Walking Italy’s Rural Heartland
- See the beautiful Tuscan landscape up close and on foot, passing vineyards and olive groves of the Brunello wine region (with opportunities en route to sample the Brunello local red)
- Walking through classic Tuscan scenery: gentle, rolling hills, broken by medieval and renaissance villages and hilltop towns
- Stay in the beautiful Renaissance city of Pienza, a designated UNESCO world heritage site, where you can visit captivating palaces, Romanesque churches and Pienza Cathedral
- Visit the historic red brick monastery of Monte Oliveto Maggiore en route
- The famous medieval city of Siena, the capital of the province of Siena
- Stay in ‘agriturismo’ farmhouses and the historic settings of the area’s medieval towns and villages
Why this walk?
Take a route through one of Tuscany’s six World Heritage Sites, designated for its influence and depiction in many paintings of the Renaissance era. The area is also renowned for its outstanding local produce, with festivals throughout the calendar celebrating some of Tuscany’s most popular culinary exports (such as truffles and Brunello wine). The Val d’Orcia denotes the valley around the River Orcia, a landscape popular among photographers, with vast, open vistas of rolling hills stretching far into the horizon. As you follow this route through the expansive countryside, you’ll find a scenery punctuated by the clusters of Cypress and vineyards on your way to the region’s beautiful Renaissance towns and villages.
The Path
The Accommodation
Small, welcoming family-run hotels comprise the accommodation on this journey through the Tuscan countryside. This walking holiday also features the popular Italian institution of ‘Agriturismo’ accommodation, with B&Bs in old farmhouses. Across the Val d'Orcia, the introduction of rooms and modifications for housing guests have been designed to reflect the original character of the building and locality. All rooms have en-suite facilities and breakfast is included on all days.
Our Val d’Orcia Itineraries
Montepulciano to Arbia
Distance: 48 miles (77km)
- 7 nights’ accommodation on a bed and breakfast basis
- Luggage transfers
- Personal transfers where indicated in the programme as a standard arrangement
- Walk Pack* to include Road Book (route notes/mapping) including directions to your accommodation and destination information.
- Two local maps
- Access to a Travel App
- City taxes (per person) only payable direct to accommodations - city taxes can vary during the year and range from 1€ to 3€ depending on location and accommodation.
- Packed lunches (own arrangements)
- Evening meals (own arrangements). Available in local restaurant or in-house
- Travel to Montepulciano/travel from Siena
You choose which day you would like your holiday to start on. We will book your holiday in accordance with your requirements.
Our Val d’Orcia holidays are available to walk April to October.
Visiting in Spring and Autumn is the best policy for avoiding the heat of high summer, which can make progress a lot harder out on the country tracks.
The Val d'Orcia is in proximity to the two major airports of Tuscany, but it can also be reached from two of Rome's airports, in the Lazio region.
- Florence “A Vespucci” (FLR)
- Pisa (PSA)
- Rome Fiumicino (FCO)
- Ciampino (CIA)
You are responsible for booking your air travel to airports and onward travel to your first accommodation and from your accommodation on departure.
From the airports you can take a train, and a connecting bus service to reach Montepulciano http://www.trenitalia.com
- From Rome Airports take bus or train to Roma Termini Train Station. Roma Termini train station to Chiusi-Chianciano Terme train station (approximately 1 hour 40 minutes).
- From Florence Airport to Florence Santa Maria Novella Train Station. From Florence train station to Chiusi-Chianciano Terme train station (approximately 2 hours 15 minutes)
Bus from Chiusi C.T. to Montepulciano (one FT4 bus journey is 25 minutes) https://www.at-bus.it/en/lines-and-timetables (Servizi ExtraUrbani SI)
Val d’Orcia Client Reviews
3.6/5 based on 1 reviews
Celtic Trails were very accommodating about applying 2020 deposits for a 2022 trips, adding extra nights and other requests. Loved the beautiful scenery and met nice people, but June was too hot for hiking in Tuscany.
Anon - June 2022