9 hours of trains through Italy takes us from Bari to Tuscany.
We’d been in Tuscany before on a guided Butterfield & Robinson cycling trip. Shawn and I wanted to ride again, but this time decided to do the planning on our own. We got super lucky surfing the internet and found Tuscany Bicycle in the town of Gaiole in Chianti [https://www.Tuscany bicycle.com/en/]. The owners, Fillipo and Michelle, were extremely responsive, by text, email and phone and got us set up with some terrific Pinarello road bikes.
The bike shop even suggested a great hotel – Rocca di Castagnola [http://www.msnhotels.com/rocca_castagnoli.htm] – a restored stone villa on a hilltop surrounded by vineyards and olive groves.
The property also has an excellent restaurant [http://www.ilcelliere.it/en/] with a terrific staff and was only about 5km from Tuscany Bicycle’s shop.
Fillipo gave us a map and some great suggested rides. However, as the lead navigator, I may have made a few mapping miscalculations that led us up some very steep hills. Shawn aptly named our tour, “Lost Roads.”
However, my guiding was not totally bad. We did capture the stunning poppy fields in bloom and made some great stops in picturesque towns with great cafes. This did renew (somewhat) Shawn’s faith in me as her guide, even though the hotel was straight up a 600 meter hill at the end of the day.
In fact, my (mis) guiding also took us onto the Strade Bianchi – the famous “white roads” of Tuscany – which happen to be gravel. These are rideable, but can be challenging for the less experienced. This resulted in some colorful language – in both English and Italian – from my one person crew. On the positive side, the paved roads are in great shape, there aren’t that many cars, and at the top of nearly every hill is an exquisite view and sometimes a delightful village.
We rode four full days and loved it. If you like cycling, food and wine, a visit to Chianti in spring time is a trifecta of excellence.
A great place to get an espresso and meet lots of other cyclists is Caffe Eroica in Brolio [https://eroica.cc/eroica-caffè]. Great coffee and croissants and directly across the street from the tasting room at Brolio Vineyards – the inventors of the “Ricasoli formula” which forms the basis for all Chianti Classico wines. This is also the place where they came up with the idea for L’Eroica, an annual cycling mega-event [https://www.eroicagaiole.com] where everyone is required to ride vintage (70’s and prior) bikes and clothing. It’s a huge event that is run largely on the Strade Bianchi. If anyone out there wants to do this, I’d love to come back and do it with you!
Towns not to miss while cycling are Radda in Chianti – where we had a fantastic lunch at Ristorante il Girarrosto [http://www.rosshotels.it/ita/hotel-ristorante-chianti.html?utm_source=tripadvisor&utm_medium=referral] –
and Castelonuevo Berardenga – where we also had a great lunch at La Taverna della Berardenga [https://www.thefork.com/restaurant/la-taverna-della-berardenga/57796]. These are both beautiful villages with nice shopping and restaurants for lunch. As well as cool cafes if you need a mid-morning shot of espresso!
We also rented a car – which we recommend as Tuscany is pretty big and there is a lot to see.
Great towns to visit are San Gimignano, Montalcino and Pienza (Shawn’s favorite). All have beautiful architecture, fantastic food and, of course, shopping.
There is so much good food and wine in Tuscany. It’s hard – really – to find a bad meal. But the best we had this week was likely La Bottega del 30 [http://labottegadel30.it/en/]. This is a Michelin starred restaurant in the tiny village of Villa al Sesta. So, so good. Thanks Jen for the tip!
Tuscany is a fantastic place. If you haven’t been here, you should go. If you have, you should go back. I’m sure we will. But now – we are on our way to Croatia to meet some great friends!
