Company providing bike tours in Italy

Guided Bike Tour:

Essence of Tuscany: Classic Wine.

Join us on this total immersion into Tuscany. Our back roads head into rolling hills and through the fortified medieval villages of an untouched Toscana. Goal is also enjoy the genuine tuscan cucina: fruity olive oil, pecorino sheep-milk cheese and best Tuscany wine: Brunello -that has made Tuscany so famous-, Chianti and Nobile. Traveling with a small group of fellow adventurers and Tuscany's leading biking guide, you'll enjoy a wonderful combination of nature, culture, cuisine and fun.

Itinerary:

Day One: Pienza
Special event: pecorino cheese tasting
Meet at Chiusi-Chianciano train station (a stop on all major Florence-Rome lines). Transfer to Pienza, the most perfect Renaissance town in the world.
Check into your rooms at our hotel, which occupies a 15th-century convent in the center of town.
Meet your guide Marco during a bike-fitting session. Get to know the rest of the group at dinner in a wonderful local trattoria La cucina di Fiorella where you will taste the special Pici pasta.
Lodging hotel Relais Il chiostro.


Day Two: Orcia valley & Montepulciano - Length: 50 km.
Circular bike ride into Orcia valley: is a completely country ride and for the first 20 km we will ride downhill and very easy gentle rolling hills. Then the gentle climb to reach Radicofani, a medieval and enchanting village with a 1200 dating Rocca. After a stroll around the stately old town, we'll head back into the country, along some of those winding cypress-lined roads. We will go to Montepulciano, known as the Pearl of the Sixteenth Century, and visit ancient wine cellar and taste nobile wine for aperitif and have a dinner at favourite restaurant in town
Lodging: hotel Relais Il chiostro.


Day Three: Montalcino - Length: 46 km.
Special event: brunello wine tasting
Today we'll start out on a long descent into the rolling green pastures of the Val d'Orcia, followed by a hearty uphill stretch that takes us to our reward: picturesque Bagno Vignoni. It's probably the only town you've ever seen where the main square is actually a thermal pool! Refreshed, we continue on to a secluded country Sant’Antimo Abbey, where we might be in time to hear the monks sing vespers. Five miles later we'll be pedaling through the fortress walls into Montalcino. wine tasting of the famed Brunello at enoteca la fortezza Afterwards we'll have plenty of time to visit the town, and perhaps purchase a couple of bottles to take home. Dinner at Re di Macchia.
Overnight in Montalcino hotel Vecchia Oliviera.

Day Four: Siena - Length: 55 km.
Pedaling north, we'll whisk past a pair of typical southern Tuscany towns and make a stop at Monte Oliveto Maggiore, one of the most important Benedictine monasteries in Italy. Lunch outdoors in a local restaurant. In the afternoon we'll traverse the famous Crete region. This is Tuscany's answer to the Badlands, with strange rock formations and lone farmhouses flanked by twin cypress trees. In Siena, we'll check into our rooms at a lovely garden hotel.
Lodging at Hotel Palazzo Ravizza.


Day Five: Chianti - Length: 50  km.
Special event: Chianti wine tasting
The previous days have prepped our legs for the famed hills of Chianti, which await us today! The first stretch crosses an almost impossibly scenic clutch of hills blanketed with vineyards and thick forests. It's breathtaking, and so is the ride! We'll rest our legs in Borgo San Felice and Castello di Brolio, where is possible also visit the castle’s garden - home of Baron Ricasoli and his world-renowned wine. Back in the saddle, we continue along the same winding panoramic road to Radda in Chianti and then to Castellina in Chianti. In Castellina we'll check into our rooms at our hotel Palazzo Squarcialupi, an old palace restered. Tonight Italian Pizza cooked in wood Owen.
Overnight in Castellina at hotel Palazzo Squarcialupi  


Day Six: San Gimignano - Length: 60 km.
More vineyards await us today, but you'll be amazed at how different they look once we get into the district of San Gimignano. Our route includes two stellar hill towns. First there's Monteriggioni, literally a town-in-a-castle. Barely two hundred yards across, its eighty residents all reside within the picture-perfect round turreted walls that crown the hilltop visible for miles around. Also seen in the distance are the seventeen towers of San Gimignano. We'll have plenty of time to wander through the cobblestoned streets, window shop and buy a few last-minute Tuscan mementos for our friends and...why not, for ourselves too! Shuttle back to Castellina in Chianti. Our dinner is at the elegant restaurant of hotel.
Overnight in Castellina at hotel Palazzo Squarcialupi


Day Seven: after breakafast end of the tour- transfer to train station


Difficulty : medium difficulty with some climbs
Price : Euro 2145 p/person based on double room
single supplement € 350
Inclusions:
1.Six nights in superior hotels with private bath and breakfast
2.Four dinners, one lunch & two wine tastings
3.Snacks and drinks along the way 4.Bikes (race or hybrid) and all gear
5.All maps, trip notes and detailed route directions
6.All Shuttles and technical assistance
7.Support Van, all transfer baggage
8.Services experienced guide
9.Cicloposse bike jersey and water bottle
Duration:7 days/6 nights
Dates:

2010
7 - 13 May
18 - 25  June
11 - 17 September
1 - 7 October

Notes: Custom tour at any time