We Like Tuscany SAS

2 Day Chianti Bike Tour

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If you want to connect with Tuscany's nature and local life, allow yourself the extra time to travel off the beaten path and let us take you to meet and discover the Chianti Classico wine region. We will cross it on a bike all the way from the northside (San Casciano) so the Southside (Gaiole in Chianti), with many stops and stories to be discovered along the way. While most people go from Florence to Siena using the highway, missing all the scenery and the rolling hills, this 2-day bike tour will allow you to travel through backroads and see some of the best medieval towns of the region. So come and learn about wine and olive oil making (and taste them!), eat traditional food in local trattorias and farms, sleep in a countryside Villa with pool and share the experience with one of our knowledgeable guides. In We Like Tuscany fashion, this is is a small group tour and we promise you no churches, no museums, no annoying crowds! If you want an easier ride while still enjoying the breeze and slow-paced experience, electric bikes are available on request!

Highlights

Immerse in the most famous wine region of Italy Experience the ride from Florence to Siena through backroads

Itinerary

Day 1: Morning bike ride starts with our Chianti Classico bike ride Our friendly staff will meet you at our meeting point in Florence and take you with a shuttle (about a 15-min ride) to the Chianti Classico area where our bike shed is (15 minutes drive). Your guide will fit you with bikes, helmets and water. You will then have a brief training session for safety and introduction to the itinerary for the day. You will start biking in a private countryside road, to get comfortable with our high quality 24-speed hybrid bikes. The first part of the bike ride lasts about 1.5 hours and you will see typical Tuscany villages and Chianti wine fields while enjoying panoramic stops to take some photos and learn about local life and nature from our knowledgeable guide. We will then have a stop also in San Casciano, one of the main villages of the Chianti region and see the ancient city walls. After another bit of biking, we will reach the wine estate for a tour of the property and a full Tuscan lunch!. Lunch and tasting visit an exclusive Chianti Classico Villa and winery with an underground cellar. The property you will visit has been owned by an ancient noble family of Florence for centuries and it's still run by them. The ancient cellars are below the beautiful Villa and the Italian style gardens that we will visit. We will also have a peek at the "Orciaia", a room filled with giant terracotta pots where wine and oil used to be stored since Roman times and the "Frantoio", the facility where the olives are pressed to produce the world-renowned Tuscan Extra Virgin Olive Oil. We are then ready for a full Tuscan lunch and tastings at the Osteria of the Villa. Lunch includes an appetizer, first course, dessert and coffee!. We will also taste 3 different wines and 2 types of olive oil, all produced on the premises. Afternoon Bike Ride on the way to Panzano in Chianti. After lunch, we will start biking again towards the medieval town of Mercatale and Greve, with a little stop for another coffee in the beautiful piazza (if you fell super Italian!). The last biking section will be the most challenging, as we will ride up toward the hilltop town of Panzano in Chianti, to visit our friend and world-renowned butcher, Dario Cecchini. You might have seen him on the Netflix show "The Chef's Table". Now you will see him live. Around 16:30 we will reach the beautiful Villa where you will finally relax in your private room and have access to the pool if the weather allows. A full Tuscan dinner is included as well. Day 2: Discover Radda in Chianti, Gaiole, Pianella and Siena After breakfast at the hotel, we start out descending downhill for several kilometres, leading us to the town of Radda in Chianti for our first climb. After a stroll through the famous town, another downhill takes us to lunch in the town of Gaiole, home of the world-famous vintage bike race called L'Eroica. While sitting in the main square of Gaiole, we introduce you to our longtime friend and local restaurant owner, Fernanda, who will serve us a delicious Tuscan lunch. After coffee, we ride back on the bikes for a nice long meandering, semi-downhill, flat stretch of road before we come to the town of Pianella. After Pianella, we can stop here or proceed uphill to Siena (in our van or still pedalling), where we will say goodbye and our amazing experience together will officially end.

Includes

1-night accommodation: Tuscan Villa (1 night) with pool access 2 lunches, 1 dinner, 1 breakfast, water bottle and Chianti wine tasting Luggage transportation Professional tour escort 24-speed touring bike Helmet