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From the Tuscan Hills to the SeaMount Argentario Peninsula & Giglio Island
Nights: 7 (9 if you stay on Giglio Island)
Starting point: Podere Santa Croce (agriturismo), Montemerano. Set by itself on the edge of Montemerano amid young olive groves, orchards and vineyards, this is a charming, typically Tuscan farmhouse and organic farm. The interior has been carefully renovated, the bedrooms decorated with a simple elegance (many have terracotta tiled floors and beamed ceilings). There is a bar and an outdoor pool in which to relax, and in the evenings you enjoy traditional regional cuisine in the rustic restaurant. Day 1: we recommend a relaxed start to your holiday. Pack your swimsuit in your knapsack and stroll across open farmland, via the interesting medieval village of Montemerano, to the walled Etruscan town of Saturnia. A Roman road, the Via Clodia, leads to the town's hot sulphur springs, where you can unwind amid the aquamarine rock pools and beautiful cascades. (18.5km, 6hrs) Accommodation: Podere Santa Croce or Relais Villa Acquaviva, as above. Day 2: you start the day by walking into Montemerano, which you can explore if you didn't do so yesterday. You then continue along a panoramic strada bianca (unsurfaced road) across the wide-open, gently rolling hills to the hill-top town of Manciano, known as the 'spy of the Maremma' as it offers a 360-degree panorama which on a clear day encompasses the Maremma, the coast (including the Argentario Peninsula) and Tuscany's highest mountain, Mount Amiata. Here, so that you only walk the most scenic parts of the route, you are collected by staff transporting your luggage, and transferred southwards. The second leg of the walk crosses a hill clad in luxuriant Mediterranean bush and wild herbs. Look out for signs of the shy wild boar which live amid the cork-oaks. (10.5km, 3.5hrs from Podere Santa Croce or 13.5km, 5hrs from Relais Villa Acquaviva) Accommodation: Valle del Buttero (3*), Capalbio. Located in the centre of this walled town, the hotel offers spacious, studio-style rooms complete with a sitting area and balcony. As Capalbio is known locally for its gastronomy, you stay on a bed and breakfast so that you can take your pick of its several good restaurants. Day 3: today's walk starts with a short transfer to a long, semi-deserted beach framed by dunes. Walking parallel to this, you reach a panoramic headland on which you can visit the remains of an Etruscan-Roman city before continuing to La Feniglia, a narrow sand bar connecting the mainland and the rugged Argentario promontory. An inviting, golden beach stretches along one side, while on the other side is a nature reserve dotted with hides from which you can watch the numerous birds which frequent the lagoon. (14km, 4.5hrs) Accommodation: Hotel Don Pedro (3*), Porto Ecole. Overlooking the bay and boasting its own beach, the Don Pedro offers simple but comfortable accommodation. Your stay is on a bed and breakfast basis, giving you the choice of dining in the hotel’s own restaurant or eating out in the town. Day 4: a fantastic walk which starts with a transfer then crosses the wild and remote-feeling southern slopes of the Argentario Peninsula, beneath the peak of Il Telegrafo (635 metres). Combining coastal and inland scenery of Mediterranean bush, vineyards and olive groves, the route is full of contrasts, and is made all the more remarkable by the many defensive towers which are scattered across the slopes. (18.5km, 5.5hrs) Accommodation: Hotel Torre di Cala Piccola (4*), Cala Piccola. This relaxing hotel is named after the 17th-century Spanish tower which stands amid the hotel buildings. Set on an olive-clad cliff 100 metres above sea level, it commands excellent views of the promontory and the islands beyond; in warm weather, dinner is served out on the lawn so that you can appreciate to the full the sunset over Giglio Island. There is an outdoor pool in the grounds overlooking the glittering sea, but you may prefer to get closer – the hotel has its own private pebble beach 800 metres away. We include rooms with a sea view. Day 5: if you can tear yourselves away from the hotel, explore the western side of the promontory and a colourful valley on our suggested route which crosses fertile hills to a port, before ascending inland once again to an isolated watchtower, from where paths cross cultivated terraces back to your hotel. The views over the sparkling waters towards Giglio Island are breathtaking. (14.5km, 5hrs) Accommodation: Hotel Torre di Cala Piccola, as above. Day 6: so that you can see idyllic Giglio Island up close, we suggest that you take a boat across the water (1hr; pay locally) and enjoy one of our two walks. Choose to discover the uninhabited southern corner of the island or the rocky coastlines of both the eastern and western shores. (12km, 4hrs or 15km, 5hrs) Accommodation: Hotel Torre di Cala Piccola, as above. Extensions: so that you have more time to explore the Argentario Peninsula and Giglio Island, we suggest you extend your holiday with a two-night stay on Giglio Island itself at Pardini's Hermitage (available 12 Apr-30 Jun and 5 Sep-12 Oct), a fabulous retreat made all the more special by the intimate house-guest atmosphere and the fact that it is only accessible by boat or on foot (the hotel will collect you and your luggage or, better still, just your cases if you wish to walk to the hotel via a picturesque coastal trail from the port). Other information: if you would like to see the brochure page, you can download this (and the pages for any other holidays you are interested in) by using our brochure creation system. Similar holidays: A Stroll through History (grade 1-2), Hill-Top Towns of Tuscany (grade 1-2), The Tuscan Heartland (grade 2), Sunflowers & Abbeys (grade 1-2), From the Tarn to the Aveyron (grade 1-2), Villages of the Dordogne (grade 1-2), Paths to Rocamadour (grade 1-2) Prices & travel 2008:
Recommended destination airports: Rome & Pisa Extra night prices 2008 (extra nights can be booked at any hotel):
> Notes on prices > Any queries? Let us call you back > Booking form (if you want to upgrade your hotels, remember to state this in step 4)  |
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Settled by the mysterious Etruscans in the 9th century BC, western Tuscany’s Maremma region is a well-kept secret, retaining a sense of timelessness and spirituality. Inland, the rolling hills are cloaked in olive groves, cork oaks and luxuriant Mediterranean bush. These descend to a rolling plain which, like the hills, is still patrolled by butteri cowboys tending their white cattle. Beyond this, the views are dominated by tones of blue rather than green, as you reach the wild but immensely beautiful Argentario Peninsula (separated from the mainland but for three narrow strips of sand), from where further walking beckons on Giglio Island, whose near-deserted white-sand beaches are framed by wooded slopes and lapped by the azure waters of the Tirrenian Sea.
On the way to the Argentario Peninsula 
