val d'orcia dreamscapes

"Departing from the Historic Centre of Pienza, this loop weaves through the farms, villages and landscape reflecting Renaissance agricultural prosperity."

from luccacyclingclub.it newsletter

Grand Tour of Maremma

www.visittuscany.com/en/itineraries-bike/grand-tour-of-maremma/

Grand Tour of Maremma: an itinerant journey by bicycle that encloses, as in a casket, nature, history, culture, traditions, food and wine of the Maremma Grossetana. Departure and arrival of this trip is the city of Grosseto, however, since it is a ring route, each cycle traveler can choose the starting point from an intermediate point of the itinerary, also in relation to their place of origin. The Grand Tour itinerary is marked throughout its development on the territory by special tourist signs with classic white characters on a brown background, bearing the name of the next town and the logo of the ‘Cicloturismo in Maremma’ project.

The Etruscans in Val di Merse

www.grandtourvaldimerse.it/en/itinerario/

Route in the Municipality of Murlo, which also allows a visit to the village of Buonconvento, an interesting stretch that runs along the old railway of the Murlo mines along the Crevole stream where some passages are rather narrow, the dirt roads that allow you to wander between the Val di Merse and the Crete Senesi up to Montalcino.

Val di Merse gravel

www.grandtourvaldimerse.it/en/itinerario/

modified slightly near Partena (north end) to shorten a busy road section

The Val di Merse Cycling Group has also created a Gravel Grand Tour version of the Val di Merse, an invitation to slow tourism, which allows you to discover the most secret beauties of the area. The route of 217 km with 4200mt d+ with about 100km of dirt road and the asphalt part that uses a secondary road without traffic. We recommend taking the Gravel Grand Tour of the Val di Merse with a Gravel or Mountain Bike and dividing it into several stages to better savor this wonderful part of Tuscany.

Grand Tour Val di Merse

www.grandtourvaldimerse.it/en/

The Merse Valley Grand Tour is a fully signposted cycling tour itinerary which over a length of 173km with 3100m d+ that will allow you to discover Tuscany’s authentic and precious heart. The medieval villages of Chiusdino, Monticiano, Murlo, Sovicille, Casole d’Elsa and Radicondoli are man-made tourist attractions, where people live their everyday life alongside the rocks as perfectly integrated islands in an atmosphere which scrupulously preserves something ancient and genuine.

Today this fascinating area knows only boundless peace and offers magnificent routes to all curious cycle tourists who want to ride in search of little secrets and great discoveries.

90% of the itinerary is on secondary roads with low levels of traffic for one or more days of pure cycling pleasure, spreading over a large area that reaches the southern foothills of the Elsa and Cecina valleys from the heart of Montagnola Senese, rolling south to the Ombrone Valley, passing through the northern part of Maremma and then running through the Crete Senesi countryside, a spectacular sea of undulating, rolling hills that accompanies us to the gates of Siena.

Exploring the typically hilly Merse Valley, characterized by an amazing variety of natural environments, by bike is the best way to appreciate the natural and artistic treasures that this quiet and beautiful land can offer.