Week in Tuscany with the Mrs

marklowe

hi, Id like to go somewhere in Tuscany end of April/May with my non cycling wife. It needs to be in the middle of some good road cycling so I can go out for a few hours in the morning prior to some tourist stuff. I like the idea of the area between Florence and Sienna but have no idea where would be good to stay area wise and also good accomodation that works for my wife as well (good view pool good roads nearby. I also looked at the Crete Senesi, but, put off slightly as I believe the good roads are unpaved? really appreciate your reccomendations as Im geting confused about where would be best

Ands

Hi
I stayed in a place called Iano a couple of years ago - it's just outside Montaione, which is about equidistant from Florence, Siena & Pisa. It's absolutely stunning and the roads were excellent (I think benefitting from re-surfacing when the Giro goes thru!) Easy access to Certaldo, Volterra, San Gimingano and lots of other beautiful villages. Siena is truly beautiful, and my preferred city out of the 3. The Chianti hills were also close by. I went the first week of April and it was quite cool in the evenings (we were in a stone farmhouse too, so heating was a must) but very warm during the day.

I stayed here: http://www.poderelemonache.com - and would def recommend. Check out the photos on the section entitled 'The House' - that was the view from our villa and private garden.

KirbyJames

Hi,

If you are interested in the area between Siena and Florence take a look at
http://lkjh.biz/bike/tuscany/central/sienac/index.html

If you want to go south of Siena try
http://lkjh.biz/bike/tuscany/central/sienac/index.html

Have a great time

Kirby

andymiller

I've been reading up on this area and I'm hoping to go there this summer/autumn - although for me the unsurfaced strade bianche are the main attraction.

If you haven't already come across them, there are a couple of useful websites:

http://www.florencebikepages.com/

and

http://www.terresienainbici.it/index_eng.asp

The latter has a sacco of day-rides on asphalt.

That said, all of the pictures of the strade bianche that I've seen (and OK I accept that the pictures aren't necessarily representative) suggest that the surfaces are fine aggregate - so not ideal for bombing around with 17mm tyres, but do-able with normal touring tyres.

Splottboy

The guy that runs Mark Anthony cycles, he has a great place near Aretzzo. We spent a week there, with cheapish flights into/out of Piza. Hired Fiat Panda for the week, was great.
There's plenty to see in Aretzzo, Sienna, Florence and of course Rome.
There's also some great runs/rides from the accomm. Huge hills about 6miles away, and I mean huge, steep, twisty!!!!
The place is on the main training route for the 2nd division road teams, so you see riders with team kit/car all the time. Didn't take my bike though...bugger!!!