These are the reasons why you should travel to Tuscany by bike
Tuscany has movie sets and the saddle of a bike It is an excellent seat to enjoy them. no wonder that Ridley Scott choose a corner of wheat fields in this region of Italy to show the landscape charms of the home of the protagonist of Gladiator.
The roads and sidewalks of this region of Italy let themselves be caressed by vineyards, olive groves, meadows.. . and for those unmistakable tuscan cypresses , so many times portrayed by filmmakers, photographers and painters. Tour Tuscany by bike it is a pleasure for the senses.
Tuscany Cycling Season It is the perfect initiative that tries to show that the region is a wonderful setting for cycling in any season of the year and that there is a beautiful Tuscany, away from the main tourist circuits . And this is the one we are going to discover for you, traveler.
Pedaling in harmony with nature, guaranteed in Tuscany
START POINT
We start the adventure in the Grosseto province, which is close to Latium and looks towards the island of Corsica. Taking advantage of your stay in Grosseto, you cannot miss a visit to the village's artisan bicycle factory, the legendary ** Tommasini .** It is a pure demonstration of the historical love for cycling that exists in this region.
The city of Grosseto , a medieval town that was once territory guarded by the Florentine Medici. Treat yourself to a welcome dinner at the Locanda de' Medici (the Posada de los Medici), some ancient caves with an excellent canteen and careful typical dishes of the area.
You will soon begin to understand cult of good eating and good drinking of the places where you will pedal. The inhabitants of this region (the maremmanos ) have their particular toasts, related to the environments of the dairy and the cavalry.
It is counted in the Maremma (the sea Tyrrhenian ) that a certain Mr Peccianti he had his mare as one more member of the family and that they both loved each other very much; the mare was hit by an American bombing raid on Easter Monday 1943 and, dying, she smiled at his mistress in gratitude for the good treatment he had always given her.
If we invent an “itañola” version, the toast says something like: “ Let's toast tutti quanti for Mr. Peccianti's mare!” . With the toast made, we recommend the rest in Grand Hotel Bastiani , next to the cathedral and the medieval wall of Grosseto.
From here, days of pedaling await you in a Tuscany bathed by the Tyrrhenian Sea. It was formerly swampy land and many towns were located on the tops of the hills. That allows a pedalo traveler to enjoy ascending to picturesque medieval enclaves with names like Pitigliano, Manciano or Sorano.
We start in the Tuscan Maremma
WE BEGIN TO PEDELE
The first day was reserved for exploring inland areas in the morning and reaching the sea at sunset. We left pedaling towards the north of the province. The first few kilometers served to warm us up and to take us up the hill where the Montemassi , a town with a medieval castle on its highest hill. Great idea. From the castle ruins we had exceptional views of the surrounding fields.
The descent of the hill gave us a welcome adrenaline . Then, a few kilometers of country road and paths, beautiful paths between cypresses and vineyards , on whose margins appeared mansions surrounded by farms with horses and donkeys grazing on them.
The influence of the Tyrrhenian was felt in the air and, as confirmed by a curator of the vineyards that we went to visit, also in the sangiovese type grape that grows in the area. Local wine growers boast that their red, named Morellino di Scansano , is enriched by the effluvia that the wind brings from the sea.
From Montemassi, the route took us to the town of Ribolla . We first arrived by bike to some vineyards, where some of his caretakers were waiting for us; They carefully explained to us the characteristics of the vine and historical touches of the place.
Montemassi
Lunch on the first day took place in the rooms of the reception house of the wine center of the vineyards that we had visited, l to Montemassi fortress. The morning had been cool, so it was very comforting to find good wine in the heat of the lit fireplace , to accompany good sausages from the area.
After replenishing our strength, we made a quick visit to an agricultural museum and started pedal towards the sea r. The fate of the afternoon was Castiglione della Pescaia , a beautiful coastal town located in an environment of excellent environmental conditions.
The beaches in this area have received "the 5 candles" from the Italian Environmental League, that is, the five stars that recognize the cleanest and most well-kept beaches.
We went along a very quiet road to the Tirreno. From Castiglione della Pescaia, we advance along the coast to a wonderful corner of nature where forest and sea merge, roccamare . There the genuine writer was inspired by his vacation Italo Calvin.
The warrior's rest
After enjoying the sunset and twilight by the sea, they offered us an aperitif at the Roccamare resort , an estate that belonged to **Carlo Ponti (sophia Loren's husband) ** and whose pool was built especially by him for the actress. Tuscany always on film.
But an excellent dinner awaited us at the Gallinaccio Restaurant of a bikeresort, located half an hour by car from the place where we were going to spend the night and where the bicycles had been parked until the next morning.
We woke up wonderfully refreshed after sleeping in the comfortable rooms of the Fattoria Maremmana . The humble and close origin of the owners of rural houses, villas and hotels gives the guest experience a tender hue and this farm converted into a tourist resort It was a good example of these characteristics.
Perhaps a breakfast based on cakes is not the most recommended diet for a day of cycling, but Who can resist trying their exquisite homemade native sweets?
Kilometers of beach in an excellent environmental space
When you travel by bike, time seems to stretch out. The trip is savored at every moment and the days seem to be much longer. We were going along the coast, now heading south, and it felt like we had been in Tuscany for several days.
That second day was going to give us a captivating pedaling along the coast. We went from a place beach summer, such as Castiglione della Pescaia , to another stupendous place by the sea, which is the Argentine peninsula.
We border the entire peninsula by coastal road and leave it along paths through a forest that is located on an isthmus. The contrast was wonderful.
In a few moments, we went from skirting sea cliffs under the sun, to immersing ourselves in the shade of a fabulous nature reserve . On both sides of this forest there were beaches and along the way we met several families of roe deer. Then, between olive groves, we climbed to the remains of the Roman city of Cosa , which is located on the top of the promontory of Ansedonia.
Remains of the Roman city of Cosa, in Ansedonio
A few more kilometers, along roads between meadows, they took us to the place where they had prepared food for us. That place was a bucolic country village called ** La Capalbiola **, located, as its name indicates, in the municipality of Capalbio.
However, the town of capalbio It is located on a hill and the village in question is at the foot of said hill. They gave us to try the ribollita (soup of bread, vegetables and legumes) and also very good wines, cheeses and homemade jams.
Mariella Zezza, editor in chief at RAI News , runs the village. She told me that the beach next to it ** (Capalbio beach) ** is especially long compared to the rest of the country's beaches.
The local sea is located at the southern vertex of the International Cetacean Sanctuary , a protected area for whales and dolphins, the largest in the Mediterranean. There are also several kilometers of Mediterranean maquis in the area protected by the World Wide Fund for Nature . All in all, one of the landscape ingredients that most captivates in the Maremma are the natural pools of Saturnia. These are sulphurous waters, whose constant temperature is 37º and whose flow is abundant throughout the year.
Saturnia thermal waterfalls, a miracle of nature
Tuscany is one of the regions in the world that has more thermal baths and spas, highlighting among them the Saturnia Hot Springs Resort , to which we were invited these days. Precisely towards the Saturnia hot springs, the route led us in the afternoon. Of course, not without first pedaling to the top of Capalbio, from whose walls you can see the Tyrrhenian horizon to the west and the profile of the Tuscan inland fields to the east.
We arrived at the Termas de Saturnia Resort at sunset. There we were given the opportunity to take a swim under the stars in their private thermal pool, to recover from another long day of pedaling.
They also offered us a wonderful dinner; its essential risotto with wild boar ragout , presented in a casserole substitute created by hollowing out the inside of a Parmigiano cheese and using the cheese rind as the rims of the container. Mamma mia how they give themselves in Italy to the fun of presenting their recipes in an original way!
On the third day of pedaling, from Saturnia we headed to discover some of the most picturesque towns in the region, with prior visit to Archaeological Park , in which we were able to pedal through some fascinating Etruscan corridors excavated in the rock.
Between pedaling and pedaling, the relaxation of Tuscany
After this unusual break along the way, we let our bikes take us to places where time seems to have stopped. On our bikes, we connect Sovana, Sorano and Pitigliano.
In a village called Albino is the farmhouse **Le spighe (The spikes) **. Our visit to this house was used to inaugurate a bike Shelter, in addition to preparing us a wonderful meal rich in seafood.
There is a Tuscan-Maremman saying that says "Don't get on the road if your mouth doesn't taste like wine" and a traditional expression that calls “stirrup glass” to the last sip of wine that a host used to offer to a guest already mounted on his horse to depart. Respecting their tradition, the hosts who received us during these days of pedaling made sure that we did not set off without the taste of their wines on our lips. In this case, we guests started with our feet on the pedals, instead of the stirrups.
This rural house, perfect to finish off the trip
THE SUMMIT OF THE JOURNEY
And how about another route, restful and beautiful, to say goodbye to Tuscany? We recommend one last ride through the vineyards of the prestigious chianti wine , in the province of Siena. Here you can join the wonderful project Bike Hub of the Lands of Casole , which offers cycling routes with different levels of difficulty through the picturesque landscapes of the surrounding countryside.
One last night? At the ** Hotel Terre di Casole **, where you can enjoy a dinner with absolutely organic products and a deconstructed tiramisu that will make you cry with pleasure.
Toscana leaves filmic scenarios on the retina and pleasures on the palate. If you want more clues to find corners that evoke the big screen, I'll give you one: you can go for a walk through Arezzo , where Robert Benigni shot the scenes of the happy years of the characters in the history of Life is Beautiful . If you dare to travel Tuscany by bike, the experience will be tasty, so Good journey, good film, good appetite!