Walking the Val d’Orcia

This self-guided walking tour is a perfect introduction to the region of Tuscany. The tour threads together some of the most attractive towns and villages in Tuscany in an eloquent procession, although the focus of this tour is on appreciating the beautiful Tuscan countryside and landscapes. For people who love museums, galleries and gothic and Romanesque architecture, there is plenty to see and do.

In combination with walking through the area, you will have plenty of time to visit attractions on most of the days. You also have the time to visit the historic towns of San Gimignano, Colle Val D’Elsa, Siena and Montepulciano, and of course all the beautiful medieval villages along the Via Francigena and in the Val d’Orciaas including Monteriggioni, admired by Dante in his Divine Comedy, San Quirico, Buonconvento, Bagno Vignoni and Pienza, arguably the most perfect Renaissance town in Tuscany.

The emphasis of the tour is to enjoy the countryside, the rolling vineyards, the poppies in spring and the wild cyclamen in autumn. Most of all, many of the views have barely changed for hundreds of years. South of Siena, you head off into a picturesque Tuscan landscape of gentle hills, crowned with a lonely pine or oak tree, while cypresses line the way towards distant farmhouses.

At first you walk mainly through forests and vineyards, then through the spectacular rolling hills of the Crete Senesi, with its extensive fields of wheat and sunflowers, and finally, the rolling hills of the Val d’Orcia, scattered with picturesque little towns. Walking here is an unforgettable experience!

You come across one of the most beautiful abbeys in Tuscany at Monte Oliveto Maggiore. This is a typical red-brick monastery where friars of the Benedictine Order still worship. The next historical villages are Buonconvento and Montalcino, surrounded by vineyards of San Giovese grapes, for the famous Brunello wine. Then you enter the Val d’Orcia, a unique landscape scattered with wonderful little towns, such as San Quirico, Pienza and Bagno Vignoni, with its unique town square (a huge pool of healthy sulphurous water!). Your tour finishes in the town of Montepulciano where medieval architecture and vineyards fill the landscape.