Aart Heering
Trekking, marching or just strolling: walking holidays are becoming more and more popular. Especially in Tuscany, which has been crossed on foot by pilgrims, merchants, dignitaries, soldiers and tourists since ancient times.
Busy cities like Florence, Siena and Livorno remain the main attractions, but a growing number of visitors are opting for the alternative of tranquility, spirituality and health offered by the inland hill and mountain landscape with its narrow paths, green forests, mountain passes, medieval towns, churches and monasteries .
The regional administration of Tuscany is eager to respond to tourist trends and has therefore recently made an overview of 7 well-marked walking routes, from 4 to 27 day trips along the ancient pilgrimage roads.
1.378 km walking through Tuscany
Together they make up 1.378 km of hiking trails with a total difference in altitude of 35.000 meters, from the Tyrrhenian coast to the peaks of the Apennines, spread over 72 stages that lead through 119 municipalities and past 20 top tourist attractions.
This Atlante dei Cammini, or the Atlas of Tuscan Walks, was solemnly presented earlier this month and is now accessible on the web (see bottom of article.)
The descriptions of routes and sights are fairly general, but therefore very suitable for orientation. For the exact location you can download KML map data on your smartphone (including via Google Earth) and those who want to know more will be referred to more specific sites via links. In short, a very useful tool in the choice and preparation of your Tuscan hiking trip.
Then first the 7 routes:
1. Via Francigena – 380 km
The most famous covers the Tuscan part of the Francigena, the pilgrimage route established by Archbishop Sigeric of Canterbury in 990, which led from his city to Rome and is now almost as famous as the road to Santiago.
The Tuscan route is divided into 16 stages, which cross the entire region from north to south. It starts with a start in the Apennines, on the 1.100 meters high Passo della Cisa, followed by a gradual descent, via Sarzana and Massa, with a view of the Alpi Apunane, which has been broken down by marble mining, to the sculptor town of Pietrasanta.
Then follows a series of stages along classics such as Lucca, San Gimignano and Siena. Finally, a mountainous route along the hot springs of Bagno Vignoni and Monte Amiata, the highest peak in Tuscany, to reach the border with the Lazio region in Acquapendente.
2. Via di Francesco – 428 km
This is the territory of Francis of Assisi. Not a single track, but a network of 7 trails with a total of 27 stages of 428 kilometers in total. The starting point is the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, from where the route continues past towns such as Arezzo, Cortona and Sansepolcro, the birthplace of Piero della Francesca with the museum dedicated to him.
But it is mainly a trip through green hills and valleys - Valdarno, Valtiberina and Valdichiana -, through the Casentino National Park and past medieval villages, castles, parish churches (pilgrim churches) and monasteries such as those of Vallombrosa and the world famous Camaldoli.
'An almost mystical immersion in nature', as La Repubblica rightly wrote. For those who are not satisfied with 400 km, a side path leads to Umbria, the region of origin of 'the man from the valley of Spoleto', the title of the Franciscus biography of Helene Noltenius.
3. Via Romea Sanese – 84 km
In the Middle Ages this was the shortest connection between Florence and Siena. Now it is a not too difficult hiking route of 84 kilometers divided into 4 stages:
- From Florence to San Casciano Val di Pesa.
- Then through the woods and vineyards of the hilly Chianti region to Badia a Passignano, with its magnificent Benedictine abbey dating from the early Middle Ages and restored in the 11th century.
- The next day via the rustic San Donato in Poggio with its beautiful Romanesque church to Castellina in Chianti.
- And finally a day trip to Siena.
A route with some hills, but perfect for those who don't want to make it too difficult.
4. Via Romea Germanica – 140 km
The Tuscan part of the ancient route of pilgrims from Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, 140 km in 7 days, starts with a steep ascent from Bagno di Romagna in the region of the same name.
It then leads through a wooded and leafy area through small medieval towns such as Corezzo, Chitignano and Subbiano to Arezzo, once an important Etruscan center, now also known for its antique dealers, where you can soak up the Tuscan atmosphere without having to walk over the heads of (other) tourists.
The next interesting town is Cortona and then the route continues not far from Lake Trasimeno, made infamous by the battle of 217 BC. in which the Carthaginian general Hannibal crushed a Roman army, on to Umbria, on its way to Rome.
5. Via Romea Strata – 108 km
A series of local roads combine to form the ancient 1.400 kilometer long 'strait' from Central Europe to Rome. It enters Italy through Friuli and Veneto, then crosses Emilia-Romagna and then enters Tuscany from the Apennines.
The Tuscan part is 108 km long, divided into 6 stages, and is also known as Via Nonantola, after the Benedictine abbey that ruled here in the early Middle Ages.
The first part ascends and descends through the forests and villages of the Montagna Pistoiese, a mountainous area in the Tuscan part of the Apennines, before descending to a little above sea level in Pistoia, where the day trip ends in the beautiful Piazza Duomo , in front of the Cathedral of San Zeno.
In the last days it rises again in the Montalbano range and finally the Nonatola joins the Via Francigena.
6. Via Matildica – 102 km
Named after Matilda of Canossa (also known for her castle where the German Emperor Henry IV waited 1076 days in rain and cold for the Pope's forgiveness in 3), this road runs from Mantua in Lombardy through Emilia Romagna to Lucca.
The Tuscan part is 102 kilometers long, to be covered in 5 day trips and to keep things simple, the second half of it is again known as Via del Volto Santo (Holy Face).
The first Tuscan stage goes from Gazzano to San Pellegrino in Alpe and is already good for 1.100 meters of ascent and 500 meters of descent. In the following days, some leg muscles are still required in the mountainous region of Garfagnana.
The path passes small rustic towns such as Castelnuovo and Gallicano and ends in front of the medieval walls of Lucca, one of the unjustly lesser known gems of Tuscany.
7. Via Laurentina – 114 km
From Siena to Cortona, this 114-kilometre trail, which can be done in 4 or 5 stages, leads through a completely different kind of Tuscany. It is that of the Crete Senesi, a lunar landscape of calanche, erratic bare steep slopes due to erosion, and biancane, dome-shaped low hills with white heads due to exhaled salts.
The paths running over light-colored clay are also known here as 'strade bianche'. White are also the palaces of Serre di Rapolano, built in the travertine of the local quarries.
The Laurentina then runs past Sinalunga and over the Sentiero della Bonifica, or Polderpad, from the Val di Chiana, drained by the Florentine Grand Dukes (of the Medici and Habsburg-Lorraine families), to Cortona.
Finally, the path leads to the pilgrimage type Loreto in the Marches, from which it takes its name.
More information about these Tuscan walking routes
Via the website below you can view further information about the routes and download the route data via KML files for your smartphone.
www.visittuscany.com/it/cammini (Italian)
www.visittuscany.com/en/walks (English)
If you also want to eat and drink well after a day of brisk walking, you can go to another regional site, www.vetrina.toscana.it.
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