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If you are enchanted by the ethereal photographs you have seen on our web site and all over the world, we urge you to consider spending a day in the country, walking at your own pace on dirt roads through vineyards and olive groves.
PRICES :
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All-inclusive fee and lunch for each itinerary:
2 people: Euro 150 / each
3-4 people: Euro 130 / each
5-8 people: Euro 100 / each
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As you pass the ancient farmhouses, each one marked by its two rows of proud cypress trees, you are likely meet some of the inhabitants who dwell there, tending their gardens, milking their sheep, searching the skies for the omens that will tell them exactly what day to start the most important activity in any Tuscan's life, la vendemmia the grape harvest that must not be done too soon nor even a moment too late.
Come and see Tuscany at five miles per hour, and when the day is over some of that soil will have seeped under your skin too!
10.5 miles - 5/6 hours walking Medium difficulty
 Departure from Montepulciano, known as The Pearl of the 1600s and famous for its nobile wine.
Our four-and-a-half-mile walk sets out immediately on quiet dirt roads with sweeping views across the soft undulating hills, all the way to the enchanting hilltown of Monticchiello. Almost no signs of the 20th century have made their way past the walls of this medieval village, where we will have a light lunch at a tiny restaurant overlooking the valley.
After we'll climb the ramparts for a bird's-eye view of the route to Pienza. This six-mile stretch crosses vineyards, farmland and the grazing pastures of the sheep whose milk makes one of the most famous products from this area: pecorino cheese.
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7.5 miles + 5 miles - total 7 hours walking Medium difficulty
 We start in the wine capital, Montalcino, and follow a little dirt road that winds through the hills to the minuscule medieval hamlet of Villa a Tolli.
Passing through a wooded valley we are suddenly treated to one of the most memorable sights in Italy: the Abbey of Sant'Antimo. Legend has it that Charlemagne himself founded the first church on this site in the year 781. The travertine marble of which it is built is one of the finest conductors of sound, which gives a mystical quality to the Gregorian Chants performed by the handful of monks who live here.
After this very inspirational morning, we'll pause for lunch and after you may choose to continue on across the Orcia River to Ripa D'Orcia, site of a formidable 13th-century castle.
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8 miles - 3/4 hours walking Medium difficulty
 Departure from San Quirico D'Orcia, a pristine hilltown whose nearly deserted streets are paved with terra cotta. Before taking off we'll pay a quick visit to the formal gardens called Orti Leonini. Our walk follows a broad dirt road that weaves in and out of farmlands, wheat fields and live oak woods.
Our destination is Bagno Vignoni, a tiny village that exists solely because of its thermal hot springs, famed since Roman times.
Just imagine: the main town square is a thermal swimming pool! You are no longer allowed to immerse yourself, but it's a great photo opportunity, and after a light lunch in town, you can either take a swim in the 51-degree Celsius waters of the bathing establishment, or just dip your feet in the natural hot water which emerges from the ground and flows down the hill .
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6.5 miles - 3 hours walking Easy walking
 We meet in Montepulciano, which is probably the most interesting hilltown in Southern Tuscany. After a visit of the town's main square, churches and its jewelbox theatre, we will head down the hill to the Temple of San Biagio. This travertine church would be striking anywhere, but it is particularly dramatic here in its countryside setting, reached by a long avenue lined with cypress trees. After a look at the church we will continue on across the valley, taking an easy, panoramic dirt road that winds past farmlands and ancient houses. The walk culminates with an easy climb to another enchanting hilltown, Montefollonico. Here, inside the perfectly preserved medieval walls, we will have our lunch. Afterwards we can walk back to Montepulciano or shuttle back by van.
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