With distances of between seven and eight miles a day, this walk allows plenty of time to enjoy the pleasures of Italy.
You will visit the area mostly southeast of Siena. Here the wooded hills of the Chianti region give way to the rolling hills of open fields disturbed only by that quintessentially Tuscan icon, the cypress tree. This is a beautiful and relaxed countryside.
You will have an opportunity to walk through the countryside and through pretty villages as well as walk up the 1200 foot hill to San Quirico d'Orcia and ancient village that is well worth the effort. The village itself is a delight and the panoramas are amazing.
You will get an opportunity to visit and walk through the vineyard of Brunello wines. This is considered to be one of Italy's best wines and a visit there will undoubtedly lead to a tasting in the relaxing atmosphere.
You will also walk to Pienza. This village was planned and built by architect Bernardo Rossellino in 1449. The work was commissioned by Pope Pius II. The Pope was born in a backward little town and is said to have always had an inferiority complex about his rural upbringing. To compensate, the Pope commissioned the building of an ideal town founded on Renaissance principles. Walk into the piazza and turn around slowly and completely. Everything you see was built between 1459 and 1462. Unfortunately, the Pope did not have much time to enjoy his creation, as he died a few years following its completion.
Your accommodations will be in a lovely guest house with private bathrooms.
Your Itinerary:
Day 1: You will be picked up at Chiusi train station and driven to Il Poggio. You will have time to settle in and relax before meeting your guide who will tell you more about the week and answer any queries you may have about the itinerary, and enjoy a complimentary aperitif. This evening you will sample the first of your delicious meals at Il Poggio.
Day 2: You will leave directly from Il Poggio and walk through a hilly landscape of cultivated fields to the thermal spa village of San Casciano dei Bagni. For the quantity of water it produces, this spa is the third largest in Europe. There will be time to take a dip in a hot water spring, visit this delightful medieval village and lunch will be at a restaurant in the square here. After lunch you take a shorter route back to Il Poggio and there will be time to visit the village of Celle sul Rigo, which takes its name from the maze of cells or caves below the village that were used over the centuries as a prison, a hideaway for partisans and are now used by the villagers as wine cellars.
Day 3: Today you will drive with your guide to Monticchiello, a pretty medieval village which enjoys magnificent views over Monte Amiata and the Wal d’Orcia. After visiting the village, you will walk from here taking a dirt road through hilly woodlands to the famous wine producing town of Montepulciano, birthplace of the great classical scholar Angelo Ambrogini, better known as “Poliziano”. After lunch, you will meet a traditional coppersmith before visiting one of the oldest wineries in the country for a private wine-tasting of one of Italy’s most famous wines “Il Nobile”. There will be a picnic lunch. Walk is approximate 5 miles.
Day 4: You will be transferred to the medieval walled town of San Guirico d'Orcia, where there will be time to visit the 12th century Collegiata church with its fine portals and trope l'0eil choir stalls and the Italian Renaissance garden “Horti Leonini” created by Diomede Leoni around 1580, before setting off on your walk through rolling wheat fields to Pienza, birthplace in 1405 of Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini later to become Pope Pius II. Pope Pius commissioned Bernardo Rossellino to build the Duomo and the surrounding square and palaces, and in 1996 Pienza was recognized by UNESCO for its fine Renaissance architecture, and inscribed onto their world heritage list. There will be a picnic lunch and then you will have time to wander the narrow alleys which inspired Zeffirelli to film Romeo and Juliet and do some shopping before being transferred back to Ill Poggio for dinner. Walk is approximately 5 miles.
Day 5: Today is a free day to either relax or take the Poggio bus for a day trip to the gothic city of Siena.
Day 6: Today you will walk through the rolling countryside, along dirt roads and country trails, to the charming medieval village of Radicofani. Lunch will be in a local restaurant in the imposing fortress of the legendary Ghino di Tacco imprisoned by the Abbot of Cluny, as related by Boccaccio in the Decameron. You can walk through the narrow streets and visit La Posta, built by the Grand Duke Ferdinando I of the Medici family as a hunting lodge, and which later became an inn giving lodging to such illustrious characters as Dickens and the Marquis de Sade. There is also the Romanesque church of San Pietro that houses works by the Della Robbia workshop and Andrea della Robbia. From Radicofani, you will be driven back to Il Poggio. Walk is approximately 7 miles.
Day 7: You will drive with your guide to the medieval hamlet of Bagno Vignoni, a thermal spa with a Renaissance pool in the main square where hot water bubbles up from the underground springs. Here Santa Caterina of Siena and Lorenzo the Magnificent of the Medici family came to enjoy the benefits of these waters. You final walk will take you up a white gravel road to the almost abandoned village of Vignoni. You will then continue along the ridge of the hill with its splendid views of the Val d’Orcia before you descend down a rough track to the banks of the River Orcia. There will be a picnic lunch. Once back in Bagno Vignoni, you can soak your weary bodies in the hot water swimming pool of a hotel with views over the fortress of the Rocca di Tentennano and the Orcia valley. Walk is approximate 6 miles.
Day 8: Day of departure. After breakfast you will be taken to Chiusi train station.
2008 Dates: April 5-12, May 10-17, June 14-21, September 13-20, October 11-18.
Meeting Point: Chiusi train station. Transfers are included at pre-set time.
Difficulty of Walk: Varying terrain over hills and footpaths.
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
$2,795 per person, shared; $330 single supplement.
Price Includes:
- 7 nights guest house accommodation
- 5 guided walking days
- Breakfast and dinner each day
- Lunch on walking days
- Wine tasting
- Guide
- Transfers to/from Chiusi train station at pre-set time
- Tax.
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Italy
Walking Tours
Cultural Journey
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