"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication"

Tuscany’s untamed south / 1 week

Pre-arrival
Rome 2 nights, included a guided tour of the city

Post-departure
3 nights in a hotel by the sea, half board included

Combined with: Umbria or Val d’Orcia (Tuscany)

7 nights accommodation, all meals, local guide every day, tour leader, all visits and entrance fees.

  • Explore Pitigliano, Sorano and Sovana

  • See the Tarot gardens

  • Visit ancient wine cellars

  • Learn about the Etruscan culture

  • Taste local wine and cheese

Tour Description

Etruscan Tuscany, the area of Maremma, with its melancholic beauty, was formerly a marshy district haunted by bandits and shepherds. 

Maremma, this is the Tuscany you didn’t expect and you would never have contemplated visiting. 

While Italy’s famous areas are seemingly less Italy as we imagined it, here the feeling of dolce vita is still alive in the quaint medieval towns spotted all over. 

They are like their own little world where everyone knows everyone and peace, good food and wine dominate. All in an unspoilt historic setting, taking you back to the Middle Ages or Renaissance. For others the Maremma is pure nature. 

Maremma is a natural beauty of undiscovered wilderness. Add hundreds of km of coastline to national parks with amazing wild life, you get an image of what Maremma is. 

This was the heartland of the Etruscans when they reached the Italian shores and remained so for the rest of their existence.

Detailed itinerary

DAY 1 - Arrival Day

Arrive at Rome airport and transfer to your hotel in Sovana. Some time for an afternoon stroll, welcome meeting and drink, getting to know your guides.

DAY 2 - Pitigliano walk

Today is dedicated to archaeological trekking on the traces of the Etruscans. Start on Sovana for a short tour of town, visit the Sirene’s tomb. Walk all the way to Pitigliano along the vie cave, the Etruscan hollow ways that linked the settlements. Lunch in Pitigliano with typical local food before visiting the town of Pitigliano and the Jewish quarter. On the way back home, stop at a local cheese maker for a tasting of the local pecorino cheese.

DAY 3 - Sorano walk

Today walk from Vitozza to Sorano, always immersed in history. Start off in San Quirico and reach Vitozza, the so-called “lost town”. Visit the caves and then walk along the Lente valley up to Sorano for another local lunch and the possibility to descend in to our hosts Etruscan wine cellars. In the afternoon reach the necropolis of San Rocco, then a local winery for a wine tasting of the delicious local red wines before returning home.

DAY 4 - Mt. Labbro

Morning at the wild life park of Arcidosso, a park that was founded to preserve local species which have an important role in maintaining the balance between wild and modern life. The park also hosts a big group of Apennine wolfs. Picnic lunch at the park. In the afternoon reach the summit of Mt. Labbro and from there enjoy views over vast parts of the Apennines.

DAY 5 - Saturnia, Montemerano

Reach Saturnia in the morning, a place where already the ancient Romans used to have spas. The area is full of natural hot water springs. Dip your feet or your entire self into the hot waters before starting the walk from the little waterfall of the Mulino to Montemerano. Lunch is the little gem of a medieval hamlet. In the afternoon walk on the ancient consular road Via Clodia to the Poderi di Montemerano.

DAY 6 - Argentario and Feniglia dunes

Discover Maremma’s sea side today. Start from Ansedonia along the dunes of Feniglia and walk to Porto Ercole. The Argentario area is full of very chic seaside resorts, very populated in the summer and breathtakingly beautiful out of season. Walk between the open sea and the lagoon, an easy walk observing flora and birds. Lunch in Albinia, in the afternoon an urban trek through the town of Orbetello along the town’s lagoon. On the way back home, stop in Capalbio for a visit of the famous Tarot gardens of Niki St. Phalle.

DAY 7 - Lake Bolsena

Today we will travel to Lake Bolsena, a volcanic lake in Maremma. The walk will take us along an old Pilgrim Route that once led to Orvieto in Umbria. A different landscape here, a beautiful lake and a wonderful lunch on the lake shore. In the afternoon we’ll discover the town of Montefiaschone, once famous for its Est!Est!Est! wines. Farewell dinner at the hotel.

DAY 8 - Departure

Transfer to Rome airport for departure.