Hey everyone, I'm Joel on the Road, and today my UNESCO World Heritage Journey is at the
Val d'Orcia in Tuscany, northern Italy.
This is the Val d'Orcia, a valley in southern Tuscany that's just so quintessentially Italian.
The plants, the trees, the farms, the buildings, the towns, it's all here and it's all very
very beautiful.
For hundreds of years, it's been inspiring painters and artists of all sorts with its
incredible landscapes, so let's have a look.
In addition to the natural beauty of the area, the valley is also home to many famous Italian
products.
The famous wine Brunello di Montalcino is from this area, Pecorino sheep's cheese, olives
and olive oil of course, and salami as well - it's not originally from here, but they
have some fantastic salamis that are specific to this region.
In addition to the beautiful natural landscapes here in the valley, there's also five main
settlements, one of which is Pienza, a separate World Heritage Site in its own right.
Now this town is known as San Quirico, and it's a beautiful little hilltop settlement,
all of the buildings are made of stone, they're packed in, and it's been here since around
the 10th century so it's really old and it's got that real classic Italian village feel
to it.
And it's also very quiet today because it's winter, and there's no tourists here.
But I think my favourite part are these beautiful old stone farmhouses, they're surrounded by
olive groves and vineyards and it's very beautiful.
And this is actually where we're staying tonight!
So I'm going to go inside, have a glass of wine and some pecorino.
Lovely.
But that's it from me, thank you so much for watching, don't forget to Like and Subscribe,
I'm Joel on the Road, and I'll see you at the next World Heritage Site!