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Home , Buonconvento, Lake Trasimeno, Pienza, Province of Arezzo, Umbria

The Best of and : Guided Cycling

Cycling in Umbria and Tuscany is a wonderful opportunity to appreciate the best of both areas and their natural beauty and artistic treasures. This tour includes visits to some of the major city centers and the gorgeous environment of these gorgeous regions. A great serenity can be felt in the air, in the soft colors of the landscape: grey stone houses, silvery olive trees, the soft powdery color of the earth. You'll bike through sensual, rolling terrain, a magical gift to yourself that you’ll treasure for a lifetime! This tour includes visits to the impressive towns of , , , , , , and with their typical medieval appearance. You'll discover exquisite hilltop villages scattered over Tuscany’s and Umbria’s green hills, and century-old farms and churches - especially the unforgettable Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi. The hills will give you sweeping views over the unspoiled landscape, a patchwork of wild flower fields, olive groves, and vineyards. The barren, geometrical cypress-crested mounds of the "Crete" hills are distinctive and beautiful. The food of this region is particularly delicious, and there are fine wines to be tasted in Brunello.

Included • 7 nights of double occupancy lodging in mostly 3-star, air-conditioned hotels with private facilities each night • Daily breakfast and 2 dinners • Van support or cycle guide • Daily route directions for individual departures in the morning • Luggage transfers • All taxes and gratuities for the hotel and restaurant portions of the tour

Daily Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival in Assisi You will be met by your tour leader at the train station and driven to your accommodation for the night. In the afternoon there will be time to see some of the city's artistic highlights. You could visit the magnificent Basilica of San Francesco, painstakingly restored after the recent earthquake. The basilica complex is composed of two churches built one above the other, the lower one dating from 1228 – 1230 and the upper one from 1230 – 1253. Inside the lower church are beautiful frescoes by famous artists such as Lorenzetti and Giotto, and the wonderful Chapel of St. Martin is completely frescoed by with scenes of the saint's life. It's one of the most beautiful works of the painter and a masterpiece of Gothic art. It's the upper church, however, where you’ll find Giotto’s frescoes illustrating the life of St. Francis and one of the most important cycles of paintings in the history of . Unforgettable masterpieces! In the Piazza del Commune you’ll see a 14th century pulpit and the Roman Temple of Minerva with a well-preserved exterior.

Van Gogh Tours Inc. • (781)-646-0096 • [email protected] Day 2: Assisi – Spello - – Assisi – 31 miles (50 km) Today we’ll cycle through beautiful olive groves along a ridge with delightful views to the small town of Spello, a perfectly preserved town still encircled by Roman walls on the Subasio slopes. Later we’ll ride through olive groves with no major uphills except for the final climb back to Assisi. On the return trip you can visit , going through the most famous wine area of Umbria, the Sagrantino "Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita" (DOCG). Alternatively, you could decide to stay in Assisi today and have more time to explore the fabulous “pink city."

Day 3: Assisi – – 31 miles (50 km) As we cycle through the heart of Umbria we’ll pass by . Deruta is famous for beautiful ceramics that have been produced here for centuries and you’ll have a difficult time choosing from the gorgeous examples of the craft in Deruta’s shops and workshops. Then we’ll stop briefly in , home of Umbria's finest wines produced by Giorgi Lungarotti. Here we can visit their wine museum, which also includes medieval machinery. We’ll pedal through soft hills and scenic little villages until we reach “Il Poggiolo” in Poggio delle Corti: a charming, old fashioned villa. The route today is continuously up and down so we’ll be happy to find a relaxing and peaceful hotel with a dinner waiting for us.

Day 4: Solomeo – – Cortona – 31 miles (50 km) Today we'll glide by Lake Trasimeno, whose shores shelter migratory birds that nest in the bamboo that surrounds the lake. All around you'll notice lovely villages surrounded by olive groves. There will be time for us to take a boat to where old ladies still weave traditional lace, fisherman mend their nets, and where we can savor some delicious fresh fish at Sauro’s Fish Restaurant. You can also climb to the highest point on the island, crowned by the 14th century Church of San Michele. Later we’ll continue and cross into Tuscany while biking to our hotel in Cortona, the setting for Frances Mayes’ best seller “Under the Tuscan Sun.” Cortona is a small but fascinating city in the province of , situated on a commanding hill overlooking Lake Trasimeno. Its massive walls, still in great part preserved, are said to be 3,000 years old. It was one of the twelve cities of and in its vicinity there are many ruins and Etruscan tombs. It's a wonderful place for an afternoon sightseeing stroll.

Day 5: Cortona – Montepulciano – 28 miles (45 km) Today we’ll cycle in Tuscany through the wine country of Montepulciano. The route will lead us past some of the small and Montepulciano lakes. Then we’ll head for beautiful Montepulciano, one of Tuscany's highest hilltop towns and known worldwide for its fabulous Vino Nobile wines. You can visit the superb Cantina del Redi with its vaulted cellars in town, or have a taste of the Nobili wines at Crociani winery, a small, friendlier “enoteca.”

Van Gogh Tours Inc. • (781)-646-0096 • [email protected] Day 6: Montepulciano – Buonconvento – 28 miles (45 km) You’ll pedal through many wonderful places today. After a visit to the San Biagio Church we'll ride to the perfect town of Pienza, an architectural jewel famous also for its wonderful cheese, the di Pienza. Pienza was planned and built from 1459 - 1462 by the famous Florentine architect Gambarelli at the request of Pope Pius II. Walking through the narrow streets of this walled city is a photographer’s delight, and the cathedral and the Pope’s residence are well worth a visit. We’ll continue on a small road that will take us to , a tiny walled village in the middle of the incredible “” hill landscape with its barren hills that appear eerie in some lights. Later we’ll make a short detour to the ancient spa of . Here we can soak our feet in the warm sulfurous waters - appreciated since Roman times - that bubble up into a large pool constructed by the Medici family in the picturesque Piazza. From here we'll pedal on to Buonconvento where we’ll spend the night in a charming agriturismo or in a modern 3-star hotel in the city, eating at our accommodation.

Day 7: Buonconvento - Siena – 31 miles (50 km) After a steep climb, we'll pedal through the spectacular eroded hills of "Crete" and then through thick cypress and olive groves as we approach the 14th century Benedictine monastery of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, one of the best known Benedictine monasteries in Tuscany. The monastery was founded for hermits in 1313 and was suppressed by Napoleon in 1810 After restoration it was made a national monument, though some monks remain as caretakers. Ancient pines surround the cloister and the walls are decorated with gorgeous frescoes detailing the history of St. Benedetto and the Benedictine Order. You can contemplate the cloister with its magnificent fresco cycle on the life of St. Benedict, then we'll continue on to , a small town in the heart of the Crete. From there it's to Siena, one of the most beautiful cities in Italy. After , Siena (once Florence’s most powerful rival) is by far the most interesting town in Tuscany and offers us many treasures. Highlights are the dazzling Cathedral and the , both gorgeous Gothic buildings, and the , one of the most remarkable squares in Italy and the site of the yearly "Palio" horse races in July and August. You can stroll through the famous Piazza del Campo, enjoy a gelato, and find a charming trattoria for your farewell dinner tonight.

Day 8: Tour Ends You can walk around Siena and visit some of its museums before you depart. It’s a short cab ride from the hotel to the train station in Siena.

Starting Point You will be met by your tour guide in the train station in Assisi. There's a direct train from or Florence to the Terontola Train Station near Cortona, and from there you'll transfer by train to Assisi. Please let us know the arrival time of your train at least one week before your trip! For train schedules visit the website of the Italian Railways, www.trenitalia.com or www.raileurope.com.

Level of Difficulty This tour is rated "moderate to challenging," as the daily routes are on mostly hilly terrain. Good cycling experience is recommended to deal with up and down hills and periodically busy Italian traffic.

Van Gogh Tours Inc. • (781)-646-0096 • [email protected] Travel Guidance For this tour, your group can choose between a cycle guide or van support. If you choose a bilingual Italian cycle guide, they will bike with you and guide you on the routes and around the towns. There will be no van following you! If you choose van support, this will be done by a bilingual Italian support driver who transfers the luggage, goes over the route notes, and checks on the bikers during the day. They would not bike with you, and you would have to follow the directions on your own.

The Bicycles 21 or 24-speed hybrid bikes are included in the tour price. Bicycles come equipped with grip shifters, handlebar bag, bell, cage and water bottle, and an optional bike computer. It's also possible to replace our pedals with your own “clip on” pedals. Helmets are not included, so please bring your own helmet!

WiFi WiFi is available on a limited basis in hotels. Don't expect to have a perfect internet connection for your entire stay. Usually during the busiest hours when many people are online the speed gets slower, and you may have trouble connecting.

Not included • Airfare • Alcoholic and bar beverages • Lunches and five dinners • Transportation other than scheduled transfers

Van Gogh Tours Inc. • (781)-646-0096 • [email protected]