Tuscany Family Experience main pictures
Tuscany Family Experience main pictures

Tuscany Family Experience

Multi Activity week on the Tuscan perfect landscapes
Our tour is based in the Valdarno at the charming tenuta Il Gavillaccio, a perfect base to explore as well the world famous area of Chianti and the fascinating Arezzo with its rich history. We’ll meet winemakers, farmers, shepherds and real locals that will let us know their quintessential Tuscan lifestyle.

Highlights


Visit of a real italian farm

Visit of a real italian farm

The gravel roads of Tuscany

The gravel roads of Tuscany

Hunting to the truffles

Hunting to the truffles

Swimming in the river

Swimming in the river

Day to Day

B: Breakfast; L: Lunch; D: Dinner;
1Benvenuti in Toscana!Warm up ride or walkD
2The cheese farmVisit and easy rideB L D
3The “Eroica” landsEasy ride 20KmB L D
4Tuscan villas and basket weaversAll dayB L D
5Pina and the TrufflesAll dayB L D
6Swimming in the riverAll dayB L D
7Arrivederci!DepartureB

Tour Map


Day 1: Benvenuti in Toscana!

Walking or Cycling to Warm Up

Upon your arrival, we’ll pick you up in Florence airport or station according to your logistics, and we will transfer you to Figline di Valdarno. We will choose a property with swimming pool and a beautiful garden. Our local guide will introduce the tour, then we’ll go for a short walk or short warm up bike ride around the property. We will finish the first day with an aperitivo and a dinner by the pool or al fresco.

Overnight: Figline Valdarno
Included: Dinner

Day 2: The cheese farm

Today we’ll ride our bikes to a pecorino cheese farm. The ride is quite easy with no difficult hills. We’ll make a tour of the farm, seeing the flock of sheep and listening how the shepherd raises his animals.

After that, and may be the kids can pet a small lamb, we’ll have a tasting based on the products of the farm: several kinds of pecorino, from fresh to seasoned, Ricotta cheese and other products of the farm. We’ll have our first typical Tuscan lunch, then we'll take a bike ride along the Arno River. The ride can be as long or short as we like.

Overnight: Figline Valdarno
Included: Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Day 3: The “Eroica” lands

Today we’ll start with a bike ride along the epic routes of the Eroica, the fascinating bike ride featuring, each year on first sunday of October, up to 10 thousand people. They wear vintage cycling clothes and ride vintage cycling bikes, riding up to 200 km on this part of Chianti. The bike ride (we’ll pedal less than 200 km!) will take us up to the small village of Meleto where we can visit its Castle, an important location during the medieval time. After the lunch at Figline di Valdarno, we’ll transfer to Arezzo in afternoon for a chocolate producer visit, kids will love. And we guess parents as well 🙂

Then we’ll have a guided tour of Arezzo, discovering the marvelous frescos of Piero della Francesca, one of the most important italian painters of all times, and one of precursors of renaissance. Today we’ll have dinner in Arezzo, then we’ll be back at our base.

Overnight: Figline Valdarno
Included: Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Day 4: Tuscan villas and basket weavers

Today we’ll hike about 2 hrs to the home of a traditional Tuscan basket weaver, checking out Sting's home along the way, and tasting his wines. Then we’ll have lunch at Malò's. She is a basket weaver and she will be pleased to show us her lily garden. We’ll have a relaxed afternoon with an optional walk back or transfer to our accomodation.

This day we can add as well horseback riding.

Overnight: Figline Valdarno
Included: Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Day 5: Pina and the Truffles

Sorry kids, today we have an early wake up!

But you’ll forget it when you’ll meet Pina, a lovely dog expert on truffle hunting. With her owner Antonio, we’ll walk in the woods to know this product, and discover how it grows under the soil. After the walk we’ll have a tasting of local products, organized as pic-nic lunch - in the woods.
In the afternoon we can decide to go for a hike near Figline di Valdarno, or for a short bike ride. But we’ll make sure to have enough time for the pool as well.

Overnight: Figline Valdarno
Included: Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Day 6: Swimming in the river

This is probably the best day.
We can get to Loro Ciuffenna, a small neat village along the Ciuffenna river, visit the colourful village then walk along the river and dip in its swimming holes.
As simple as that, but it’s an experience of freedom.
Here we can have a picnic.

If time allows we could complete the afternoon visiting a “schiacciata” bakery in Chiassaia or will have a gelato in Loro Ciuffena.

Overnight: Figline Valdarno
Included: Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Day 7: Arrivederci!

Well, it’s time to say goodbye, but we are sure this part of Italy will touch your hearts and you’ll come again to visit more!

Overnight: Figline Valdarno
Included: Breakfast

This is a Sample tour

These itineraries are original tours created for real guests, so you may want something different specifically designed to suit your own wishes.
The price of every tour is available upon requests, and varies by time of year, number of guests and level of guiding.
Start dreaming looking through it, then contact us and let's talk. We'll listen to your needs, we'll suggest ideas and propose experiences, and together we'll create your perfect voyage.


Looking for something Ready to Book?

Check our GUIDED or SELF-GUIDED sections with active and cycle tours in our Mediterranean destinations.


Brendan NevinBrendan Nevin
15:07 07 Jun 23
Mediterras supported 8 of us on the cycling Gran Tour down the west coast. I would strongly recommend them - brilliant support, great local knowledge led routes and excellent bikes, We would use them again without hesitation.
Lesley KovarLesley Kovar
11:20 08 May 23
We just finished a custom tour with Mediterras, from Palermo to Marsala. What a fantastic experience! Our guide Gian Mario was so knowledgeable and attentive, his planning was meticulous. The choice of boutique hotels, as well as the restaurants he selected, were all wonderful. The rides were well planned, taking us through beautiful countryside and along spectacular coasts. Our van driver Giovanni was also awesome, he could be a professional naturalist. We are already planning our next trip with them (to Sardinia). What a treat to use a small local company that gave us such a memorable trip!
Bernie CreavenBernie Creaven
11:09 08 May 23
We loved traveling with Mediterrras!Mario and Giovanni were amazing, professional, detailed and thoughtful. They made planning this trip easy, they were super flexible when we had to change plans. They supplied us with excellent equipment (I loved my road bike), detailed maps, fun rides, history lessons, in fact we laughed our way around Sicily!We enjoyed our meals together and they booked us into beautiful hotels. Unfortunately, one member of our group had a medical emergency, they looked after him like they would a family member.I can’t wait to bike again with our new best friends!Go ahead book these local guys, you’re guaranteed a fabulous experience!Bernadette (Irish woman living and biking in Seattle).
Rich GundlachRich Gundlach
13:15 24 Sep 22
Great planning, exceptional guides. We enjoyed everything about our trip. We learned a great deal about the history and culture of Sardinia. Marcello at Mediterras made sure that everything was properly arranged and made adjustments when necessary. A great part of our enjoyment came from our interaction with our guides (Giovanni, Stefano and Danilo). They were all very knowledgeable and friendly. When it came time to part we felt like we were leaving old friends.
Doris ChapatteDoris Chapatte
11:53 12 Sep 22
We did the "big-loop" from the 20.08.2022.The big loop ist 12 days road bike around the island. We have booked the trip 1.5 weeks before (last minute) and everything has been organised perfectly. We had an extra break day every 4 days biking. And was great.Mediterras has answer to all our questions. On the day of departure, our bikes we ready, we got time to get full explanation of the tour. We got a navigation system with all the routes. Everything was very clear and very well organised. Our lugage was every evening delivered at the next hotels.The hotel has been wonderfully selected, and always at some nice location and not too far away from the center or the beach. Thank again to Mediterras team for the wonderful holidays.I would give more than a 5 Stars for this trip and the wonderful team.Doris & Jean-Luc - from Swizerland
Tadhg CookeTadhg Cooke
12:46 09 Jun 22
A fantastic introduction to cycling in Sardinia. I just rented the bike in Cagliari for a few days at the end of my holiday, with no particular routes in mind. Gian Mario kindly suggested two nice challenging routes, and sent the GPX files. I only had time for one of them - but it was an absolute gem. Starting in the city, cycling along Poetto, before turning towards the hills. After one tiny village, I didn't pass another café or shop for 40 or 50 km. Just me and the pain in my legs. Superb. The bike was a gem - a former Lotto Jumbo team bike which was ridden in the Paris Roubaix by Tom Leezer. I was a *bit* slower, but I probably enjoyed it more! Wonderful experience - lovely people - always available on whatsapp if I needed anything, which was very reassuring when I don't speak Italian or Sardu! I will definitely use them again if/when I return to Sardegna.Thanks again!
We did the Sicily Baroque tour with Mediterras. Self guided on bikes (el and manual). Gian and his team did adapt the tour for our needs and did all to make the tour enjoyable. Few problems surfaced but all were solved. The trail was interesting and added a lot to our understanding of Sicily, its landscape and life in the rural areas. Accommodations were all good, and the quality of the food in the restaurants Gian had arranged varied from good to excellent. At the end of our tour we did a walk in the hillsides of Etna arranged by Mediterras.The Etna tour was wonderful. We were lucky with weather given the circumstances. It was a bit foggy and a bit cold, but it did not rain. The guides did a good job of explaining the geology of Etna for us and the two geology-educated persons in the group! The hike was challenging, which suited the group well. The food and wine at Barbaras place was totally excellent! Six stars out of five.We were not as lucky in Taormina! It did rain cats and dogs. The drivers did adapt quite well. Did stop at several foto-ops and at the entry gate to the pedestrian street. We did wander through the Greek theatre and the pedestrian walk, did have a stop at a fancy coffe-shop/bar and then decided to skip the dinner and return early back to Syracusa.
W. B.W. B.
16:03 20 Oct 21
I found this company using google and right away Gian was very responsive. I told them what we were looking for, gave specific parameters for distance and elevation, and they put together an itinerary very quickly that completely matched what I asked for. The entire trip was seamless from the 1am pickup at airport to drop off after 10 days of cycling. The routes were on quiet wonderful roads and the hotels they chose were all great. A really good local company which does what they claim to do very well. Highly recommend.
Ilja WinkertIlja Winkert
11:14 17 Sep 21
I rented quite spontaneously a city bike for my whole stay here near Cagliari. The workshop is very well located. Grocery shopping, going to the beach and the city worked very well. Bike were in a good condition. I was properly advised. Fully recommend this place.
ZosiaZosia
14:46 23 Aug 21
We are so happy that we found this rental. Very nice, helpfull and professional customer service. We recommend to everyone!
juliet clarkejuliet clarke
17:20 15 Jun 21
Mediterras arranged a self guided cycling trip through South Eastern sicily stopping in beautiful baroque towns. They arranged everything with less than a weeks notice, keeping us up to date on accommodation, bikes equipment etc.My husband and I had a wonderful time. The ride was perfect, having both been off a bike for several months, the ride was the perfect combination of hills and flats for us to really enjoy it. The accommodation was far better than what we were expecting for the price and recommendations for dinner and stops spot on. We ate incredibly well and all the hosts in the villas and hotels very welcoming and helpful.I would certainly recommend them especially arranging it all with such little notice.
js_loader
Create your customized trip