Florence is an absolutely beautiful city and and we highly recommend including it on your next Italian itinerary. You can sense the history as you walk through the streets, and there is plenty of shopping and dining options to keep every type of traveler intrigued, as well as many art museums.
If you’re looking for an authentic experience while there, we’d recommend a day exploring the hills of Tuscany. The scenery is picturesque, and there are many vineyards if you’d like to sample some wine along the way. There are many tours you can book to ensure you maximize your experience. We’d recommend the Tuscany Bike Tour as a unique way to explore the Tuscan Hills, and here we detail our experience. If you’re concerned about your biking ability, the same company also offers Vespa or Fiat 500 tours.
Schedule: 10 AM – 5 PM Daily, March – November
Price: Students €75.00 | Non-Students €85.00 (subject to change)
To begin the tour, you check-in at their location in the Santa Croce area in Florence at 9:30 AM, and are shuttled 40 minutes away by van to a 12th century castle, Castillo di Poppiano, in the heart of Tuscany’s Chianti region. The guide leads you through a detailed but efficient tour of the castle, sharing the history of the family, the wine, and the olive oil production process. As you ascend you are taken through rooms of wine barrels, the sweet aroma of the aging wines reaches your nose as it seeps through the pores of the wood. At the top, you step outside and can see Tuscany in every direction, the panoramic views are breathtaking. With a long day ahead of you (returning to Florence around 5 PM), it only makes sense that the tour of the castle concludes with a small tasting of wine and some olive oil with freshly baked bread.
From here you head to the bike shed and grab your helmets, a water bottle, and split off into intimate groups of riders. The provided bikes are well maintained and comfortable for a day of cycling. You set off through Tuscany, passing fields upon fields of vineyards. There are periodic stops for you to take photos and the guide explains some of the landscape. The ride is primarily flat with some hills here and there, and a moderately experienced rider should be quite comfortable.
Continuing through the hills, you eventually come to a small village and have lunch al fresco at a charming family owned restaurant with the other groups of riders. Fresh salad, pasta, and bread are served along with a carafe of wine. Carbs are just what you need after the first half of the day and to give you some extra energy to get through the rest of the ride. After lunch you continue on and make your way back to the castle.
Throughout the ride, the guides will make mention of ‘the hill’ without going into too much detail about it. The guide finally stops at a point in the road and explains the difficulty of the hill ahead. At one point, the incline reaches 19°. The length of the hill is about 1 mile or 1.6 kilometers. They explained that most people are unable to bike all the way to the top without stopping – challenge accepted! Fear not, if you discover that you are unable to make it to the top, you can stop and walk your bike, or load it onto the trailer of the van that follows you along the route and jump in and ride up to the top. The van follows you along the entire journey so if you get tired at any point, this is always an option. Once you finally make it up the hill, (because we know you can!), you can rinse off the extra sweat at the water fountain and rest for a minute with the other victorious riders. Quite the feeling of accomplishment! Fortunately from here, the rest of the ride is fairly flat and an easy cruise back to the castle.
After returning your bike and helmet at the end of the tour, you are driven back to Florence and dropped off just across the river from the original meeting point. Our recommendation? From here, find a local Italian pizzeria or restaurant for an early dinner, then grab a bottle of wine and some cups and head to Piazzale Michelangelo in time for the sunset. Grab a seat on the steps and watch the sun go down over the city. The view is absolutely incredible and the setting sun creates the perfect romantic backdrop to end an exciting day.
Have any other tips for visiting Florence? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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