When we think expats in Tuscany, we think of Frances Mayes’ Under the Tuscan Sun; we think of the English patient in the gorgeous Villa San Girolamo and we, decide, pretty quickly, that’s it’s out the realm of reality and the budget of the average sea changer. 

But there is a part of Tuscany that doesn’t cross most expats’, or even, most tourists’ radars, and is all the better for it. The Maremma is country Tuscany. Tucked away on the region’s southern border with Lazio, the Maremma is not Tuscany as you know it. In fact, its inhabitants call themselves Maremmani, and consider their way of life, their customs and their cuisine completely alien to their, frankly, uppity neighbours to the north.