Tuscany: a slow week in the Val d'Orcia

1. Jour 1 : Florence, then south to Montepulciano

   Central Florence (or Florence Airport, FLR) to Montepulciano

   • Environ 2 h de route
   • Lunch in Florence and welcome dinner
   • Nuit : Montepulciano
   Détail du jour 1

   We meet at 11 am in central Florence; if you land at Florence Airport (FLR) that morning, a driver brings you in (land by about 9:30 am). Your See Sight Tours guide walks the group from the Duomo past Piazza della Signoria and over the Ponte Vecchio to a sit-down lunch in the Oltrarno, the quieter bank of the Arno. Mid-afternoon we drive south, about two hours and 125 km on the A1 and then country roads, to Montepulciano, the hill town on the ridge above the Val d'Orcia that is home for the next six nights. You unpack once. There is time to settle in and walk the main street, the Corso, before a welcome dinner in town, where the guide runs through the week, the walk on day 4 and the free day. If you want Florence's museums, arrive a day or two early; we can suggest how to book the Uffizi and the Accademia.

   Compris

   • Meeting in central Florence, or a transfer from Florence Airport (FLR) if you land that morning
   • Guided walk from the Duomo over the Ponte Vecchio
   • Sit-down lunch in the Oltrarno
   • Drive to Montepulciano
   • Welcome dinner

   Temps libre : Late afternoon free to settle in

   Activité : About 1.5 km on foot in Florence, flat.

   

2. Jour 2 : Montepulciano's cellars and Pienza at golden hour

   Montepulciano, then Pienza and back

   • Environ 45 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Montepulciano
   Détail du jour 2

   A slow first morning on foot from the hotel. With a local guide we walk up to Piazza Grande, the town's high square, with the cathedral, the Palazzo Comunale and the long view south over the valley, then go underground into one of the old wine cellars cut beneath the palazzi for a visit and a tasting of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Lunch is yours on the Corso. After a rest we drive twenty minutes west to Pienza, the town Pope Pius II had rebuilt around 1459 to 1462 as a model Renaissance centre, now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Walk the lane along the southern wall for the classic view over the Val d'Orcia, step into the cathedral on the square, and taste pecorino di Pienza, the sheep's cheese the town is known for. We stay into the early evening, when the day visitors have gone and the light turns warm on the hills.

   Compris

   • Guided walk of Montepulciano with a local guide: the Corso and Piazza Grande
   • Wine cellar visit and Vino Nobile tasting
   • Pienza: Piazza Pio II, the cathedral and the wall walk
   • Pecorino tasting in Pienza

   Option plus facile : Ride the van to the top of town and walk only the level parts of Pienza.

   Temps libre : Lunch and early afternoon free in Montepulciano

   Activité : Montepulciano is steep: the Corso climbs about 100 m from the lower gate to Piazza Grande. About 4 km on foot today.

   

3. Jour 3 : Siena on a weekday

   Montepulciano to Siena and back

   • Environ 2.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Montepulciano
   Détail du jour 3

   We go to Siena on a weekday on purpose, when the streets are full of people who live there rather than weekend crowds. The drive is about an hour and ten minutes each way, about 130 km there and back, through the Crete Senesi, the bare clay hills between the Val d'Orcia and the city. We are in the centre by about 9:30 am. A local guide takes us through one of the contrade, the city's seventeen neighbourhoods that race each other in the Palio, down into the shell-shaped Piazza del Campo below the Torre del Mangia, and into the Duomo, with its striped marble, the inlaid floor and the Piccolomini Library. Entry is included. After the tour the day is yours: lunch where you like, the climb up the Facciatone for the view, or the Pinacoteca. We drive back in the late afternoon. On the two Palio days, 2 July and 16 August, and the days around them, we move Siena to another weekday.

   Compris

   • Siena with a local guide: a contrada, Piazza del Campo and the Duomo
   • Duomo entry, including the Piccolomini Library

   Activités en option

   • The Facciatone viewpoint or the Torre del Mangia (pay locally)

   Temps libre : Lunch and the afternoon free in Siena

   Activité : About 5 km on foot on steep, paved lanes.

   

4. Jour 4 : A morning walk between villages, then a pasta class

   Pienza to Monticchiello on foot, then back to Montepulciano

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Montepulciano
   Détail du jour 4

   Today is a walk, not a drive. We start from Pienza at about 8:30 am, before the heat, and follow white gravel roads and farm tracks south-east to Monticchiello, a small walled village of stone houses above the valley. Both villages sit at about 500 m, so the route dips into the valley and climbs back: about 7 km and two and a half hours with stops for photos of cypresses and farmhouses. The van follows, so anyone can stop at any point. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Monticchiello, then the van takes everyone home for a free afternoon: sleep, read, or walk down to the church of San Biagio below Montepulciano. In the late afternoon a local cook teaches the group to make pici, the thick hand-rolled pasta of this part of Tuscany, with a sauce or two, and we eat what we made together for dinner with local wine.

   Compris

   • Guided walk from Pienza to Monticchiello
   • Sit-down lunch in Monticchiello
   • Pasta class with a local cook, with dinner and wine

   Option plus facile : Ride the van to Monticchiello and walk its lanes, or walk only the first 3 km out of Pienza.

   Option plus active : Walk on from Monticchiello to Montepulciano, about 10 km more, with the guide.

   Temps libre : Afternoon free

   Activité : About 7 km on gravel roads with roughly 150 to 200 m of climbing, most of it the last stretch up to Monticchiello; good shoes and a hat.

   

5. Jour 5 : Montalcino, a Brunello lunch and the hot springs

   Montepulciano to Montalcino, Sant'Antimo and Bagno Vignoni, then back

   • Environ 3 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Montepulciano
   Détail du jour 5

   We drive about an hour west, roughly 55 km, past San Quirico d'Orcia and the cypress-ringed Vitaleta chapel, where we stop for photos, to Montalcino, the walled hill town that gives its name to Brunello di Montalcino. Walk up to the 14th-century fortress and its view over the vineyards, then go down to a family wine estate for a cellar visit and a long sit-down lunch with Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino. On the way back we stop at the Abbey of Sant'Antimo, a Romanesque church in a valley of olive trees ten minutes south of Montalcino. The afternoon ends at Bagno Vignoni, where a medieval square holds a large pool of hot spring water instead of a piazza; you cannot bathe in it. Below it, the Parco dei Mulini, where the hot water runs down the cliff past old mills, is free to walk, and your entry to a thermal pool in the village that is open to visitors is included. Soak until late afternoon, then it is 35 to 40 minutes home. About 140 km of driving in all.

   Compris

   • Photo stop at the Vitaleta chapel
   • Montalcino and the fortress viewpoint
   • Wine estate visit and Brunello lunch
   • Abbey of Sant'Antimo
   • Bagno Vignoni and entry to a thermal pool

   Option plus facile : Skip the fortress walk and wait in a café on the square.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Montepulciano

   Activité : Light walking. Bring a swimsuit and flip-flops for the thermal pool.

   

6. Jour 6 : A free day in the Val d'Orcia

   Montepulciano, at your own pace

   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Montepulciano
   Détail du jour 6

   A whole day with nothing planned, because a week in one place should feel like one. Sleep late, have a long breakfast and spend the day as you like: a weekly market in one of the nearby towns, a long lunch in a trattoria, a bike ride, or just a chair and a book. Your guide is around in the morning to help you book anything, from a horse ride to a second winery or a massage. For anyone who wants one more hill town, the guide and van go to San Gimignano for the day, about an hour and three quarters each way, for its medieval towers, the Collegiata frescoes and the view from the Rocca; it costs nothing extra, and you can choose that morning. Everyone meets again in the evening for a farewell dinner in Montepulciano, the last night in the hotel you have stayed in all week.

   Compris

   • Farewell dinner in Montepulciano

   Activités en option

   • Day out to San Gimignano with the guide and van (about 3.5 hours of driving in total, no extra charge)
   • E-bike hire, horse riding, a second winery or a spa treatment (pay locally)

   Temps libre : The whole day is free

   

7. Jour 7 : Back to Florence

   Montepulciano to Florence (Santa Maria Novella station or Florence Airport, FLR)

   • Environ 2 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   Détail du jour 7

   A last breakfast in Montepulciano, then we leave at about 9:30 am for the two-hour drive back north to Florence, 125 km on country roads and the A1, with a coffee stop on the way. We drop off at Santa Maria Novella station in the city centre, which has trains to Rome, Venice and Milan, by about midday, and at Florence Airport (FLR) about twenty minutes later. Book a flight leaving after about 3 pm, or stay on in Florence; we can suggest a central hotel if you want a few more nights. If you are flying from Pisa or Rome instead, the fast trains from Santa Maria Novella take about an hour to Pisa and about an hour and a half to Rome. Your guide sees the group to the station and the airport before saying goodbye.

   Compris

   • Drive to Florence
   • Drop-off at Santa Maria Novella station or Florence Airport (FLR)

   Activité : Book flights leaving Florence after about 3 pm.

   

Faune et météo : Spring brings green wheat and poppies in the Val d'Orcia; September and October bring the grape harvest. July and August are hot, so the walk starts earlier and is shortened. Some wine estates and restaurants close or shorten hours from November to March.

• Montepulciano6 nuits