E-Bike Tuscany | May 2025

And we’re off… Dubai here we come!

After a super easy transit through an almost empty airport arrivals hall, we braved the 40-degree heat for a day of sightseeing. From the impressive Atlantis Hotel and residence development, passing through the “must do” Burj Khalifa area, to the fascinating Museum of the Future.

A surprising stop at a protected pelican migration area before ending at the traditional area of the spice and gold souks.

And we’re off again – next stop Italy!!!

After the joys of a lavish Italian breakfast, our wonderfully well-informed guide, Valeria shared the history of Bologna’s monuments, towers, churches and colonnades, with a stop here and there to admire amazing displays of local foods.  One stop of particular fascination was the Anatomical Theatre of the Archiginnasio, a hall once used for anatomy lectures and displays held at the Bologna medical school, with views through to an apparently endless line of bookshelves in the neighbouring historic library.

Our beautiful hotel – the elegantly historical Palazzo Montebello, stylishly updated with modern Italian design touches, looked even better in the fine weather, which stayed fine all day, in defiance of weather reports (must have been all those anti rain dances).   We braved the Duomo (cathedral) area, and learned what peak tourism really means.   We were happy to escape in the afternoon, through the milling throngs on the Ponte Vecchio (old bridge) to the comparative peace of the Piazza Michaelangelo, where a more than life size statue of the sculptor’s David is on display, – a great spot for city views, then up to the Church of San Miniato, and back along the River Arno to the hotel.   A 6.5 hour fitness test, which all passed with flying colours!

Another no rain day in Florence today.   Good to know that other countries get the forecast wrong too.   We spent the morning feeling overwhelmed by both art and tourist numbers at the Uffizi Gallery, pausing to view  some attractive street sculpture on the way there.   While some headed away for a bonus day visiting the Cinque Terre, the town team all caught the bus up to the picturesque hillside town of Fiesole in the afternoon, some stopping off at the central market on the way.   But the highlight of the day was meeting our great bike support team, with a briefing this afternoon, and an excellent welcome dinner to follow.   All now raring to head out into the Tuscan countryside in the morning.

Exciting to be on the road.   We had a few organisational glitches, but got them all sorted for smooth riding from here on.   Only one short shower to contend with, but the weather is cooler than we expected.

The Tuscan countryside is a really beautiful backdrop to picturesque towns, Greve where we stopped for lunch and Castellina in Chianti, where we have a lovely historic hotel – with Chianti waiting for us of course!

Gregor our leader for the day promised finer weather, and indeed we enjoyed some sunshine from time to time, as we headed on an exhilarating downhill swoop through the picturesque Tuscan countryside, stopping for a morning coffee in the rather glum town of Poggibonsi, but at the secret treasure of a lavish bakery, where not everyone managed to resist.   At our lunch stop in Certaldo, some spent the time soaking up the views and local colour, while others relaxed beside a tinkling fountain and were intrigued by the demented tortoises trailing endlessly around our tables.   

The afternoon took us to the highlight town of San Gimignano, with its striking towers,   We could see these in their historical context through a visit to beautifully made pottery model reconstruction of the town in the 13th century.

Glorious sunshine for our ride through undulating countryside to our morning coffee stop, with yet more temptations in Colle val d’Elsa, then on to Monteriggioni for an extended lunch break, with time to catch the views from the city walls, before heading on to our 2 night stop in Siena. 

Part of the route today followed one of the many pilgrim routes to Rome, the Via Francigena, through shady tree lined paths, where we passed a number of pilgrims (or just hikers) on foot.

We had a great introduction to the history and customs of Siena from tour guide Liv, born in Norway, but resident in Siena for 25 years, and looking every inch an Italian, in her tight jeans and leather jacket.   She gave us a history of many of the historic buildings, dating from the middle ages on, including the world’s oldest public service bank (still operating), but most significantly shared the traditions of the famous palio horse race. 17 “Contrades” or neighbourhoods compete twice a year, in July and August, on dates associated with Christian festivals, for the prize of a banner.   Lots are drawn by the contrades for one of the 10 specially chosen horses, which race 3 times round the big palio piazza, in front of the imposing city hall building.   Horses are ridden bareback, with the whole race lasting only about 90 seconds.   The winning contrada surrounds their horse, claims the special banner, and heads off to present it in church, then to celebrations in their district of the city.   

Today the Goose contrado was celebrating the day of their patron saint, so we were lucky enough to see parades of flag waving and drums.

A perfect day for a ride through the Tuscan countryside at its best – emerald green fields, bright blue sky and golden buildings.   Because of Monday closures, we thought that lunch might be a challenge, so gave in to buying goodies at another morning coffee patisserie stop, but there were no problems, pizza, beer, gelato and coffee all magically appeared.   We enjoyed the lovely small town of Murlo for a lunch break. Unfortunately, a steep shortcut to our hotel, intended to avoid main road traffic, proved too much for us, so we settled for a sedate climb via the main road to our hotel with a spectacular view back over the countryside we have been enjoying.

The day with everything – morning mist, bright sunshine, a short shower, smooth roads, cross country tracks, an historic hot baths town at Bagno Vignoni for our coffee stop, great views from Pienza at lunch time, then on to the highlight of the day (or of the tour?), our cooking class at our overnight Agriturismo Tenuta Santo Pietro. 

We prepared pinci; a local pasta, chicken cacciatore, and almond biscotti, all enjoyed with generous servings of wine.   Bettina, our “pocket rocket” host translated for the chef, and made our cooking experience highly entertaining!

We might have expected our longest day today (80km. with 1340 m. of climbing) to be daunting, but the combination of perfect weather and the interspersing of long downhill sweeps between the climbing stretches made it a real treat. Two other treats really made the day – a stop at Bagno San Filippo for a soak in warm sulphur springs, in a lovely natural forest setting and a magnificent picnic lunch waiting for us at a high viewpoint on the road, with Chef Gregor and Sous Chef Jurre ready with a wide smile and excellent food.   

Our very comfortable hotel in Citta della Pieve provided a great meal with good wine to round off a very satisfying day.

Another lovely sunny day to steady climbs and sweeping descents, as well as an extended stretch through the Riserva Naturale Monte Rufeno, part of a protected nature area of around 3,000 hectares. The mainly oak trees were displaying their rich spring green. The hilltop town of Allerona made an attractive lunch stop before another downhill run and a sharp climb up to Orvieto, with its very imposing cathedral – and back with the tourists! 

 We were happy to head on to our overnight accommodation 5 kms from Orvieto.   Misia Resort is an example of a distinctly Italian “Albergo Diffuso” where a family have bought and renovated a group of dilapidated houses to provide quaintly scattered accommodation – a great way to breathe life into small towns from which younger folk have moved away.   It is sad to think that we have had our last day cycling together – just when we were really hitting top form, but thoughts are now turning to an interesting range of ongoing travel plans. Over a farewell dinner we shared reminiscences of the highs and lows of the tour, and specially shared out appreciation for the professionalism and friendship of the great Edelweiss team.

A sad day to say goodbye to all our new friends, but exciting as the members of the group looked forward to their next travels.   We adjusted the timing of the day because there was no one flying out late in the evening, so we had an earlier tour of Ovieto, yet another fascinating view of history.   Our guide told us of the tensions between church and state and their symbols of power late in the 13th century, with the construction of the stunning cathedral started in 1290, and both the city administration building dating from 1280, the same time as the striking tower (no time for the 450 steps to the top for the view). Sadly no time either for all the guide’s recommendations for wonderful places to eat, and local delicacies and drinks that we must try.   

A smooth 2 hours trip to the airport, where we had final hugs and headed away.   Shared taxis were organised and hotel shuttle spots found, and away we all went.   Those of us spending time in Rome found ourselves back in the world of “peak” (over peak?) tourism.   If we thought Florence was crowded, it had nothing on central Rome, but, like Florence, there are opportunities to quickly get away from the top tourist spots and into parks and quieter backstreets.  Once we all arrive back in New Zealand, there will be some great memories to look back on from our cycling days.   Wonderful weather, beautiful countryside, awe at the richness of history, delicious food (amazing breakfasts), an interesting range of comfortable accommodation, a super efficient and friendly support team looking after the top of the line bikes, and miraculously having all our luggage waiting for us in our rooms each evening, exhilarating downhill runs alternating with steady climbs, and above all – the company with a great group.  

Arrivederci.