Photographing Val d’Orcia, Tuscany, was on my bucketlist for a while. Last fall I finally got the chance to visit and discover the region, capture its beautiful rolling hills, small agriturismo’s and not to forget about the famous cypresses. Below I will share my very favorite photo locations of Val d’Orcia with you!
Cappella della Madonna di Vitaleta
This is possibly my favorite spot to photograph, it is such a photogenic chapel and what surprised me is that the scene changes so much on different days with different weather circumstances!
Cappella della Madonna di Vitaleta lies in the middle of the rolling hills, so you will need a telelens to capture it well from the main road, depending on how you would like to frame it of course. There is a small road leading up to the chapel, but I liked to capture the surroundings more. During my trip I tested the Tamron 18-400mm f/3,5-6,3, a pretty good all in one lens. You can read my review Zoom.nl here (in Dutch).
“Zig Zag” cypress avenue at La Foce
The location is absolutely gorgeous, although I have to admit that I find this location more beautiful in spring when the landscapes are green. Nevertheless, it is worth visiting every time of the year!
The road is seen from various locations, but below I have created a map with the exact spots I took the photo from.
Cypress Alley agriturismo Poggio Covili
Cypress trees are without a doubt part of the Tuscan scenery, so I have been on the look out to find various ways of photographing them. If you are looking for perfect straight lines, you should go to Agriturismo Poggio Covili. The road leading up to the agriturismo is perfectly straight with cypress trees on both sides.
A bit of advice though, this place can be crowded as it is often included in bus tours. I bumped in to an Asian group where each individual wanted a selfie (or 2, maybe 3) so I had to wait for a bit. I was there in the middle of the day, so I am sure early in the morning or in the evening you would have the place to yourself.
Podere Belvedere
Podere Belvedere is possibly the most photographed villa in Tuscany, and not without a reason. The villa lies on top of a hill and is surrounded by the landscapes you expect to see in Tuscany. The mountains rise up in the background and during sunrise with a bit of fog it simply creates the perfect scene.
Though I would recommend the explore the location a little bit, especially when you have a telephoto lens. In the background there are so many beautiful scenes to be found as well, such as the layering, bright green hills.
… And more
There is so much more to see and I would recommend to explore a bit too. I drove around a lot and you will see the rolling hills and cypresses everywhere. Here are a few more photos I simply captured along the way.
There is still one location worth mentioning, especially if you like minimalistic images. It’s basically just a bunch of cypress trees together that are surrounded by tiny hills. I didn’t spend much time here, simply for the same reason I mentioned at the “Zig zag” cypress alley. The fields were plowed and I personally think the location would look nicer with green fields. A good reason to come back!
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