Travel
Information
Arrival: The tour starts in Volterra, which is reached by bus from
Pisa, the nearest city with an international airport. The bus ride takes
2 and half hours, with a change en route at Pontedera. The bus service
runs 4 times per day (not on Sundays). Details are given in our
route notes.
Clients
could also take the train from Pisa or Florence to Pontedera and
continue their journey to Volterra by bus. On Sundays it is necessary either to take a taxi from
Pontedera (or from Pisa) to Volterra - 2008 price for this was around £100
Sterling Equiv for up to four people plus luggage or to travel by a
different route, taking the train from Pisa or Rome to Cecina, then a
branch line train (or railway bus) to Salinas de Volterra and finally a
bus to Volterra itself.
The
restaurant of our preferred hotel in San Gimignano is normally closed on
Tuesdays, so this is another reason for not starting the tour on a
Sunday. Land-only clients arriving via Rome airport should change trains
at Roma Termini and continue by train to Cecina (on Sundays, for branch
line to Salinas de Volterra) or to Pisa or Pontedera (for bus from
Pontedera to Volterra). Seat
reservations are advisable on trains between Rome and Cecina/Pisa. There
is also a three times daily (including Sundays) bus service from
Florence to Volterra via Colle Val d'Elsa where you change buses.
As
an extra service: we can normally arrange an economical transfer to
the start of the walk from either Pisa (70 Euros) directly to Volterra,
or from Certaldo (65 Euros) that is on the railway via Pontedera. Please
note that this transfer is an additional cost and should be pre booked.
End of Tour: The tour ends after breakfast on day 11 in Florence.
The return to Pisa is most easily made by train and the approximate
journey time is 1 hour. For
those land-only clients flying from Rome there are frequent direct
trains from Florence to Roma Termini. Transfers from Florence are not
included in the tour price.
Season: April to November
Level of Difficulty
Grade: Easy to Moderate. Hilly at times.
Fitness: Super- fitness is not necessary but you should be able to
walk for up to 6 hours a day in hot sun on dusty and stony tracks. There
are some steep hills on this tour, but nowhere could the terrain be
described as mountainous.
Waymarking: Part of the route is generally waymarked with red and
white signs. On occasion there are also blue and yellow indicators.
Elsewhere it is necessary to follow the route descriptions provided
together with the maps. Most
clients find the route finding straightforward.
General information
Baths:
it is not normal for your room to have a bath, the main reason being
that it takes up a lot of space, some hotels/guesthouses may have a
separate room in the house where a bath is available to guests, but in
the main it is showers.
Breakfasts:
in countries such as Italy usually consist of coffee and croissant;
sometimes, bread rolls, yoghurts, ham and cheese as well. If you want
more for breakfast then we would suggest you purchase some food the
night before. It is important for you to tell us if you have any dietary
requirements when you book your holiday so that we can inform everyone
that you are staying with.
Single
Supplements:
are payable on most of our tours. 1) The single supplement
guarantees the privacy of your own room, however, rooms can at times be
small and in some places may not enjoy the same facilities as
double/twin rooms. 2) You are not just paying a supplement on the
room but the luggage transfer costs you are paying in full. The cost of
moving 1 bag or 2 bags etc remains the same. On some of our trips it is
possible to reduce the cost of the single supplement if you happen to be
a 3rd person travelling, or have chosen a date when other clients are
booked.
Language:
Note
that you will not necessarily come across people speaking English.
Remember you have left home to find things different bring a phrase
book, try to learn a bit of Italian!
Luggage:
When staying in hotels, sometimes your luggage may have been taken
to you room awaiting your arrival. However don’t be surprised if your
luggage is waiting for you to take it up to your room please politely
ask someone if you need assistance.
Accommodation & Meals
Accommodation
is on a bed and breakfast basis in 2-3 star hotels and guesthouse/agritourismos/room
rentals with en suite facilities when available. Two evening meals are included
(normally one in Volterra and one in San Gimignano); the other evening
meals can readily be obtained locally without pre-booking. Night 5 (in
or near Monteriggioni) is normally spent either at a small unclassified
guesthouse with private facilities or at an unclassified agriturismo
(farm guesthouse). On 2 nights in Radda-in-Chianti we use an unstarred
but very welcoming agriturismo (farm
guesthouse or B & B), accommodation here is limited and we may use a
very welcoming room rental. Picnic
lunches are not included in the tour price, but materials for picnics
can be purchased in each of the towns and villages where you stay. As
the walking days are quite short clients may on occasion reach their
destination in time for a late lunch. According to Italian Law, all
hotels must close their restaurants on one night each week, so it is not
uncommon for clients to be given a voucher to eat dinner at a nearby
restaurant, or be given the equivalent amount of money to eat in a
restaurant of their own choice.
Our
standard accommodation is subject to variation: This is a very popular
route and we sometimes have to use alternatives
to the hotels described below. These are however of a comparable
standard.
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Nights
1 & 2: These are spent at Volterra, one of the oldest cities in
Italy, in a welcoming and comfortable 3 star hotel which is in fact a
villa from the late 17th century that has been restored. It is situated
in a peaceful area near the medieval town-wall. The hotel commands a
magnificent panoramic view. All rooms have their own shower and toilet.
The hotel also boasts an outdoor swimming pool.
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Night
3: We stay at San Gimignano where our first choice is a 3-star hotel
set in the pulsating heart of the town of towers, little changed for 600
years.
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Night
4: This night is spent in the town of Colle di Val d'Elsa, normally
in an historic building dating from the 15th century in the old Upper
Town (Colle Alta). It is a 3-star hotel with en suite rooms.
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Night
5: Either a small guest
house/room rental within the medieval walled village of Monteriggioni; once the
day-visitors have gone it is a haven of peace; the rooms (limited in
number) are simply furnished, but all have private facilities; or
(if all the rooms in the guesthouse within the walls are fully
booked) at an agriturismo
(farm guesthouse) 2km away from the walled village along a
white road. We provide full
instructions on how to walk from the walled village to the agriturismo
and back. On escorted departures (see below) night 5 is spent in
Siena due to the lack of accommodation in Monteriggioni.
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Night
6: In the lively and sophisticated city of Siena we stay at a small,
comfortable town hotel in rooms with en suite facilities, telephone, and
colour TV.
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Nights
7 & 8: We spend two
nights in the small hilltop town of Radda in Chianti. A clean friendly
welcoming B&B. You’ll have a cozy room with en suite facilities
and a private entrance. Possibility to have breakfast in the garden.There
is limited accommodation here so if the guesthouse isn't available then
we will use the clean, comfortable room rental.
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Night
9: In Panzano we stay in a small but comfortable hotel near the
centre.
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Night
10: The
last night is spent in Florence at a
2* hotel located close to the train station of Florence.
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Outline Itinerary
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Day 1:
Arrive Volterra via Pisa. Either bus or train is taken from Pisa to
Pontedera, where you change onto a local bus service (not Sundays) to
Volterra. Journey from the airport to the first hotel is not included in
the tour price. The combined train and bus fare is around 13 Euros
per person. It is possible to reach Volterra by public transport on
Sundays, but by a more circuitous and expensive route.
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Day 2:
By road to Pignano, walk back to Volterra. One option for today,
involving about four hours walking, is a short bus or taxi ride (1 Euro
approx by bus, not included in tour price) to near the hamlet of Pignano,
from where it is an easy walk back to Volterra, mostly along white roads
which follow a broad winding and panoramic ridge. Halfway through the
walk there is normally the opportunity to stop for a welcome drink at a
retreat centre, from where you can contemplate exploring the steep and
somewhat overgrown Monte Voltraio- a mysterious attraction on account of
its peculiar truncated cone shape. A paleontologist’s dream as the
ground appears to be scattered with fossils. On a hot day the less
adventurous will be more inclined to continue onto Volterra. Overnight
Volterra.
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Day 3:
Pignano to San Gimignano. About 4 hours’ walking (8 miles/12km). The
hotel arranges for a taxi to take you to the starting point of the walk
at Bivio di Castelvecchio (taxi
fare included in price of holiday). Alternatively you can be dropped off
by the taxi at yesterday's starting point, Pignano, from where it is
about 30 minutes' pleasant walking to Bivio di Castelvecchio. This extra
half hour would enable you to cover the whole distance between Volterra
and San Gimignano on foot in the course of days 2 and 3. You walk
between vineyards and through oak woods with wild cyclamen in flower in
autumn and fine views of the old ruined fortifications of Castelvecchio.
You continue to the pretty village of San Donato and the small hamlet of
Montauto with fine views of San Gimignano, before continuing by farm
track and/or road to San Gimignano, known as the town of the beautiful
towers that has dominated the hills south of the Elsa Valley since
Etruscan times. There is much to explore in this small town in
particular the narrow streets and squares of the medieval quarter.
Overnight in San Gimignano.
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Day 4:
San Gimignano to Colle Val d'Elsa. 3.5 hours walking (10 miles/16km).
You follow a white road along a broad panoramic ridge with fine views
back to the towers of San Gimignano. On either side are vineyards
(source of the local dry white Vernaccia), olive groves and cypress
avenues. Later we climb up through shady woods to the small village of
Montecchio and across level fields to Borgatello, and on into Colle Val
d’Elsa, where the fascinating old town occupies the crest of a ridge
high above the valley of the Elsa. Overnight Colle Val d’Elsa.
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Day 5:
Colle Val d'Elsa to Monteriggioni. 6 hours' walk (12 miles /
20km). After walking out of Colle through the suburbs and then through
attractive undulating woodland following at one point a beautiful clear
stream; you cross a broad and mostly treeless agricultural plain, with
farming hamlets such as Scarna and Acquaviva. As you approach the base
of the densely wooded Montagnola Hills you reach the attractive village
of Strove with the nearby manor house of Castel Petraia. At the village
of Abbadia an Isola you should stop to see the abbey church. Eventually
you arrive at the base of the little hill, clad with vineyards, on which
is built the medieval walled village of Monteriggioni with its famous
watchtowers. Overnight either
within the walled village Monteriggioni or,
if the very limited accommodation in the village itself is fully
booked, at an agriturismo (farm guesthouse) 2km away along a white road.
In the latter case we provide full directions on how to reach the
agriturismo.
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Note that on escorted departures due to the limited
accommodation in the village and depending on reservations, you may, but
not necessarily, have two nights in Siena instead. In this case you will
be transferred to Monteriggioni directly and do tomorrow’s walk today,
giving you a whole extra day in Siena compared to the self guided
programme. For those who do not want to spend a whole day in the city
there is the opportunity to have a good escorted half day walk to the
south of Siena.
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Day 6:
Monteriggioni to S. Columba. 4 hours' walk (8miles 12.8 km).
From Monteriggioni we walk uphill past farmland through forests
and descend through woods to the small village of Funghaia. We continue
on small peaceful farm and forest tracks through farms to the village of
San Colomba. A magnificent rennaisance villa and a church with lovely
frescoes are situated here. From here we can take a taxi or bus into
Siena (not included in the tour price). After setting in to the hotel
you will find all the famous places of this city within walking
distance, with the Palazza il Campo being the famous centre of this
medieval city. There are many museums, churches, and the huge Pisa
Romanesque and Gothic cathedral. You can easily get lost in the warren
of streets all arranged into areas called "Contrada," as they
have done for hundreds of years and from where the Sienese population
gain their group loyalties and rivalries. Overnight Siena. (Note that on
the escorted tour there are two nights in Siena and the escorted segment
ends here).
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Day 7:
Starts with a taxi ride to the village of San Sano (included in
tour price). From here we walk on white roads, farm and woodland tracks
across undulating hills, covered with a patchwork of oak woodland, olive
groves and 'Chianti Classico' vineyards to the hill-top town of Radda-in-Chianti
(13km/4.5hrs walking). Overnight Radda-in-Chianti.
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Day 8: A
circular walk of about 12km/4hours from Radda-in-Chianti to Gaiole-in-Chianti
and back, taking in the attractive villages of Vertine and Selvole. You
may be tempted en route by the plentiful, luscious vineyards and succumb
to the delicious local Chianti, for which the region is famous.
Overnight Radda-in-Chianti.
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Day 9: Today
there is a choice of 3 routes of differing lengths, all finishing at the
delightful hill town of Panzano. Starting in each case at our
accommodation in Radda the longest of the three routes goes through the
fascinating borgo (fortified village) of Volpaia and across the heathland and
pine forest of Monte San Michele, the highest hill in the Chianti
region, before a long descent past several delightful hamlets to the
valley town of Greve-in-Chianti, from where you can either walk or catch
a bus to the well-known hill-village of Panzano-in-Chianti, with its
inspiring church and castle.
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The shortest route takes a direct line past the pieve
(isolated church and sanctuary) of S. Maria Novella and the
vineyards of Castelvecchio to Panzano. From Panzano it is only a short
bus ride or 1.5-hour walk to Greve-in-Chianti, another centre of
winemaking and the birthplace of Giovanni di Verrazzano who first
circumnavigated Long Island, New York.
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The
intermediate route includes both Volpaia and Panzano, between which you
cross some high ground with fine views on the flank of Monte San
Michele. Overnight Panzano.
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Day 10: Bus
from Panzano to Florence; about 2 hours' journey (fare not included).
You will need to take your luggage on the bus with you. The rest of the
day is free for you to explore this beautiful city at your leisure. Or
you can do a walking excursion from Fiesole to Settignano (6-7 km, 2
hours). This is a panoramic walk through olive tree fields overlooking
Florence and some of the most beautiful villas surrounding the city.
Fiesole alone is worth visiting as it is an important archaeological
site and has a Franciscan monastery. Overnight Florence.
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Day 11: Train
from Florence to Pisa (approx 1,5 hour) for your flight home [approx 2
hours]. You can check in for your flight at the train station in
Florence before catching the train to Pisa. This is subject to
change depending on the security status at your time of travel.
Extending you Tour
It
is possible to include extra nights in Pisa, Siena, Florence…in fact
we can book up anywhere on the route! If you would like to do more
walking, why not try our coastal extensions in the “Cinque Terre” a
beautiful coastal region centered on the town of Monterosso.
Details and prices on request.
On
Self Guided Tour we provide you with . . .
Route
notes, maps at 1:25,000 scale.
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This
walk threads together some of the most attractive towns and
villages in Tuscany in an eloquent procession. It is a perfect
introduction to the region and for people who love museums and
galleries, Gothic and Romanesque architecture, there is plenty to
see and do. You have plenty of time for attraction visits on most
days. However the emphasis of the tour is to enjoy the
countryside, the rolling vineyards, the poppies in spring and the
wild cyclamen in autumn. Most of all, many of the views have
changed little for hundreds of years.