Easy-to-moderate walking with some ascents / descents, and occasional longer days.
The season for this holiday is:
01 April 2023 - 30 June 2023
01 September 2023 - 31 October 2023
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
| °C | 8 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 21 | 25 | 28 | 29 | 24 | 19 | 13 | 9 |
| mm | 65 | 54 | 49 | 54 | 37 | 21 | 7 | 11 | 41 | 68 | 99 | 74 |
We can only accept payment in GBP, but you can use this converter to find out how much the holiday equates to in your own currency.
7 nights: 01 April 2023 - 30 June 2023 & 01 September 2023 - 31 October 2023
Start any day | End by latest date(s) shown above
| Starting | Price | Single room |
|---|---|---|
| 1 - 4 Apr 2023 | £805 | £295 |
| 5 - 30 Apr 2023 | £930 | £345 |
| 1 - 9 May 2023 | £865 | £310 |
| 10 - 16 May 2023 | £885 | £320 |
| 17 - 21 May 2023 | £930 | £345 |
| 22 May - 23 Jun 2023 | £1025 | £395 |
| 1 - 11 Sep 2023 | £1105 | £440 |
| 12 - 25 Sep 2023 | £1025 | £395 |
| 26 - 30 Sep 2023 | £930 | £345 |
| 1 - 24 Oct 2023 | £865 | £310 |
| 3rd & 4th person discount | -£95 | |
| Single traveller supplement | £95 |
Includes accommodation, meals and services integral to the holiday as described, plus walking notes and maps, but no travel from the UK, nor any connecting travel from the airport unless stated below.
Price includes: 7 days' category B car hire (eg Lancia Ypsilon or similar with air conditioning and manual transmission)
Driving time to/from the hotel: Florence 1h, Pisa 1h15, Bologna 1h45
Book your flights through us and we'll find the best route and times to suit you. Please contact us to find out more about our flight booking service. We can also book connecting travel - see below.
Extra nights (£ per person per night) in a double or single room
Prices include an additional day's car hire| Tenuta Sant’Ilario, Gambassi Terme (B&B) | Double room | Single room |
|---|---|---|
| 01 Apr - 05 Apr 2023 | £84 | £122 |
| 06 Apr - 08 Apr 2023 | £114 | £174 |
| 09 Apr - 09 May 2023 | £84 | £122 |
| 10 May - 22 May 2023 | £88 | £130 |
| 23 May - 30 Jun 2023 | £104 | £154 |
| 01 Sep - 12 Sep 2023 | £114 | £174 |
| 13 Sep - 30 Sep 2023 | £104 | £154 |
| 01 Oct - 31 Oct 2023 | £84 | £122 |
Travelling from the UK
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Aberdeen - Bologna (via Amsterdam Schiphol) | KLM |
| Aberdeen - Bologna (via Paris) | Air France |
| Aberdeen - Florence (via Amsterdam Schiphol) | KLM |
| Aberdeen - Pisa (via Amsterdam Schiphol) | KLM |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Birmingham - Bologna (via Amsterdam Schiphol) | KLM |
| Birmingham - Bologna (via Frankfurt) | Lufthansa |
| Birmingham - Pisa | jet2 |
| Birmingham - Pisa (via Munich) | Lufthansa |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Bristol - Bologna | Ryanair |
| Bristol - Florence | British Airways |
| Bristol - Pisa | easyJet |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Nottingham East Midlands - Pisa | Ryanair |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Edinburgh - Bologna | Ryanair |
| Edinburgh - Bologna (via Amsterdam Schiphol) | KLM |
| Edinburgh - Florence | British Airways |
| Edinburgh - Pisa | Ryanair |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Glasgow - Bologna (via Amsterdam Schiphol) | KLM |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Glasgow Prestwick - Pisa | Ryanair |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Humberside - Bologna (via Amsterdam Schiphol) | KLM |
| Humberside - Pisa (via Amsterdam Schiphol) | KLM |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Leeds Bradford - Bologna (via Amsterdam Schiphol) | KLM |
| Leeds Bradford - Pisa | Ryanair |
| Leeds Bradford - Pisa | jet2 |
| Leeds Bradford - Pisa (via Amsterdam Schiphol) | KLM |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Liverpool - Pisa | Ryanair |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| London City - Florence | Air France, British Airways |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Gatwick - Bologna | easyJet |
| Gatwick - Florence | British Airways, Vueling |
| Gatwick - Pisa | British Airways, easyJet |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Heathrow - Bologna | British Airways |
| Heathrow - Bologna (via Düsseldorf) | Eurowings |
| Heathrow - Florence | British Airways |
| Heathrow - Pisa | British Airways |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Manchester - Bologna | Ryanair |
| Manchester - Bologna (via Frankfurt) | Lufthansa |
| Manchester - Florence | British Airways |
| Manchester - Pisa | easyJet, jet2, Ryanair |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Newcastle - Bologna (via Amsterdam Schiphol) | KLM |
| Newcastle - Florence (via Amsterdam Schiphol) | Air France |
| Newcastle - Florence (via Paris) | Air France |
| Newcastle - Pisa (via Amsterdam Schiphol) | KLM |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Teesside International - Pisa (via Amsterdam Schiphol) | KLM |
This list of flight options should be used as a guide only, and you should check each airline’s website for current routes, frequency and schedules. Not all flights operate daily, and may not run for the entire season. You should also heed the latest flight arrival time and earliest flight departure time stated in the connecting travel section, as it may not be possible to arrange connecting travel outside these times. Please do not book your flights until we have confirmed your accommodation to you. Alternatively, our expert reservations team will be happy to offer advice and to make flight bookings for you for any of the options listed above. We charge £35 per person for our flight booking service. Your flights are then covered by our package-booking conditions, which give you greater protection in the event of delay or cancellation, as well as providing ATOL cover.
If you've experienced this holiday first hand, why not write a review?
We are keen for as many customers as possible to review their holiday. To make it easier to do so, we include a specific review section on our post-holiday questionnaire, and this is what we publish here, unedited. Read our full review policy >
All written in above sections but I think the people running / owning the site were rather casual about a great deal of issues eg on one day there was, without notification, no cafe open (32 degrees!) at the swimming pool !! The orange juice at breakfast was not frash orange , but taste like packet dissolvable rubbish. The breakfast was exactly the same every day and the lunch , which had to be especially ordered was totally lacking in imagination! Do not ask for the largest bedroom (upgrade), which as described was up 29 steps and had the name 'The Tower'!!
The family owned / run restauarant, at the top of the lane was truly fanatstic. The on site place should be closed until a decent chef is found!!! Recent high temperatures throughout Europe were not conducive to long hikes, but of course, that is not predictable.
A highlight of this trip was the fantastic food in the Tanuta Sant Iloria restaurant - stunning. Be sure to book in for dinner and take a torch as the walk from main building to the restaurant includes a very small wooded area which is dark later on. Scenery and surroundings so beautiful and quiet
Wonderful location. Re-wilding in action! Flowers, insects, birds and views all magnificent.
All written in above sections but I think the people running / owning the site were rather casual about a great deal of issues eg on one day there was, without notification, no cafe open (32 degrees!) at the swimming pool !! The orange juice at breakfast was not frash orange , but taste like packet dissolvable rubbish. The breakfast was exactly the same every day and the lunch , which had to be especially ordered was totally lacking in imagination! Do not ask for the largest bedroom (upgrade), which as described was up 29 steps and had the name 'The Tower'!!
The family owned / run restauarant, at the top of the lane was truly fanatstic. The on site place should be closed until a decent chef is found!!! Recent high temperatures throughout Europe were not conducive to long hikes, but of course, that is not predictable.
A highlight of this trip was the fantastic food in the Tanuta Sant Iloria restaurant - stunning. Be sure to book in for dinner and take a torch as the walk from main building to the restaurant includes a very small wooded area which is dark later on. Scenery and surroundings so beautiful and quiet
Wonderful location. Re-wilding in action! Flowers, insects, birds and views all magnificent.
Super holiday. Lots of good walking options to vary the experience.
This was a time to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary and it turned out to be a fitting holiday. The weather during the first week was perfect; not too hot but sunny and clear which made the walking pleasant. Some of the tracks and ascents/descents were quite enough for us so we wouldn't go beyond grade 2. The second week was too close to the area covered by the first week on reflection but still good and different. The choice of hotels, the information pack, walking notes and feel of it all were superb. Well done Inntravel.
INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers did our self-guided walking holiday 'Hill-Top Towns of Tuscany' followed by our discovery walking holiday 'Timeless Tuscany'.
The Tenuta Sant Ilario lies about 1.2Km down a rough track. Drive with care. You will arrive at a beautiful Tuscan estate with warm stone buildings, lush gardens & olive trees. Our rooms were comfortable & stylish, wood floors, antique furniture, natural stone walls & one of the best beds we have found in Italy. The restaurant is a pleasant walk from the main building; you may want to take a torch as the lighting can be patchy if you are returning after dark. The warmth of the welcome, quality & presentation of the food & wine made this a great place to eat. The set menu is good or you can take a credit towards the more wide ranging a la carte menu. The pool is surrounded by gardens including olive trees & is well care for. It is heated by the sun, so only for the brave in October!
The walks & tours in the binder we called the "bible" are good. More accurately described than for Madeira, which we enjoyed ealier this year. High lights would be the wine tasting on the walk around Gambassi (Azienda Agricola Casanuova). We tried 10 wines & more with the help of Google translate. That may sound a struggle, but it was huge fun with Caterin from the Winery. Walking to San Gimignano, we met Jorge on the Via Fancegina, on his way from Barcelona to Rome & on to Jeruselem. On the driving tour we found the wonderful hill top town of Volpaia where every second building seems to be involved in wine production. Top tip from the hotel; we went to Pisa & Florence by train, but used the station at Empoli. This is about a 30 min drive, but the trains are much more frequent. We had dinner in Pisa & that meant that we only had a short wait at the station when we were ready to go home.
You may have picked up already that one of the highlights were the people we met, the team at Sant 'Ilario & the Tuscan people in general who were all friendly, helpful & good natured. Can't wait to return.
To summarise - the history, the VFR with all the shrines and the chapels (and we are not particularly religious people), the food and wine, the weather in october perfect for walking, the scenery and the farming - what is there not to like! Comfortable accommodation in a lovely position. Swimming pool great after a days walking. The Inntravel "bible" is well put together, really useful and in a useful format whereby we could just take the pages we needed for the day rather than the whole folder. Volterra was our favourite town - easy parking, not busy, really interesting shops, museums, glorious churches, fabulous history, and people who really wanted to see you and make you feel welcome. Take away pizza in Gambassi really good with a bottle of local wine. Osteria La Montagnola very good menu, reasonably priced and quite informal. We recommend Tre Cher (right at the top of the drive then about 2.5km) very good menu and service.
We waited three years for this holiday and it did not disappoint. The accommodation and setting was magical and was an excellent base to explore the beautiful Tuscany region either by foot or car. The food was of a very high standard and our beautiful breakfast set us up for the day. The pool, although a bit cold, was amazing for this type of accommodation.
We should have been warned more about the state of the track to the hotel. Hotel food was exceptional but the ambience in the restaurant was spoilt on some evenings by the extremely noisy large group staying. We were surprised that the restaurant and swimming pool were sited some distance from the main accommodation building. All staff were extremely helpful and friendly.We enjoyed Volterra very much and it was less crowded than San Gimignano.
Quality of the food in the hotel was excellent. We also found good reasonable restaurants in the area. The trip to Volterra was a nice surprise - lovely town and less crowded than the others.
On the drive day in Chianti Region, you need to make more of going to Volpaia - great little place. The short drive and walk in Greve in Chianti was the real highlight - a little gem.
This was our first holiday with Inntravel (Timeless Tuscany with an additional stay at the Pensione Palazzo Ravizza in Siena) and certainly won’t be our last. Fantastic stylish accommodation and really felt like we were travelling independently, but with the benefit of lots of background information and suggestions, not to mention the security of knowing we were in safe hands if anything happened in the run up to / during the trip in these still somewhat unpredictable times.
We were really impressed with the very detailed and well thought out information pack we were sent. It really makes a difference knowing that each holiday has been thought through ‘on location’ by a like-minded person. Although we had the downloaded walking routes as back up we particularly liked using the step by step walking notes.
This centred walking holiday with add-on Siena break (which we recommend you do at the start) was just perfect as it offered lots of flexibility. We planned our days as suited us. We wanted to do more than just walking and this holiday certainly gives you lots of options and the chance to see some wonderful hilltop towns and villages (and of course to indulge in the wonderful Tuscan food and wine).
The daily breakfasts at the Tenuta (beautifully served as grazing platters) and the 3 dinners we had in the Trattoria Sant’Ilario were all wonderful and amazing quality. The trattoria is laid back fine dining.
As we had an evening return flight from Pisa we recommend a stop (and lunch) in San Miniato (the hilltop ‘alto‘ rather than modern ‘basso’ town) en route.
Palazzo Ravizza is in a wonderful location within the old walls in Siena and is absolutely charming. It’s literally a 5 minute walk to the Duomo and even less to some restaurants. The city walk notes were excellent and we particularly loved seeing the parts off the main tourist trail.
Thank you to all at Inntravel - you are worthy of all the awards you are winning and we look forward to our next travels with you.
Tenuta Sant Ilario is spectacular, in presentation and location. Superb views; eating breakfast outside overlooking beautiful Tuscany is hard to beat.
This was an excellent holiday. It provided us with the flexibility do walks and day trips. The hotel was in a beautiful peaceful setting and we tackled most of the suggested walks. We went very early in the season so the hotel pool wasn't open (May-Sep) but this wasn't a problem for us. We included a day trip to Siena by train - well worth it. The hotel is well located for day trips to Siena and or Florence. We added on two nights in Florence and the end of the holiday. This was about right for us, but if you wanted to more museums and art galleries, this might not be long enough. The hire car provided us with the flexibility to do what we wanted depending on our tastes and weather. We flew into Pisa airport - convenient for Pisa station and a small airport compared the busy UK. Do read through the information on the Inntravel website about this holiday. The information is accurate and for us it gave us the holiday we were after.
currency iplookup:
cookie value: null
querystring value: null