Rates Note:

Transfer and Other Options:

Day 1: Florence
Individual arrival in Florence, free time to visit the magnificent city of art, a real open-air museum. The city of Leonardo da Vinci, Machiavelli, Giotto, Dante and Brunelleschi, it pervades your soul with wonder at your first visit, but it is indeed capable of offering precious surprises and new treasures to all the people who like to come back again.
You are free for dinner. Spend the night in hotel in the city center.

Day 2: Florence – Fiesole 
After breakfast hike to Fiesole: walk through olive groves and cypress lined roads, coming across the magnificent villas dominating the Val d’Arno. The beauty of the landscape is impressive, once you have reached the hill top you can enjoy an astonishing view over Florence. In the main square of Fiesole you can admire the Dome and the Magisterial Palace, dating back to the fourteenth century, the town also hosts valuable archaeological sites. Return to Florence. You are free for dinner. Spend the night in hotel in the city center. 4 hrs

Day 3: Castellina in Chianti – Radda in Chianti
After breakfast transfer, by public transport (Cat. B), to get to Poggibonsi. From there, private transfer to get to Castellina in Chianti. Private transfer from Florence to Castellina (Cat. A). Today’s route moves through one of the most celebrated stretch of Tuscany land: “the road of Wines”. Start from Castellina in Chianti and rumble on paths and country roads, crossing vineyards and olive groves, to reach the medieval village of Radda in Chianti. The Chianti Classico Wine District lays in between Florence and Siena and its landscapes reveal the charming and variegated nature of this unique countryside. This is the land where the renowned Chianti Classico wine is produced and it is the same land where wine has always been produced, since Etruscan times. Dinner and overnight stay in Radda, in hotel with swimming pool.  4.5 hrs

Day 4: Radda in Chianti – Gaiole in Chianti 
After breakfast leave the Hotel, in the heart of Chianti, to reach Gaiole in Chianti.
The great appeal of this surroundings is not simply bound to vineyards and olive groves, in fact, here nature can offer enchanting sceneries of changing colours, depending on the season: the red of poppy fields, the violet dots of irises, the strong yellow of broom bushes, the intense green of cypresses and fir-trees. And, like a stoke of brush on the landscape, the stone-made villages add a bright golden colour to the picture. Look at Gaiole, San Donato, Pieve di San Giusto, Vertine Castle (which dates back to the year 1020), and the eleventh century tiny village of Galena. Dinner and overnight stay in Radda, in hotel with swimming pool.  5 hrs

Day 5: Gaiole in Chianti – Castello di Brolio 
Castles’ day. Departure from the hotel. First stop of the day is at Meleto Castle, a fortified edifice built in the fifteenth century and then converted during the nineteenth century into a magnificent villa, with the typical style of Tuscan countryside. Carry on the castles’ tour passing through the fortified village of Castagnoli and getting to the famous Brolio Castle, property of the Ricasoli Baron, a suggestive site filled with the charm of past times. You can enter past the castle walls and walk the ancient rounds. If you like, have a look at the Ricasoli wine vaults and take the chance for a wine tasting. Transfer to Siena on private minibus (15 km). You are free for dinner. Night in hotel.  4 hrs

Day 6: Colle Val d’Elsa – San Gimignano
Transfer by public bus to Colle val d’Elsa, visit to the town and then hike to Quartaia, a small rural village of mediaeval origins. Resume the journey through the hills to get to Coneo Abbey, founded around the year 1000, by the Benedictines. Walking on the historic Via Francigena you arrive at Molino d'Aiano. At this point the mild and peaceful panorama is already gently dominated by the unmistakable shape of San Gimignano hill. Declared by the UNESCO World Human Heritage, the city of San Gimignano holds, still intact, its mediaeval urban architecture. The spectacle of the view you can get from the top of one of the several town towers is invaluable! These towers are indeed the main tourist attractions that contribute to make this city famous worldwide.
Return to Siena by public bus (16 km). You are free for dinner. Spend the night in hotel.    5.5 hrs

Day 7: Siena
After breakfast you are free to visit Siena, the famous town of the Palio. Situated on a peculiar territory, Siena is characterised by a quaint scenery, the city unrolls in a continuous up and down of streets, where you can discover the most notorious monuments, like the Buonsignori Palace, with its National Picture Gallery, the white and dark green marble decorated Dome, of which the construction started back in twelfth century, the Piccolomini Library, the Baptistery and the Museum of Metropolitan Opera, or you can simply enjoy a stroll around Piazza del Campo and along the narrow streets, stopping for a taste of Panforte and Ricciarelli in some of the several typical confectioner’s shops. Departure in the early afternoon.
**subject to change

Terrain characteristics: Paths and easy country roads in a hilly area. It is advisable to have done a little trekking practice or a little training. Trekking height: between 100 and 550 mt, average duration of the stages between 4 and 5.30 hours, positive difference in height from 150 to 400 mt per day.

Temperate climate in spring and autumn. Hot in summer.

http://www.eurometeo.com/italian/climate/city_LIRQ/id_Tmin/meteo_firenze-peretola%20italia

Further information on the weather forecast can found at

-        www.ilmeteo.it

-        www.meteo.it

-        www.meteofrance.com/FR/voyage/prevEurope.jsp?LIEUID=ITALIE

-        www.kataweb.it/meteo/

CartograPHY

- Carta Kompass 1:50.000 - N° 660 Firenze – Chianti

- Carta Kompass 1:50.000 - N° 661 Siena – Chianti – Colline Senesi

LUGGAGE
It is necessary for you to divide your luggage into two bags: 1 travel bag with padlock and 1 rucksack.

Rucksack : 30 - 40 L
This will be your hand-luggage if you travel by plane and the bag you will bring with yourself during the trekking. You are suggested to put there heavy and fragile things and all that you need during the flight, such as a camera, a book, a jacket, a beauty case and some medicines, but before, check the luggage regulation of the company you travel with.
Don’t forget to put every sharp thing in the travel bag.
The rucksack must be sufficiently capacious to contain all that you may need during the day (at most 10 kg). If you take part in a guided tour, every day the guide will advise you what to bring with yourself the following day.

Travel bag : 70 - 80 L
This is your main bag which will contain all that you may need during the tour. This luggage will be loaded on the minibus and transferred to the following hotel. It must not weight more than 15/20 kg; we kindly ask you to respect this weight limit.

CLOTHES
A hat is fundamental: it will protect you from 70% of the sunbeams which reach head and neck. It is better if it has a 10 cm peak to protect the nose better and if it has a long edge it will protect ears and neck too. The hat is particularly important for children to avoid sunstrokes.
Vests, T-shirts, blouses, pullovers, rain jacket (goretex), line or fabric trousers, ideal for walks, shorts, cotton socks and swim-suit. During cold months, from January to April and from October to December bring hot clothes.
Finally, you need trekking shoes (high at the ankle and with non-skid sole, Vibram type), tennis shoes or sandals for the evenings.

ACCESSORIES
Sunglasses, suntan lotion, water bottle (2 litres), Swiss penknife (or something like that), bag for the picnic, everything for your personal cleaning, toilet paper, bin bag and a bag to protect your things in the rucksack.
Sunglasses with a good protection against UV rays are extremely important and we advise you to often use them.

PERSONAL FIRST AID
Bring with you basic medicines such as aspirins, anti-inflammatory, elastic and adhesive plasters, disinfectant and protection against bladders.

PHYSICAL EXAMINATION
It is essential to be healthy in order to fully enjoy your holiday! If you haven’t gone to the doctor for some time, this is the right opportunity to do so. Explain to him the kind of travel you are going to do, the altitude, the difficulty and the climate, so that you can leave really peacefully. You don’t need any vaccination. We advise you to check the validity of the tetanus injection and to make it in case it is expired.

If you don’t feel like training before the tour, but you want to avoid problems during the trekking, some advice:
• Go up and down the stairs and avoid using the lift;
• Get up 30 minutes earlier in the morning and go for a walk
• Drink more water gradually until you add 2 litres to those you usually drink between lunch and dinner, until you drink 3-4 litres a day.

Accommodations are in 3-star hotels -
2 nights in Florence, 2 nights in Radda in Chiati and 2 nights in Siena.
Hotel upgrade to 4-star hotels are available.

Meals
- Bed & breakfast during the days 1, 2, 5 and 6 and dinners included for days 3 and 4. Dinners at the hotel restaurant in Radda.
- It is possible to have lunch in restaurants and local bars or to picnic, buying the food at the groceries in towns and villages. Groceries are usually closed on Sunday and during bank holidays (January 1st and 6th, Easter, Easter Monday, April 25th, May 1st, June 2nd, August 15th, November 1st, December 8th, 25th and 26th).