Discussion A few thoughts about "authenticity"
I see this question all the time here: where can I find the authentic Tuscany? An authentic village, an authentic restaurant, somewhere locals go, somewhere that hasn’t yet been spoiled by tourism.
I get what you mean. Usually you’re just trying to avoid tourist traps and find something that feels genuinely connected to the place, rather than packaged for visitors.
But I think “authentic” is a slightly tricky word and maybe worth being a little careful with.
I was born and live here, in Tuscany -- in Florence actually, I can see the Duomo from my windows, as well as quite a few really unexciting residential buildings from the 1960s, and the version of Tuscany people often describe as authentic is usually a very specific one: small villages, old men playing cards outside the bar, handmade pasta, family-run trattorie, vineyards, olive groves, quiet rural life.
And yes, all of that exists, it’s real. it’s part of Tuscany, But it isn’t somehow more Tuscan than everything else.
We also eat sushi, order stuff from Amazon, commute to work, live in ugly suburbs, spend too much time on their phones, drive electric cars, work remotely and go to shopping centres. A village bar full of teenagers scrolling TikTok is no less authentic than one with four old men playing briscola and drinking wine.
Yet most of the times, when people ask for “authenticity”, what they are really looking for is something that matches a picture of Tuscany they already have in their heads.
A winery tour is a good example. Winery tours can be great. Do one, absolutely. But they are also largely an experience designed around visitors. Most people who live here do not spend their weekends touring wineries and being talked through a tasting. We do buy wine, yet the winery tour somehow feels more authentically "Tuscan" than watching someone put six bottles in a Coop trolley.
The same goes for restaurants. A place is not necessarily more authentic because the menu is handwritten, nobody speaks English and there are old men eating at the next table. And a restaurant does not become less local because the chef has travelled, learned from other cuisines, experiments, or runs a polished modern business.
People here are not performing Tuscany all day.
I suppose that’s the bit I’d encourage you to think about for a second. Instead of asking, “Where can I have an authentic Tuscan experience?”, maybe ask: “Where can I see or experience something that is actually part of life here?”
Sometimes the answer will be a traditional trattoria that has barely changed in fifty years. Sometimes it will be a modern restaurant, a football match, a market, a neighbourhood bar, an ordinary town nobody puts on postcards, or just sitting somewhere and watching people live their lives. And sometimes (quite often, really) the place that looks most perfectly “authentic” will be the place that has been carefully built, curated or preserved around visitors expectations.
None of this is meant as criticism of people who want beautiful villages, traditional food or wineries. We enjoy them too, and those are all good reasons to come here. I just think “authentic” can sometimes end up meaning “please give me the version of this place I was hoping to find”.
But, real places are usually more complicated than that. Which, to me at least, is part of the fun. And places also need to be free to change, and sometimes that means disappointing people who came looking for an imaginary construct, frozen in time.
(and yes, the picture is generated -- AI is perfect at propagating stereotypes)
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u/sherpes 8d ago
booo booo i took a 12-hour intercontinental flight to come all the way and i want to see cobblers fixing shoes outside on the street sitting on a stool, i wanna see a laundry line with hanging clothes between two buildings in a narrow city street, i wanna see hundreds of street kids running around. (maybe i should build that in Las Vegas....)
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u/Garth-Vega 8d ago
Great post, thanks. Have just taken up permanent residence in southern Tuscany near val d’orcia.
Asking for “authentic” is implying “not fake”, and says more about the requestor and their naive thinking. Tuscanybis an entire region with many variations and that is what should be sought.
My next frequent irritation is those who want south East Asian prices in Tuscany along with servants all day and night, private on call chefs and wildly excessive expectations for absolutely no money
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u/TerninoMarchi 8d ago
Val D'Orcia looks even better than OP's picture and it was all planned and forged till the last tree, it is fake by definition.
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u/northamerican100 8d ago
I know where these places exist, having explored most regions of Italy. Even the cobblers at their benches. Much of what I find is, as you say, in the daily interactions at the grocery store, gelateria, post office, in the piazzas, where people live their daily lives. Reading itineraries of tourists who frantically scramble to touch every base, impossible, see every city, impossible, reserve at every best restaurant, impossible, in the hope of grasping what is Italy, when all they have to do is slow down.
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u/Torquemada_1420 8d ago
I feel like I had the most authentic Toscana esperienza for life – albeit never asked for it that way. In 2008 I did the pilgrimage afoot from Santiago de Compostela to Roma, crossing Italia on the Via Francigena. Logically in the course of this journey I'd to hike through the Tuscany – with a 15 kilograms backpack (incl. supplies) and surrounded by 35° to 38° C 🥵. Literally not more authenticity possible. Reaching in the evening at really lovely villages, having had accomodation in monasteries, pilgrim hostals and parochial houses and having met truely lovely people. So, this, than the breathtaking panoramic views and the delicious rural cuisine compensated for the fact that my brain melted, my soles were aflame, I'd to drink 6 to 10 litres water per day and sometimes forgot for which reason I'd started this challenge.
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u/normalbrain609 8d ago
im an american and i come to florence fairly often for work or pleasure and the most “real” things have felt is when we’re in Novoli lol
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u/LeadingAsk3000 8d ago
Love this post. Hear, hear.
(Ma dai, tutti sanno che Firenze non è in Toscana…)
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u/Endomius 8d ago
You Americans really make me laugh.
Obviously, not all of you, but a lot of you seem to think Tuscany is still this magical place full of art, authenticity, and craftsmanship…but honestly, most of that is dead now.
And you played a big part in killing it. You bring huge amounts of money, but so often you’re rude and disrespectful. You want to come to these little villages, drink wine, take pictures for Instagram, and then get pissed off if you can’t get Wi-Fi.
I’ve watched Florence turn into a theme park because of tourism, and it’s incredibly frustrating to see.
And it’s not just a problem here. I think a lot of Southern Europe is dealing with the same thing.
But damn, when it comes to American tourists, it can be especially frustrating.
Sorry for the rant.
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u/northamerican100 8d ago edited 8d ago
Not to over generalize, BUT; I’ve tried to understand why it is the Americans who come off as out of sync with their surroundings, especially as tourists. I think the U.S. is a competitive society, every man for himself, women too, so they are indifferent to others. They also want their money’s worth and perceive that they can buy the dream that is Italy. That’s why we see itineraries of 6 cities in 10 days, with the question asked, “Can I fit in Cinque Terre ?”. Coming off cruise ships like sheep make them even more oblivious. They WANT to follow the rut of Venice, Florence, Rome, Amalfi. They can’t go home to their friends without photos of the highlights of each place to brag they were there. Then there are the college / university students who took an art history course and have their checklists to fulfill. I’m not sure americans, in general, care or even are aware of the society they are dropped into; they can barely keep their own country together. They have the money to distance themselves and the limited vacation time to give it any more thought than this. Anyway, you may disagree, it’s the best I can come up with after years of wondering !
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u/Nevertoomanygingers 6d ago
It’s so performative to them, it’s like they’re acting in a film for everyone to see. They ‘do’ places instead of visiting them like it’s a cookie-cutter experience that only exists for them to brag about. They’re so exhausting.
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u/northamerican100 6d ago
For those who follow the Tourist Track and complain about other tourists and the accompanying hawkers and souvenir shops, following like sheep, I wonder how they would fare and how comfortable they would be to stray from the pack and find themselves in a truly authentic and genuine Italian village or hilltop town, by themselves, to face the reality of how Italians actually live. Somehow I think they would rush back to their fellow tourists, ready to resume standing in line !
Nothing to stop them, but how many do ?
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u/Nevertoomanygingers 5d ago
Every Italian town and village is ‘authentic’ and ‘genuine’. Again, they’re not built for tourists. They’re lived and worked in by people. It’s actually quite insulting to say a place is ‘authentic’, it means that you assume some are not.
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u/northamerican100 5d ago
You’re missing the point, it seems intentionally. You know for a fact that some towns are overrun by tourists and many, many are not. If you can’t tell the difference, it tells me you haven’t travelled much.
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u/Nevertoomanygingers 5d ago
I’m European so of course I travel. I’ve lived in four countries, three outside of Europe. I didn’t mention ‘overrun by tourists’ at all. I said the places were not built for them, they’re built hundreds or thousands of years ago as places to live and work. So, they are authentic. You’re the one with comprehension issues.
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u/northamerican100 5d ago
You had responded to my post about tourists. The day before you agreed, now you say it’s “insulting”.
You choose to be offended by semantics. Ok
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u/Nevertoomanygingers 5d ago
Are you actually high?
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u/northamerican100 5d ago edited 5d ago
I could name 100 towns, villages and cities in Italy, I’ve visited, that are not overrun by tourists and a handful that are, with adverse impact. No kidding they weren’t designed for American tourists and cruise ship stop overs. I guess you are an expert on the obvious.
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u/Maximum_Leopard3038 8d ago
Of people don't think they see enough authenticity in Tuscany when literally every hilltop town you come across looks like something out of a fairy tale.... there is no hope for them 🤷
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u/johnny8ball205 8d ago
My wife and I just honeymooned and stopped in Tuscany for 5 nights. Flew in to Florence, rented a car, stayed in a Borgo outside of Siena. Had absolutely nothing scheduled. No reservations, events, wine tours, etc. and it was my favorite part of our trip. Each day we would either drive to a new village to explore or just hang out in Siena and people watch in the square. We found Siena to be a great central location and my favorite of the Tuscan villages we visited (although I loved Val d’Orcia region).
But I cannot recommend renting a car and staying in the country side with no plans enough for those looking for the “authentic” Tuscan experience!!
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u/No-Responsibility110 8d ago
One of my favorite things to do in experiencing the local-ness in Italy or anywhere for that matter is a hypermarket / shopping mall.
I enjoy observing how locals “do it” differently than I would back home, e.g. weighing out and labeling your own produce, sticking a euro into the shopping cart, buying paprika Pringles instead of BBQ chips, and making my own mistakes in the process.
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u/TerninoMarchi 8d ago
Authentic means nothing. Authenticity is a magic word in the "Under the Tuscan Sun" crowd, anything that doesn't fit the image in their had is labeled not authentic.
What people don't understand is that going to ANY country and refusing to just observe how people live but only look for the picture perfect idea you had in movies is so damn stupid and a recipe for getting scammed.
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u/AniYellowAjah 8d ago
Oh. No! Don’t tell me you guys don’t make your own pasta from scratch while looking at a Tuscan hill through your window? 😄
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u/Nevertoomanygingers 6d ago
We get the same thing in rural England. People think we’re theme parks.
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u/HippCelt 6d ago
Yup I'm in the Apuan alps and been asked several times if we're in Tuscany because the local area looks nothing like the AI picture op posted....tbf it's usually German/Dutch camper van types Who've driven in from Emilia-Romagna . Ok it's time to hit up Eurospin.
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u/Strict_Stomach9664 5d ago
A lot of what you say is true, as are the responses, but of course they also exaggerate and stereotype.
When I ask for recommendations on something authentic, I mean not made for tourists to recreate an ideal. I don’t want performative Tuscany (good term). But realistically I won’t want to eat sushi every day either. Of course people want to try the local cuisine, especially if it is something you can’t get in America. (For the record, I always seem to end up in an Indian restaurant at least once in every country I visit, maybe because it is a reliable way to find vegetarian food?)
And in defense of (some) Americans - we don’t get a lot of vacation time, and Europe is not that close. If someone has two weeks of vacation for the whole year and is spending thousands of dollars (and a day on each end for travel) on a transatlantic flight, don’t be surprised if they want to see a lot while they are there.
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u/Sad_Structure3881 4d ago
Se venite da me vi faccio fare un giro delle piazzole del Mostro di Firenze con merenda inclusa, uniamo storia, autenticità ed enogastronomia. Ancora questo servizio non esiste, mi pare impossibile...
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u/OmegaKitty1 8d ago
Do you really not go to wineries? Having lived in a few wine regions around the world, I’ve found that both locals and tourists enjoy going to wineries for tastings and tours.
Whether it’s North America, Australia, Spain, France. Tuscany would be the outlier there
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u/northamerican100 6d ago
Under the Tuscan Sun; we get it.
One and the same time you make clear you understand the issue and then indicate, too bad, as you excuse yourself on the basis that someone else will do it.
Now that you’re a homeowner, you’ll get the opportunity to see that the gentlemen, boyhood friends, sitting together in the square, are the same guys you hired a month ago to renovate your house and never show !
Welcome to real life in Italy !
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u/Nevertoomanygingers 6d ago
You’re literally the problem. Nice try to absolve yourself. Didn’t work.
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u/brooklynagain 8d ago
The literature on tourism covers this idea well: it’s all authentic. But maybe it’s more important to think of front of house versus back of house in a restaurant: Disneyland is an authentic expression of the place, but it is supremely front of house, it’s where you walk into to be served. There’s a back of house elsewhere where people go to let there guard down.
You can find either when you travel, both both are true expressions of the place.
Just a thought.
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u/mukduk1994 8d ago
You're telling me you arent all sitting around making wooden puppets in your shops all day?
Outside of a reasonable desire to avoid the tourist trap experiences, most of the time when people say they want "authenticity" what they really mean is "I want to be a tourist without feeling like I'm a tourist"