General Comments
(02/08)—The Sita bus line website is now www.sitabus.it and not www.sita-on-line.
—Ralph Domino
(07/07)—Hello! First a very sincere thank you for Walking and Eating! Without your book, we would not have ventured on the walks we did which were a wonderful way to see another side of Tuscany. A very beautiful side.
We are an American couple in our 50’s now living in Frankfurt, Germany. Our trip in May 2007 was our third trip to Italy in the past year, so in all we have enjoyed about a month in Tuscany in those three trips. From our prior Tuscany travel I was enthused to try the walks.
My wife and I together did the Chianti walk from Greve to Radda and I did the walk from Pienza to Montepulciano. Fortunately the weather was good to even somewhat hot during our week so no issues with rain or cold. The spring flowers were marvelous, especially the poppies.
Doing these walks, I was very impressed with the clarity and accuracy of your text descriptions of the paths. Your descriptions focused on the key landmarks and features we needed to keep on the right path. Not overly wordy but succinct and to the point. Not easy to do but you did it very well. Thanks for that!
Your advice on getting the 1:25000 scale maps is very on target. All the paths we took were ones clearly visible on the 1:25000 maps so the text descriptions and map views complement each other very well and make the paths overall easy to follow.
—David Dowell
(09/06)—We have just returned from our two-weeks in Tuscany and had the time of our lives! My husband and I walked the Chianti Excursion from Radda to Lamole in one day. Your directions were amazing [note the updates below] and we completed the 7 hour trek in the 12 hours allowed by the bus schedule.
Thank you for your work on the book. We would not have had this experience otherwise!
—Kristen Hart
[author note, 7/06] NOTE THAT SITA BUS ROUTE NUMBERS HAVE CHANGED. ROUTE 345, USED FOR MANY OF THESE WALKS (CHECK THE LOGISTICS SECTION OF THE WALK YOU’RE PLANNING TO DO) HAS BEEN CHANGED TO 365. IF YOU’D LIKE TO SEE THE CURRENT (7/2006) COMPLETE SCHEDULE FOR THIS ROUTE, GO TO www.acvbus.it
(10/05)—Thanks for producing such a great guide. We have just, today, retuned from a 5 day break in Chianti during which we very much enjoyed 3 of the walks in glorious sunshine; Lamole Ring, Badia a Passignano Ring and the Santa Maria Novella to Volpaia Ring - an adaptation from your instructions which we think most “3 hour walkers” would enjoy. The walk instructions were faultless and the scenery, villages and food suggestions were great, tho we mostly had bruschetta and drinks rather than full meals. The proprietress of the Bar Ucci in Volpaia was delighted to hear that she was recommended and gave us a sconto in return for a translation! In September the Chianti countryside is gorgeous; the grapes are ripe and heavy, there are still masses of wild flowers plus many butterflies, funghi such as chanterelles and lots of berries, some quite unusual. At Volpaia the vendemmia was in progress and we were able to watch the grapes being crushed.
We based ourselves for the 5 nights in Greve which was an ideal centre for your walks. We rented an apartment which was 50 metres from Greve’s beautiful Piazza with its arcaded restaurants and shops–delis, bakers, greengrocers and Falorni, a renowned butcher and salumeria. The apartment is perfect for a short holiday, especially outside the high summer season, as the days are shorter and it is too cool to sit out or eat out in the evening and the advantages of being in an interesting little town and having central heating outweigh the need for a pool —tho there is also a delightful garden with olive trees and garden furniture for when it is fine—we just never sat still long enough to make much use of it. The owner is a very pleasant young man; Simone Cecchatelli. Contact him on cecca.simo@tin.it. You can see the house, called “La Casina,” www.greve-in-chianti.com. (Go to “Chianti rural rentals.”)
Thanks again for adding immensely to our enjoyment of Chianti. We hope to do another area next year with help from you (and Ryanair).
—Margare and Bob McGregor, Aberdeen, Scotland
1. CHIANTI EXCURSION
—Greve (or Lamole) to Parco San Michele
—Parco San Michele to Radda, via Badia Montemuro and Volpaia
—Radda to Vagliagli or San Sano
(06/2009)—Parco San Michele to Radda, via Badia Montemuro and Volpaia
Great day walk - San Michele a bit overstretched when we arrived as there was a party of 40 German cyclists and 15 French walkers but we were allocated the room with the balcony! Still no tiramisu….
(3/08)—Parco San Michele to Radda:
My name is Charlie, I am 8 years old.
My mum and dad bought your book 10 years ago when they came to tuscany before I was born. they loved it so much that they desided to bring me and my little brother Will to live in Florece for a while. I love reading your book planing outings wich we go on each month (by the way we bougt the new edition).
Last week we went to Badia Montemuro and happy to find that the osteria has re opend and is being run by the brother of the previous owner who died. He is a very nice man .there was no menu but he told us what there was, we are even vegeterians, but there was no problem for him!!!
That day the waiter wasnt there so he was the chef the waiter and the barrista!!
After we had lunch the adults had a taste of limoncella with cream, they said it was much nicer than the normal one !!!
The tasting was free and my brother got a free pastry!
The shop had only been open for a month! This man is from Sicillia.
He said “he knew the tastes of woman”.
I hope you are happy about this update and thatyou might visit again!
—Regards from the Rogers family.
(7/07)—Greve to Parco San Michele:
Prior to departure, I kept track of the day’s weather in Greve with this webcam site: http://grevecam.ateliermedia.com/ Good for those looking forward or looking back nostalgically! Focus is Piazza Mercatale.
Without doubt, this is a long uphill haul! From 260 meters altitude in Greve to 850 at Parco San Michele or about 2000 feet altitude gain over ~ 8 km. It was ~ 22 C the day we hiked with few clouds. The little used gravel road also has little shade, so it was quite warm and sweaty. My wife and I are both big walkers (I average almost an hour a day year round) but my wife especially found the hike up uncomfortable with the heat and lack of shade.
That said, the views were magnificent. As you climb the views open and take in more and more terrain. Classic Tuscan mixed landscape of olives, vines, and woods. The last part of the climb is steep enough but quickly changes to level ground for the last few minutes through the cool woods to Parco San Michele. Which was indeed very cool, peaceful, and restful.
Parco San Michele to Radda:
A definite contrast to day one! This was downhill hiking though the woods so cool and easy walking.
A distinct disappointment is that L’Osteria in Badia Montemuro looked permanently closed! It was empty, the doors were locked at noon, and the refrigerators and counters of attached small store were empty. I had most looked forward to lunch there based on your description. Yes, things change.
Big excitement for us on the stretch from Badia to Volpaia was seeing first a couple of wild boars, then a family group with two adults and a little one. These we saw fairly close up, say 15 meters. They headed off at high speed when they saw us. As we passed the second group in the woods, we could not see them, but could hear them going “humpf, humpf” at us. Later we saw boar spas in the dirt road - pools of muddy water in the road with boar tracks leading in them.
The abandoned farmstead of Dogole was fascinating. Looked that it must have been home to several perhaps related families considering the numerous buildings.
After Dogole, the dirt road was deeply rutted in places. No problem for walkers, but impassable by vehicles.
Volpaia we loved! We stayed there two nights at an apartment of Castello di Volpaia. I tried to contact the Carusi affittacamere but could not get a response prior to our departure. They are certainly still there because we saw their sign in Volpaia. In any case, I found on the internet that Castello di Volpaia had apartments so we stayed there. Although at €125 / night these are above your usual price level we thought they were a great deal considering the size, beautiful garden areas, and wonderful pool with a fantastic view and only us using it! www.volpaia.com/sito/inglese/index.php. A young Finnish couple work for the Castello and manage the apartment rental and enoteca. Very easy to talk to and enjoyable. The vinegar made by the Castello is very good!
As to eating in Volpaia, we much agree with your conclusions. Bar Ucci is best for food. Very good quality and very good prices. A pecorino plate I had there was the best we had on our trip at the best price. And I had a lot of pecorino and at multiple stops! Also very good grigliata verdure. Paola who runs Bar Ucci also appears to run much else in Volpaia! Though Bar Ucci is tops for food, La Bottega was tops for the view which drops away in the foreground then rises up to Radda on the hill across the valley. Really beautiful at night with all the lights sparkling out against the dark. Not to say that we were at all unhappy with the food at La Bottega, we just enjoyed Bar Ucci better. The Castello di Volpaia restaurant lacks the view and has higher prices. Stick with the apartments, the vinegar, the wine, and the olive oil.
The hike from Volpaia to Radda was down then up, and steeply up at the last. In the wooded path between Volpaia and Pieve S.M. Novella we were lucky enough to find quite a few porcupine quills at one point. Looked that the porcupine had shot quills at something.
Specific update on the last part of the walk from Volpaia to Radda which has indeed changed as others have updated. On page 71, following this “… embankment F. Climb to the top of this embankment. Here you’ll see two fields in front of you, a terraced one to the left, [changed language next] and a vineyard to your right. Take the path up 20 or 30m between the two field until it flattens a bit and you can easily cross the small gully between the path and the vineyard. Cross the small gully into the vineyard. Turn left and walk up to the top of the vineyard, then turn right. Walk perhaps 150 to 200 m across the top of the vineyard until you can easily turn left onto the gravel road. [returning to your text, second paragraph, page 72] (with a new house about 100m to the left). Turn right on the gravel road.”
—David Dowell
(2/07)—Greve to Parco San Michele:
We started from Greve May 14th. As for the rest of the walks: the tourist office was very helpful and offered really good service. We stayed at Casale La Masse, Belvedere’s neighbour. Recommendable! The hosts, Elizabeth and Carlo,was really nice and they served a fantastic breakfast. They offered a fresh local ecological wine as well. The detour to Canonica was well worth the efforts. As we reached the place on the backside of the overgrown church, several pheasants flew off. Walking around the church gave us a feeling of being in quite another time!
And then we just want to add that the service, food and wine at Villa San Michele was execellent.
Parco San Michele to Radda via Badia Montemuro and Volpaia:
A pleasant walk! As we hadn’t read the “directions” thoroughly enough, we missed turning left at the fork 10 minutes after E. That brought us uphill a bit, but after adjusting the direction, we joined the path (from Dogole) again at G. This wasn’t a big problem, as it seems like every path in this hillside at last will lead to Volpaia!
Radda to San Sano:
A wonderful walk in wonderful weather. We chose the San Sano Variant, and we don’t regret that!
A comment about the bus: the bus (127) (northbound?) arrived on schedule and brought us down to the main road, where the southbound bus (127?) arrived after 10 minutes. As you understand, we don’t remember which number the bus to Siena had.
Altogether we did five of your walks in May 2006 and had some wonderful days in Toscana. It was a pleasure using your book as a guide.
—Grete Holan and Torgeir Johansen, Hesseng, Norway
(9/06)—We have just returned from our two-weeks in Tuscany and had the time of our lives! My husband and I walked the Chianti Excursion from Radda to Lamole in one day. Your directions were amazing [note the updates below] and we completed the 7 hour trek in the 12 hours allowed by the bus schedule.
Our hotel was in Greve and we caught the morning bus which dropped us off in Radda at 8:30am. We got off the bus too early and had to walk up the hill into town. Stay on the bus until is stops in town (it may look like it is circling and leaving again). We took the Radda to Volpaia walk [pg 94-99] and your description of lunch in Volpaia was right on. Lunch was fantastic at Bar Ucci and we walked around a little before leaving. Update: page 95 - The field “which could conceivably be planted”….is. Follow the road almost all the way to the new house, take the small set of stairs at the end of the new field on the left and drop straight down, through the vegetation and onto the asphalt road. We missed the whole two stone houses 50m above, and lost 40min or so trekking up and down the fields to regain our bearings. No biggie though. We did take the short-cut [p.98] and walked around SM Novella.
From Volpaia to S. Michele [pp. 85-86] we have an update for page 85: There is another house you will reach before Casa Lusignano. Pass this first house, which also has a trail to the left just beyond it (we lost a little more than an hour up and back the wrong trail), and continue to the second house where the bearing left is a little more substantial.
Also, when you reach Badia Montemuro [p.86], make the U turn up to the left, and arrive immediately at the Osteria. (We weren’t sure which way and stumbled on it.) We arrived while the osteria was closed, but the sweet gentleman invited us to sit and rest at the tables.
We arrived at the San Michele gate at about 5pm and enjoyed the benches, the view and visiting with other hikers for about a half hour.
San Michele to Lamole [pp. 104-108]. Update: p. 105 - The sign “Ceppeto”, at the cross to the right, is broken and doubtful how long the remaining pieces may last.
Update, p. 108, first paragraph: At the house [after Casa Terrato] where the book says to drop down “on a tiny path to a stream,” this path is now protected by a fence. You will need to unhook the fence, crawl through and hook it back. There were electric parts, but at the point where the trail crosses, didn’t give us any trouble. The house is under renovation.
We arrived in Lamole about 7pm, finding the Ristoro di Lamole at the end of the short asphalt road. We sat on the porch and enjoyed a bottle of wine, plate of cheese and the setting sun. The bus stop (to return to Greve) is immediately in front of the restaurant and the bus arrived right on time at 8:30pm. The driver has a tendency to be early and not wait very long.
Thank you for your work on the book. We would not have had this experience otherwise!
—Kristen Hart
[author note, 5/05] - CHIANTI EXCURSION, RADDA to VAGLIAGLI or SAN SANO: p. 76, “Shortcut to Il Poggio Restaurant.” The third line of this shortcut note refers to map point X, but this map point is not marked on the map. Penguin should be correcting this in reprints, but if your copy doesn’t have it, you can draw it on the map (p.78). It’s where our walk route reaches the gravel road, just above S. Polo in Rosso.
You can add it to the text directions too, on p.80, fifth line from the bottom, which should read:
“… coming out at a wide gravel road X, which is the car road from Poggio San Polo.”We found this shortcut in an Italian walking guide after we had come back from Italy, so we couldn’t test it ourselves. Please let us know if you try it.
2. SAN MICHELE AND VOLPAIA RING WALK, via Badia Montemuro
(9/08)—Really enjoy the book although we haven’t been able to test the walks too much as I’m recovering slowly from a knee operation. However, we have found info on the area and places to eat very useful during visits in May last year and September this year. We love Volpaia and your recommendation of the Bar Ucci was excellent – we visited again this year and had another enjoyable lunch there.
Look forward to trying more of your walking and eating recommendations in the future.
Thanks and regards
—Ellen & Steve Froggatt
(9/06)—From Volpaia to S.Michele, we have an update on page 85: There is another house you will reach before Casa Lusignano. Pass this first house, which also has a trail to the left just beyond it (we lost a little more than an hour up and back the wrong trail), and continue to the second house where the bearing left is a little more substantial.
Also, when you reach Badia Montemuro [p.86], make the U turn up to the left, and arrive immediately at the Osteria. (We weren’t sure which way and stumbled on it.) We arrived while the osteria was closed, but the sweet gentleman invited us to sit and rest at the tables.
—Kristen Hart
3. RADDA RING WALK, via Volpaia
5/2010 - I write this from Radda, having the ring walk fresh in my mind from this morning. We found in general the instructions to be excellent. However, we would like to update the following:
1) After “La Fraschette” we dropped down as instructed to the “new house”, but there ran into problems. Let me re-write what we actually did, starting off the paragraph with your words [bottom of page 94]:
In about 60m there is a track off to the left, dropping to an immediate “T” in front of vines. Go right, and keeping to the left and below the house, go beyond the end of the vineyard, pass through an opening (most important, as if you turn too early, you will end up fenced in), and drop down a short way to a wood, and find a narrow footpath which will drop you down to an asphalt road near a bridge.
This is of course your point F (and I have no idea how we missed out the two paragraphs of your instructions!).
2) Just before the junction signed right to Volpaia left to Castelvecchi [middle of page 95, between points F and E], we found the correct turn off the road, but I think a new vineyard complex has been built, and everything has changed. I think the directions now should read as follows [again, starting with the book's words]:
Just before you reach this major fork, watch on the left for a dirt road. Take this road.
Ignore a main track right uphill after about 10 meters (where a lefthand track goes down to a wine sales area), continuing along the dirt road for about 200 meters. At the end of the woods to the right, and just before the new wine complex on the left, take the steep path up to the right alongside the vineyards, keeping the woods to your right.
3) Just after the beautiful panorama to both sides [last paragraph on page 95], we ran into the next problem. The opening in the fence is now shut, with an electric wired gate, which can however be opened (and shut) with care. The vineyard today did not exist, and had been replaced with crops.
We also had a great lunch in La Bottega, in Volpaia, and would recommend it.
For Radda, Pizzeria Michele appears to be closed. Maybe for refitting?
Finally, neither of the tourist offices in Radda or Greve had maps to hand out or for sale. In Radda they had a couple of poor quality photocopied sheets, but your book won hands down!!
Our week has started well, and we thank you for writing this book!
—Jeff Temple
[author note, 6/2009] - Please see the update by William Stephens on 06/2009 in the “Chianti Excursion” chapter above. Between E and D [p. 95-96] there are changes being made by the property owners. Note that the directions in the “Chianti Excursion” walk are given in reverse to the directions for the “Radda Ring Walk.” Any updates on this section would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
(9/08)—Really enjoy the book. We have found info on the area and places to eat very useful during visits in May last year and September this year. We love Volpaia and your recommendation of the Bar Ucci was excellent – we visited again this year and had another enjoyable lunch there.
Look forward to trying more of your walking and eating recommendations in the future.
Thanks and regards
—Ellen & Steve Froggatt
(9/06)—Our hotel was in Greve and we caught the morning bus which dropped us off in Radda at 8:30am. We got off the bus too early and had to walk up the hill into town. Stay on the bus until is stops in town (it may look like it is circling and leaving again). We took the Radda to Volpaia walk [pg 94-99] and your description of lunch in Volpaia was right on. Lunch was fantastic at Bar Ucci and we walked around a little before leaving. Update: page 95 - The field “which could conceivably be planted”….is. Follow the road almost all the way to the new house, take the small set of stairs at the end of the new field on the left and drop straight down, through the vegetation and onto the asphalt road. We missed the whole two stone houses 50m above, and lost 40min or so trekking up and down the fields to regain our bearings. No biggie though. We did take the short-cut [p.98] and walked around SM Novella.
—Kristen Hart
4. LAMOLE RING WALK
(11/08)—I liked your book on Tuscany and Umbria very much - an accurate
guide to the trails, full of good advice, even fun to read at home.
We have one suggestion: in the Lamole Ring Walk, we went slightly astray near La Locanda (page 98). The text says to “Follow the path around the hotel,” which we took to mean around to the left, which takes one past the hotel entrance, with the hotel on one’s right. There’s a path going off to the left there, so the book’s instruction to “bear left” makes sense (but is the wrong
path).
We suggest instead of “Follow the path around the hotel,” it would
be clearer to say “Follow the path to the right, leading around the
back of the hotel buildings.”
A great book, however.
—Bob Johnson
(06/08)—Don’t be put off by the electric gate/fence by the stream before the woods at the end of the walk; just unhook it and carry on as directed. We ate at Villa S. Michelle expecting snack type food but had a really nice meal; local food under a shady terrace.
Thanks for the directions, we had 2 lovely days.
—Chris and David Hepworth
(11/07)—I did this walk last week. Thank you for your excellent, detailed guidance - impressive accuracy. I didn’t have a 1:50,000 map, which, as an experienced walker, I normally consider essential - it wasn’t. A few points:
- Red and white markers are quite frequent on the ascent.
- The overgrown path had been cleared - perhaps an annual chore.
- The “Coppetta” sign had gone.
- There is now a fence just before the stream/dry bed crossing. It appears to be partly electrified (I didn’t test it!). However, the non-electric part can be climbed over and obviously has been. On crossing the stream, turn right on what is now a broad path and later keep right where the path divides.
I am surprised that you do not quote the distances for each walk, which with a record of the amount of ascent, enable one to make a better estimate of how long the walk will take. I took only 1 hour for the ascent but rather more for the descent.
Afterwards, I enjoyed an excellent light lunch at Ristoro di Lamole.
—Elwyn Cox
—Mark Kozinn
(9/06)—From San Michele to Lamole we have two updates. First, on page 105, the sign “Ceppeto”, at the cross to the right, is broken and doubtful how long the remaining pieces will last.
P. 108, first paragraph: At the house [after Casa Terrato] where the book says to drop down “on a tiny path to a stream,” this path is now protected by a fence. You will need to unhook the fence, crawl through and hook it back. There were electric parts, but at the point where the trail crosses, didn’t give us any trouble. The house is under renovation.
We arrived in Lamole about 7pm, finding the Ristoro di Lamole at the end of the short asphalt road. We sat on the porch and enjoyed a bottle of wine, plate of cheese and the setting sun. The bus stop (to return to Greve) is immediately in front of the restaurant and the bus arrived right on time at 8:30pm. The driver has a tendency to be early and not wait very long.
Thank you for your work on the book. We would not have had this experience otherwise!
—Kristen Hart
[author note, 11/06] —Note Mark Kozinn’s (more recent) note above, that the fence blocking access to the stream is gone now.
(8/06)—We (Dalia=mom, Roberto=dad, Maya 16, Adam 14, Tali 11) just returned from a trip to Tuscany where we did two of the walks on your book: the Pienza and the Lamole ring walks. We thoroughly enjoyed them both (and loved Tuscany)!
While doing Lamole, we encountered the following situation: near the end of the walk (page 108), where it says: “Don’t follow the path here (which turns right and passes in front of the house)…”, we had to do just that, since the path going straight in order to cross the stream has been closed shut with a fence. We were unable to find a way to cross the stream anywhere after that, and the path we had to follow instead took us back to the paved road, where we turned left (and then were able to cross the stream we couldn’t cross earlier) and walked back to Lamole using the paved road.It was still a wonderful walk, however!
Great book!
—Roberto Perelman
[author note, 11/06] —Note Mark Kozinn’s (more recent) note above, that the fence blocking access to the stream is gone now.
[author note, 8/06] —This is disappointing news, as the new “shortcut” we did for this edition was really nice. However, more recently (see Kristen Hart’s update above) a reader went through the fence. If you do this, PLEASE be respectful and latch the fence closed again after you pass through. If anyone finds a new shortcut, please let us know. Meanwhile, it is also quite easy to return to Lamole by the original route (which is what Roberto, above, ended up doing. The walk is still a great walk with a great restaurant at Lamole. Here are the directions from the original edition, beginning at the above-mentioned house:
Turn right here [in front of the house mentioned above], passing in front of this house and following the gravel road downhill.
When you reach the next house (which seems like it could be either one house or two houses) the path turns right between the two buildings.
When this road comes out on the small asphalt road (about 15 minutes after the hairpin turning to Il Terrato), turn left to Lamole, just under 1 km away. There is a SITA request stop (fermata richiesta) here, if you’ve timed your walk to coincide with a bus).
(5/05)—The third walk we did was the Lamole ring walk (21 April). We also did this in the suggested time of 3 hours and once again we were accompanied a by a large dog, this time for the entire walk. We returned him to his owner in Lamole on our return and learned that his name was Iago. We regretted we had not read the instructions more completely ahead of time and realized we could have had our lunch at Villa San Michele. As it turned out, we did enjoy a very welcome cappuccino there.
Thank you for your excellent book – it added a great deal to the enjoyment of our time in Tuscany.
—J.P.
5. BADIA A PASSIGNANO RING WALK
(5/2010)—We are so enjoying ourselves here, and more than anything thanks to your book.
Yesterday we did the walk number 5 around Badia a Passignano. The descriptions were pretty perfect, but we have a couple of comments on the route. The first part, really until we reached Casa Vignola, was pretty overgrown, and difficult in places to pass through from branches and brambles across the path. This may improve as the season progresses. Also, we could not see the path in the last section up to the town, but the road was OK. As a general comment, I would suggest that this walk may be difficult after heavy rain, as it was pretty boggy in places for us, but passable.
—Jeff Temple
(9/08)—Really enjoy the book although we haven’t been able to test the walks too much as I’m recovering slowly from a knee operation. However, we have found info on the area and places to eat very useful during visits in May last year and September this year. We love Volpaia and your recommendation of the Bar Ucci was excellent – we visited again this year and had another enjoyable lunch there.
However, in case no one else has told you, La Scuderia in Badia a Passignano has changed hands and we had a depressing and expensive lunch there last week. The Scuderia is no longer low key, simple or inexpensive; a one course lunch with glass of house wine cost 40 euros. The service was graceless and, although the meal was pleasant enough, it was definitely not good value for money. It’s obviously trying to emulate the Osteria di Passignano and aspire to that “dubious entity, a Tuscan haute cuisine”!!
Look forward to trying more of your walking and eating recommendations in the future.
Thanks and regards
—Ellen & Steve Froggatt
(6/08)—Excellent directions; thank you. The foot path at the end has now gone so we used the road; not a problem.
The Scuderia restaurant is now under new management and much more up-market, mid-range prices. We liked it: good food, friendly service, nice terrace.
—Chris and David Hepworth
(8/05)—This is a beautiful ring walk, partly shaded in spots. It’s great for the beginner as you walk in a big semi-circle around the abbey. The start of the path as descibed in the book is quite overgrown to begin, but persevere and you will be rewarded with some “off the beaten track” experiences. The abandoned villas en route are a nice surprise but…if anyone is interested in them and needs an experienced renovator…don’t email me. (:
The abbey in Badia is closed and has been for sometime…but apparently, if you knock loudly on the door you may get a caretaker on a good day who will show you around.
The two restaurants in the village won’t let you use the washrooms unless you are a customer…one of the most untypical moments we had in Italy. However, the trail as I said is very secluded once you leave the village.
The one confusing part of the trip is in C. Poggio a Verro (small hamlet). A logging company has been quite active in the area and altered the approach to it. You must take the 1st left, before you come to the hamlet, but this is now in the middle of a lumber storage area. There’s a left road in the hamlet between the two outlying houses. Do not take this as it ends in a big pile of brush. (It seems as if someone just ran a bulldozer down the hill to clear off some scrub vegetation).
By all means spend time looking around C. Poggio…it’s worth the look…but backtrack to the outskirts and you will see the road somewhat obscured now with all the lumbering activity. (You’ll see the large field they cleared for a new olive grove further down the road.)
When you return to Badia, the restaurant Scuderia gave us an opportunity to learn more about the Italian culture. After this somewhat strenuous hike, we stopped in for a late afternoon ice cold beer for myself and a cool white wine for Ina. We got rather untypical, somewhat brusque service. The owners served us, collected the money even before we finished (totally unheard of here), locked their doors and the whole family piled into the car and drove off. Why? It became clear later that this was a lesson in Italian etiquette; don’t arrive at a lunch restaurant around 3:30, when the restaurant closes at 4:00. We were left to finish our drinks and leave the glasses sitting unattended on the table. Another in the many Italian magical moments you can expect in this unique country.
—David and Ina
(5/05)—The second walk we did was the Badia a Passignano ring walk (20 April). We completed this walk in the 2.5 hours mentioned and thoroughly enjoyed it. The instructions were excellent. One interesting thing was that around point D we were joined by a large German Shepherd dog who seemed to know the route and guided us right back to Badia.
—J.P.
6. GAIOLE RING WALK, via Badia Coltibuono
(6/2010)—Firstly well done - good clear instructions and we had no problems at all. Some updates:
C-D: we didn’t see 2nd fork - may be grown over now? And so ended up at the stone cottage as you describe!
E: the sketch map shows it as a T junction - it’s not (anymore at least) -the left turn does take you onto very steep wide stony path - but it’s a left turn off of our previous path which continued onwards and not a T-junction.
Montegrossi -there is a small pizzeria/bar in this town now.
Last point: they’re currently resurfacing the path back between
Riecine and Gaiole. We got past all the diggers etc with a cheery nod
and cheeky smile but is a potential risk!
Thanks again!
7. BROLIO RING WALK