trip report by site editor Rick McCharles
In Rome I bought Lonely Planet Hiking in Italy, difficult to find, actually.
(… later I wished I’d bought Lonely Planet Cycling in Italy, instead.)
Of the Tuscany hikes listed in LP, I chose the Tuscan Hill Crests out of gorgeous San Gimignano.
loop, 7hrs, easy, 20km (12.4mi)
Sounded great:
Low rolling hills, fields full of barley, elegant cypresses and silvery green olives, vines ripening in the late summer sun, an old ruined monastery, a priest careering downhill in a rusty Fiat 500, potted geraniums, cyclists in multi-coloured jerseys, a rustic farmhouse reborn as an agriturismo …
Not my usual wilderness adventure, … but any excuse to travel to Tuscany. Right?
Departing Porta San Giovanni:
This is a “hike”?
I love Lonely Planet trail descriptions: terse. But in a populated region like Tuscany, landmarks change often. By about half way round the circuit — entirely on roads — I was lost.
I relaxed snacking on both white and red grapes fresh off the vine …
October is grape harvest.
… I pondered my options. Should I backtrack?
Never.
Happily I stumbled upon this monk:
He’s the icon of the Via Francigena, a pilgrims path from Canterbury, UK to Rome.
… one of three great medieval pilgrims’ routes (the others were the Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain and the long route East to Jerusalem) …
The good monk led me back to San Gimignano on small footpaths over private property. This is the kind of hiking I wanted in Tuscany.
I soothed my disappointment in not finishing my intended hike with a Gorgonzola gelato in the Piazza Duomo.
Next day I rented a bike (5EU cheap) and rode about 70km on mostly paved roads between Sienna and Gaiole in Chianti, a much better way to see the gorgeous countryside.
… But I’ll do a little more research on the Via Francigena. Sections of that might certainly be one of the best hikes in Europe.
