Chianti In Style

Trip Type:

In Style | After a day of exciting adventures and soaking up unbeatable scenery, retreat to stylish accommodations and unwind with fine food and wine. This trip type is for those who like sophisticated places to stay and are looking for active routes but still want the holiday to feel special.

Activity:

Inn to Inn Walking | Walk from place-to-place changing accommodations each night. Generally staying in B&B’s, inns, and guesthouses.

Grade & Terrain

This trip is graded ‘easy to moderate’ overall. The terrain is undulating with regular ascents and descents, and summer temperatures can be high. You should therefore be in good physical fitness to fully enjoy the walking on this tour. Most of the route follows gravel and farm tracks and trails, and minor roads from time to time. It’s best ahead of time to do some practice walks including stairs and ascents and descents like those you will experience on the trip whilst carrying your day bag. The walks are an average of 15-16 kms each day and a couple of them are optional and could be skipped if an additional rest day is required. However, should you also wish to skip a walk between towns then you will be responsible for taking a taxi or bus (if possible) to the next place.

Navigation

The route is not waymarked, except for some sections on dedicated trails. However, we provide the Macs Adventure Smartphone App making it simple to follow the route using a smartphone. Rest assured that by downloading the route maps in our app, that this will continue to work even in areas without any mobile or internet reception. For extra reassurance there are also turn-by-turn route notes within the app too for the walks.

• Accommodation in en suite rooms in 4* and 5* hotels on a double share basis
• Daily breakfasts
• Three dinners including one in a 1* Michelin restaurant with wine
• Wine tour and tasting
• Transfers as per your itinerary
• Door to door baggage transfers as per your itinerary
• All your trip documents including a detailed information pack provided digitally through your online Macs “My Account”
• Access to maps, GPX tracks and daily route information with the Macs Adventure smartphone navigation app
• Telephone support from our offices in the event of a problem

• Travel insurance (required) and personal equipment
• Lunches, other dinners, drinks, and snacks
• Tourist taxes (charged locally at hotels)
• Travel to and from Siena
• Any additional transfers or public transport required to shorten the walks or skip a stage

• Additional nights before, during or after the tour
• Private transfer from the end point of the tour to the airport
• Room upgrades

When To Go

This tour is available to start anytime between April and October.

Peak Season Availability

As Tuscany is a very popular destination, we suggest booking as soon as possible to ensure availability for specific dates. Availability in Siena is very difficult around the times of the 'Palio' horse races held annually normally in early July and then again in mid-August.

Time of Year

The springs months of April, May and June offer warm sunshine, fewer crowds, and pleasant walking conditions. May is when most wildflowers are coming into bloom. The autumn months of September and October are also a favourable time of year, boasting cooler weather and a striking landscape made up of autumnal colours. July and August are good months to go but can be very hot for walking and therefore aren’t best suited for everyone. You will have to start early to miss the heat of the day and carry a lot of water (additional weight) with you. Although the towns and villages are buzzing at this time of year which is great to see.

Getting to the Start

On this tour an included transfer will bring you from Siena train station to Gaiole in Chianti, the starting point. The drive is around 40 minutes.

To reach Siena fly into Pisa or Rome Airports. There is also an airport in Florence, however flights in and out of this airport are limited.

If arriving at Pisa from the airport take the PisaMover to the main train station (takes 5 minutes). Turn left when exiting arrivals and the PisaMover is at the end of the airport. From Pisa Centrale Train Station trains to Siena leave around every 30 mins, with one change and the journey takes approximately 1 hour 45.

Rome has two airports. From Fiumicino Airport take a train to the central station Roma Termini (taking about 30 minutes). From Ciampino Airport there’s a bus to Roma Termini. From Rome centre change trains in Florence to go to Siena. Trains leave approximately every hour and take about 3 hours 30.

If landing at Florence Airport, there’s a shuttlebus into the centre of Florence (taking around 25 minutes). It stops beside the main railway station of Santa Maria Novella. From Florence a train to Siena takes about 1 hour 30. Some trains are direct whereas others go via Empoli.

Please check the Trenitalia website for timetable planning. Please note that not all buses/trains run on a Sunday, or they may have a reduced timetable.

Getting from the End

As the tour finishes in Siena, use the same travel information as shown in ‘Getting to the Start’ to reverse the journey back to the chosen departure point.

Baggage Transfer

One main bag of up to 20kg per person will be transferred from each accommodation to the next.

General Information

Equipment

Our pre-departure information pack details advice and a packing list on what to bring. This includes warm and cold walking gear, hiking boots, rain gear, day pack and other specifics.