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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 7 in Siena. Train,
changing trains en route at Empoli to Pisa. The train fare from Siena to
Pisa is around £6). For land only clients who are flying out from Rome
airport it is possible to travel by train from Siena to Rome (changing
trains en route at Chiusi) without returning to Pisa. Seat reservations
are available, but only essential on certain trains between Chiusi and
Roma Termini.
Season: April to November
Level of Difficulty
Grade: Easy to Moderate. There are nonetheless some
steep and quite long hills, some fairly steep but short descents
and some paths with rough gravel , stony and occasionally muddy surfaces.
Fitness: High standard of fitness is not necessary but clients
should be able to walk for up to 6 hours a day in hot sun on dusty or
stony tracks.
Waymarking: Part of the route is waymarked with red and white or
blue and yellow signs; elsewhere it is necessary to follow the route
descriptions provided together with the maps.
Most clients find the route finding quite 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 at an agriturismo
or guesthouse with en suite facilities when available. Two evening meals
are included: Normally one in Volterra and the other in San Gimignano.
The other four 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 guest house).
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 or pass through. As the walking days are quite short clients may on
some occasions 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.
(Subject
to variation. This is a very popular route and we sometimes have to
use alternatives to the hotels listed below.
The alternatives are however of a comparable standard).
q
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
restored villa from the late 17th. 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 (often closed early and late in the season).
q
Night 3: We stay
at San Gimignano where our first choice is a 3-star hotel set in the
pulsating heart of this town of towers, little changed for 600 years.
q
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 32 en suite rooms.
q
Night 5: Either
a small guesthouse/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.
q
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 TV
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Outline
Itinerary
q
Day 1:
Arrive Volterra via Pisa. Either a 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.
q
Day 2:
By road to Pignano, walk back to Volterra. (8.75 miles/14 km) 5 hours.
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 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.
q
Day 3:
Pignano to San Gimignano. 4 - 5 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 the taxi at
yesterday’s starting point, Pignano, can drop you off 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 and
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 San Gimignano.
q
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.
q
Day 5:
Colle Val d'Elsa to Monteriggioni. 6 hours' walk (14 miles / 23km).
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 a 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 mediaeval 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 guest house) 2km away along a white
road. In the latter case we provide full directions on how to
reach the agriturismo.
q
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.
q
Day 6:
Monteriggioni to S. Columba. 4 hours' walk (8 miles /12.8km).
From Monteriggioni we walk uphill past farmland and descend
through woods to the small village of Funghaia. We continue on small
peaceful farm tracks through farms to the village of San Colomba. A
magnificent villa, now almost derelict and a beautifully frescoed
church, is 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 Pisan 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 where the Sienese population gain their group
loyalties and rivalries. Overnight Siena.
q
Day 7:
Return to Pisa by train, changing at Empoli (fare around £6 per person,
not included in price).
Extra nights
Siena
is certainly a beautiful city, yet despite its size, it has something of
a village feel to it. There is so much to see and so many good places to
eat that it is worth an extra day. We can arrange extra nights here or
in Florence which is only about an hour away by bus.
It
is possible to include extra nights in any of the towns en route or in
Florence or Lucca or Pisa. If you would like to do more walking, then go
to the “Cinque Terre” a
beautiful coastal region centred at Monterosso.
Details and prices on request.
On
Self Guided Tour we provide you with . . .route notes, maps at 1:25,000
scale.
Escorted departures 2009
Please
note as mentioned in the text: on the escorted departures, night: 5 will
be spent either at Monteriggioni or in Siena, this depends on the group
size.
The
walking itinerary will be the same as on the self-guided tour, except if
you are staying in Siena
EJTT20
Wed
20 May - Tue 26 May
EJTT07
Mon 7 Sep – Sun 13 Sept
EJTT05
Mon 5 Oct – Sun 11
Oct
These
3 departures are 7 days guided trips terminating in Siena with the
possibility of adding on the 4-night Chianti (Siena - Florence) extension
self-guided as per JTT11. Many customers have chosen this combination. The
extension starts with a transfer from the hotel in Siena on the morning of
Day 7.
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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.