A million and a half euros is a renovated farmhouse with a pool in Chianti, a comparable house with more land and a wider view in the Val d’Orcia, or barely the entry point for a villa near the beach in Forte dei Marmi. The price gap between the cheapest and the most expensive parts of Tuscany runs to a factor of ten per square metre. Tuscany is not one market; it is seven, and which one fits depends on budget, the number of weeks per year you plan to be there, and whether you want land or a town you can walk through.
Tuscany’s property areas at a glance
The table below gives the price character of each area and the buyer it tends to suit. Figures are guide ranges for a renovated property in good condition; the detailed regional guides break each one down by town, condition, and property type.
| Area | Typical price (EUR/m², renovated) | What you buy | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chianti | 3,500-5,500 | Stone farmhouses, vineyards, silence | The classic Tuscan second home; international buyers |
| Val d'Orcia | 3,000-4,500 | Farmhouses under UNESCO protection, wide views | The Chianti landscape for less; long-term holders |
| Maremma & coast | 1,500-3,500 inland / up to 18,000 coast | Space and land inland, luxury villas on the sea | Land buyers and agriturismo founders, or coastal wealth |
| Versilia / Forte dei Marmi | 4,000-22,000 | Villas and apartments near the beach | Summer-by-the-sea buyers; mostly Italian |
| Lucca & Garfagnana | 2,500-4,100 / from 800 in the mountains | A walkable city and historic hill villas; cheap mountain houses | Year-round living, or a renovation project |
| Florence & Fiesole | 5,300-12,000 city / 4,000-8,000 hills | Palazzo apartments, hillside villas | City life, culture, no need for land |
| San Gimignano & Volterra | 2,000-5,000 / 1,500-3,000 | Farmhouses and apartments near famous towns | Chianti quality without the Chianti name |
A useful question to ask before reading on: how many weeks a year will you actually be there? Four to twelve weeks a year points to the coast or a classic second home. Twenty weeks or more changes the answer, because then daily infrastructure matters as much as the view.
Chianti
Chianti is the area most international buyers picture first, and the prices reflect that demand. A renovated farmhouse with a pool runs 3,500 to 5,500 EUR/m², or 1.2 to 3.5 million euros for a typical house; an unrenovated one costs 1,000 to 2,000 EUR/m². Six municipalities sit between Florence and Siena, and new construction has not been permitted in over twenty years, so supply is the existing stock and it shrinks as buildings age while demand holds.
What you buy here is the recognised landscape: stone farmhouses among Sangiovese vineyards, wineries as neighbours, quiet. The trade-off is that you need a car for everything and the famous name carries a premium. Chianti suits a buyer who wants that landscape, visits a few weeks a year, and treats the recognisability as part of the value. Full prices by town in the Chianti property guide.
Val d’Orcia
The Val d’Orcia gives you a Chianti-quality landscape for noticeably less. Renovated farmhouses sit at 3,000 to 4,500 EUR/m² in average positions and 5,000 to 7,500 in premium spots near Pienza; a renovated casale with a pool costs 1.2 to 2.5 million euros. Five municipalities south of Siena make up the area, and within them prices run from around 1,468 EUR/m² in remote Radicofani to 2,982 in Pienza.
The defining feature is UNESCO protection, in place since 2004. No new houses are built, which keeps supply tight and value steady. Renovation approvals run longer here as a result, because every change goes through heritage assessment. The Val d’Orcia suits a buyer who thinks in decades and wants the landscape without paying the Chianti premium. More in the Val d’Orcia property guide.
Maremma & coast
The Maremma is two markets joined by half an hour of driving: affordable inland, expensive on the sea. Inland farmhouses run 1,500 to 3,500 EUR/m², starting around 1,165 in Pitigliano, the lowest figure in this guide. On the coast, premium spots like Monte Argentario and Punta Ala reach peaks of 11,500 to 18,000 EUR/m².
The province of Grosseto is the least densely populated in Tuscany, so the inland buyer gets more building and more land per euro than anywhere else. The coast draws Italian and international buyers to sea-view villas that often never reach a public listing. Inland suits land buyers and agriturismo founders; the coast suits summer buyers with the budget for it. The buying decision starts with one question: hills or sea? Detail in the Maremma property guide.
Versilia & Forte dei Marmi
The Versilia is Tuscany’s beach market, and it has little in common with the hinterland. Forte dei Marmi averages 10,000 to 11,500 EUR/m² and runs to 22,000 in the Roma Imperiale quarter, with top villas behind the beach reaching 40,000. Away from Forte the structure softens: Viareggio and Lido di Camaiore sit around 4,000 to 6,500 EUR/m², and the Camaiore hinterland drops to 2,000 to 4,000.
No farmhouses, no vineyards. The Versilia is villas and apartments near the sand; a beach-club membership functions as a social credential, and a market that empties out from November to March. Buyers here are mostly wealthy Italians from Milan and Rome, with smaller international shares. Pisa airport, thirty minutes away with direct flights from London, Paris, and other European cities, makes the weekend model realistic. More in the Versilia and Forte dei Marmi guide.
Lucca & Garfagnana
Lucca is the rare Tuscan address where you can live without a car and reach open countryside in fifteen minutes. Inside the intact city walls, apartments run 3,600 to 4,100 EUR/m²; renovated farmhouses on the surrounding Colline Lucchesi sit at 2,500 to 4,000. Drive forty minutes north into the Garfagnana mountains and a village stone house costs from 800 EUR/m², with whole houses from 80,000 euros.
This is two markets in one province. Lucca itself, a walled city of 90,000, offers full year-round infrastructure: a hospital, restaurants, daily life on foot, plus historic hill villas with their lemon houses and formal gardens. The Garfagnana behind it is a mountain valley for renovators with patience, with thinner services and more remote positions. Lucca suits buyers who want to live there year-round or want Florence quality at a lower price; the Garfagnana suits buyers who want a project and quiet. More in the Lucca and Garfagnana guide.
Florence & Fiesole
Florence is the one Tuscan market where you typically buy an apartment rather than a country house. In the old town, apartments average 5,300 to 6,200 EUR/m², with frescoed or Arno-view properties reaching 8,500 to 12,000 and trophy penthouses higher still. Up in the hills, Fiesole and the other slopes above the city sit at 4,000 to 8,000 EUR/m², where the property is a villa with a garden.
The centre cannot expand: UNESCO protection and the historic fabric set hard limits, so what comes to market is existing stock inside palazzi that have stood for centuries. North Americans are the largest international group, drawn by culture, universities, and international schools. Florence suits buyers who want museums and restaurants in daily life, travel often, and do not need land. The hill villages offer a garden and a view, twenty minutes from the centre. More in the Florence and Fiesole guide.
San Gimignano & Volterra
This corridor delivers Chianti-quality countryside well below Chianti prices. Around San Gimignano, farmhouses and apartments run 2,000 to 5,000 EUR/m², lifted by the UNESCO premium and the famous towers; thirty kilometres southwest, Volterra sits at 1,500 to 3,000. Smaller towns nearby, Certaldo, Colle di Val d’Elsa, Poggibonsi, start lower still.
San Gimignano’s fourteen medieval towers and three million annual day-trippers make it a natural agriturismo market: the visitor flow is the engine for a guest house a few kilometres outside the walls. Volterra is quieter, lived-in year-round, with its own hospital and an Etruscan history that draws a different buyer, one who values substance over a recognised name. For buyers who want the Tuscan landscape without paying for the brand, this corridor is the most rational choice in central Tuscany. More in the San Gimignano and Volterra guide.
How to narrow it down
Three questions sort most of the field. How long will you be there each year? A few summer weeks fit the coast or a classic second home; year-round living narrows you to Lucca, Florence, or a town with real infrastructure like Volterra. Do you want land or a town you can walk through? Country houses sit in Chianti, the Val d’Orcia, the Maremma hinterland, and the San Gimignano corridor; apartments and a car-free daily life sit in Florence and inside the Lucca walls. How does your budget map to what you have in mind? The same money is a finished house in one area and a renovation project in another.
The figures in this guide are starting points. Within every area, the view, the access road, the energy class, and how long a property has been on the market move the price as much as the location does. The most common mistakes international buyers make in Italy are worth reading before making an offer in any area. The Tuscany market overview sets the regions in context, and each regional guide takes the detail down to individual towns.
FAQ
Which part of Tuscany is cheapest to buy in?
The Maremma hinterland and the Garfagnana are the most affordable. Inland Maremma farmhouses start around 1,165 EUR/m² near Pitigliano, and Garfagnana village houses begin at roughly 800 EUR/m², with whole houses available from 80,000 euros. Both areas have thinner infrastructure and more remote positions, and the Garfagnana in particular suits buyers who want a renovation project rather than a move-in-ready second home.
Which part of Tuscany is most expensive?
The coast. Forte dei Marmi in the Versilia runs to 22,000 EUR/m² in its prime quarter and up to 40,000 for top villas behind the beach; Monte Argentario on the Maremma coast reaches peaks of 11,500 to 18,000. In the cities, central Florence apartments climb to 12,000 EUR/m² for the best properties. These are different markets from the rural areas, where a renovated farmhouse sits in the low single-digit thousands per square metre.
Where should I buy if I want the classic Tuscan farmhouse?
Chianti is the recognised choice, at 3,500 to 5,500 EUR/m² for a renovated farmhouse. If you want the same landscape for less, the Val d’Orcia (3,000 to 4,500) and the San Gimignano corridor (2,000 to 5,000) offer comparable countryside below the Chianti premium, and the Maremma hinterland and the Lucca hills give you more land per euro again. The farmhouse exists across all of these; what changes is the price, the name, and how much competition you face from other buyers.
Where can I live year-round, not just in summer?
Lucca and Florence are the two areas built for year-round life. Lucca is a walled city of 90,000 with a hospital, restaurants, and daily errands on foot, and open countryside fifteen minutes out. Florence offers full city infrastructure, international schools, and a market that runs all year with no winter pause. Volterra, with its own hospital and a settled local population, also works as a primary residence. The coast and the classic rural areas quieten sharply outside the season.
Can foreign buyers purchase anywhere in Tuscany?
Yes. Citizens of the EU and of most other countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland, buy without restriction in any area. You need an Italian tax number (codice fiscale) and, in practice, a local bank account. Purchasing property does not by itself grant residency or citizenship. The process and costs are the same across all the areas in this guide; the differences are in price and in the local approval rules that apply where heritage and landscape protection are in place.
Andrej Avi is an estate agent in Tuscany who guides international buyers from the first call to completion at the notary. Buying guidance · Properties · About Andrej
As of July 2026. General information, not legal or tax advice.
