Tuscany’s Hidden Hills to the Ligurian Sea

As long-time travellers on Inntravel walking holidays we use the reviews to decide on our trips and get tips. As this was a new holiday for this year, there were no reviews when we booked and only one just before we travelled, so this review is a bit longer than usual but hopefully helpful for others booking this holiday. This was another Inntravel holiday up to the usual high standard we’ve come to expect. Three exceptional accommodations, all very different in their own way, excellent walking notes, and faultless transport and luggage transfers. We had the same taxi driver, Marco, throughout and a special mention to him for the efficient and punctual service, and text message updates. We expected the walking to be fairly easy on this trip, especially Day 4 and 5 which we were concerned were a bit short in distance. In the end, we were thankful for it as it was much hotter weather than we expected, mid thirties every day with the nighttime low temperature never dropping below 22C. The first hotel (Tenuta La Bandita) didn’t have air conditioning but there was insect mesh on the outside of the windows and a powerful fan so we were able to sleep relatively comfortably there with the windows open and the fan going. The other two places had air conditioning, but they all struggled to keep up with the heat and on the first night at Gualdo del Re, it was just circulating the warm air. We messaged the accommodation administrator in the morning and they promptly resolved it, even though she was on her day off. The food and wine at all three places was excellent, all locally sourced – mainly from their own estate, but the restaurant at Torre di Barrati was extra special. The Gualdo del Re had a special menu for Inntravel customers which is the same for both nights. It still had a good choice (and was the only restaurant that included a glass of wine each and a bottle of water) but we would have preferred up to a certain value on the extensive normal menu with us supplementing the cost if we selected a more expensive choice. The included wine tasting had five generous glasses of wine each, and a healthy sized platter of local meats and cheeses, so we didn’t need a bottle of wine or starter that night. At Tenuta La Bandita, you could select any 3 courses from their normal menu and at the Torre di Baratti, you could have had anything from all four courses (but it is only included on the first night of the stay). The lovely pools in the first two places were welcome for a refreshing dip after walking in the heat.

We were chatting with the waitress in the hotel on the first evening about our plans and she warned us of the snakes and horseflies in June in the forests. We didn’t really take much notice. We didn’t see any snakes, but the horseflies were horrific! Hundreds swarmed around us like bees as soon as we started to get warm and sticky (which was unavoidable). Thankfully, we had no bites so the insect repellent we used must have been very effective (Pyramid Sensitive – Deet Free, if you are interested), but they were such a huge annoyance it spoiled the enjoyment of the first walk. In the end, we retreated from the forest to loop back to Sassetta then caught a bus to Castagneto Carducci (which is the final destination of the Option B end to end walk). It’s a lovely little town to wander around so I’d recommend the Option B walk to visit it. The buses aren’t that frequent but are cheap and easy as all have tap on/tap off for a contactless card. Not all buses go via the hotel entrance, but you can catch either line, one just has a bit further to walk back but it’s explained well in the walk notes. We couldn’t face the horsefly stress for a second day so we looked at the map and messaged the taxi driver and he was more than happy to drop us off in Suvereto when he was transferring our luggage, which appeared to be beyond the denser forest area. We then planned our own circular route from Suvereto (via Belvedere) before returning for a late lunch, then picked up the last 2-3 km to the accommodation. There were far fewer horseflies here and there were no problems with them later in the week as we got closer to the coast. Because of the heat and the horsefly swarms, we wouldn’t personally choose to go to this area in June again. The locals also told us they are even worse in August!

It is worth noting all accommodation is remote from local services, which is part of the appeal, but you might need to think ahead for any provisions you need. The walks pass through some lovely Tuscan villages where you can pick things up but as this is not on the major tourist trails, most stores for provisions are closed from midday until evening, around the time you are there, and if you get anything, you obviously need to carry it back. As recommended by Inntravel, filtered water bottles are a good idea for this route to safely drink tap water and from water fountains in most of the villages. The Gualdo del Re doesn’t have a bar for a post walk beer or an aperitivo, they only sell their own wine, but it is very good wine! There are no stores for provisions in Baratti. Before traveling we saw a small Alimentari on Google street view down by the harbour, but this is no longer there. However, walks 3, 4 and 5 have convenient places for lunchtime refreshments in Campiglia Marittima at the halfway point of Walk 3,  a nice bar and pizza restaurant at Lido di Baratti after about 90 mins of Walk 4, and plenty of nice places in Populonia on Walk 5, so you don’t really need to cater for mid-walk food on those days. For Walk 2, if you can hold out for a later lunch, there is a good selection in Suvereto prior to continuing to the accommodation.

The only other things I’d mention is that the first couple of km of Walk 4 are on the beach and on soft sand, which was quite heavy going. There may be alternatives in the dunes, or it is slightly more solid underfoot near the water’s edge. We are not personally that into archaeology and we were a bit underwhelmed by the visit to the archaeologic park for the quite high price of the ticket. It was a pleasant enough woodland/nature walk though. We discussed our plan with the receptionist at the park ticket office and she thought the gate on the route notes to get out of the park was closed so she recommended heading back to the main entrance. We then just continued along the coastal path to the harbour in Baratti. If the park is of no interest, you could just continue along the coast (there are notes for this in the pack in case the park is closed) but it would make the walk quite short. However, although it’s not specifically included as part of the route on Day 5, the “upper” archaeological park in Populonia was more interesting and is included in the price of the full ticket purchased the previous day.          

We continued the trip with a few nights in Lucca. We booked our own hotel because the Inntravel offering had no availability for our dates but Inntravel still booked our taxi from Torre di Baratti to the local train station, and train tickets to Lucca (change at Pisa) and back from Lucca to Pisa for the flight home and all were perfect. If you’ve never been to Lucca, it’s a fabulous small city and we think well worth adding for a couple of extra nights. The walk/cycle around the city walls (about 5-6km) is lovely.

A good holiday in an interesting area with good accommodation and good food and wine

We have travelled with Inn Travel on several occasions and this holiday was every bit as good as previous ones. The majority of the walk was on easy gravel tracks through woodlands and meadows with some road walking at the start and finish of each day. May is an excellent time to go walking and we were fortunate with warm dry weather and had little need for warm or waterproof clothing but walking poles were an advantage. We enjoyed total tranqility through fabulous wild flower meadows with plenty of birds and butterflies and the only time we met other people was in the delightful medieval towns along the way. All of them were worth a stop for refreshments.  The wine tasting at Gualdo del Re was great fun (Lorenzo was very knowledgeable) but the good wines were not cheap! The food was excellent in all the places we stayed at , especially La Bandita which was our favourite stay. Extending our holiday at both ends with a visit to Rome and Pisa was well worth it. 

This was our 1st time with InnTravel and it was the best holiday we have been on. Where do I start... All of the accomodation was different to eachother, from a traditional Italian Guesthouse, to a stunning vineyard apartment and then a bio-resort that overlooked the sea. They were a perfect mix and contrast to one another. The food in all places was delicious, where we sampled local cuisine and wines. The food included in the package was perfect and we went to bed feeling like we had enough food but hadn't obverindulged. The breakfasts were perfect to build our energy for the hikes. We enjoyed all of the hikes taking in varying terrain in Tuscany, walking through remote countryside, rolling hills and stunning traditional italian villages/towns. The directions for each walk were very detailed and made it for a very pleasant walk with minimal stress. We are already looking at a holiday with you for next year. Thankyou for such an amazing holiday.