against 106 km from Pisa, still a clear edge for Florence. The Etruscan Coast flips the pattern, though by less: 87 km from Pisa against 104 km from Florence. Maremma is the one itinerary where the airport choice stops mattering, both sitting 154 km out, at the edge of this site’s measured radius.

Chianti & Florence: the deepest bench in Tuscany

Ten courses sit inside this itinerary’s reach, more than any other Tuscan corridor on this site. Golf dell’Ugolino anchors it inside Florence’s own hills, with Golf Club Centanni 5.9 km further out and Golf Club Parco di Firenze at 12.2 km. The wine side matches the depth: Antinori nel Chianti Classico, 12.5 km from the course, makes Tignanello, one of the wines that defined the Super Tuscan category, and its own Badia a Passignano estate sits inside an 11th-century Vallombrosan abbey. Frescobaldi, 12.9 km out, and Mazzei, at 29.2 km, round out the cellar list. For a non-golfing afternoon, The Mall Firenze, 19.4 km from the course, is the closer of the itinerary’s two outlets.

Etruscan Coast: Bolgheri’s wine, Pisa’s coast

The Etruscan Coast is Bolgheri country, and the golf follows the coastline south from Pisa: Riva Toscana, opened in 2021 and threaded through 2,500 mature olive trees, anchors the itinerary, with Il Pelagone 11.3 km out and Punta Ala Golf Club, a 1964 Giulio Cavalsani design cut by a coastal gorge, at 16 km. The wine list is one of the strongest on this site: Tenuta San Guido, the Bolgheri estate behind Sassicaia, sits alongside Ornellaia, Masseto, Le Macchiole and Petra in Suvereto, and Rocca di Frassinello, 20.6 km from the course, where Renzo Piano built an underground barrel hall for 2,500 casks under a scarlet light tower. Calidario Terme Etrusche, a natural thermal lake fed by three Etruscan-era springs, is the spa stop.

Val d’Orcia: Brunello country

Val d’Orcia & Montalcino is closer from Florence, 82 km, than from Pisa, 106 km. Castiglion del Bosco Golf Club anchors the itinerary, with Royal Golf La Bagnaia 17.9 km out. This is Brunello ground: Biondi-Santi, where the denomination began, Banfi, whose Poggio all’Oro Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is one of the estate’s signature wines, and Argiano, 11.6 km from the course, cover the reds, while Avignonesi works Montepulciano nearby. The itinerary also carries a longer thermal list than the other three Tuscan itineraries in this piece combined, nine springs and resorts in the data: alongside Fonteverde and Adler Thermae, Terme di Petriolo and Bagni di Petriolo, both 10.7 km out, add two more.

Maremma: the one that ties

Maremma sits 154 km from both airports, the only itinerary on this route where the airport choice genuinely does not matter. Argentario Golf Club anchors it, and Terme di Saturnia Spa & Golf, 37.6 km out, does double duty as a golf course, a 2007 Ronald Fream design, and one of Italy’s oldest thermal resorts, a sulphurous spring used since Etruscan times and formally chartered in 1454. Fattoria Le Pupille, 39.3 km from the course, put coastal Maremma on the fine-wine map with Saffredi in 1987, and Fattoria Aldobrandesca, further inland at Sovana, is Antinori’s own Aleatico estate in the Etruscan tuff country.

When to come

Chianti and the Etruscan Coast disagree on their best month: Chianti peaks in October, at 20.7 degrees, while the Etruscan Coast peaks in April, at 18.5. Val d’Orcia also favours April, and Maremma splits the difference with its own best reading in May. None of the four is a poor golfing bet in the shoulder months; the gaps between their own best readings run at most three degrees and a few washout days, not the kind of difference that should drive the flight booking on its own. Golf in Italy in October and golf in Italy in April both cover this stretch of Tuscany in detail.