About Tuscany

I cannot imagine that anybody ever visits Tuscany once. Even in a car it's great - on a bike it's sublime. Some of the delights are out of bounds to we cyclists. Pisa and Florence are just too busy, but you can fly there any time for a weekend.

We explore the region to the south of Florence in a week that includes some of the finest wine regions of Italy as well as the fabulous renaissance architecture and classic examples of the feuds that raged between the independent city states, the Roman Catholic Church and the Holy Roman Empire.

We start our week close to San Gimignano, one of the jewels of Tuscany, which we visit on Sunday morning. This walled city is rated as a 3 attraction by Michelin, "worth a journey in itself", and the most striking features are the 14 remaining "tower houses".

It's generally accepted, although not certain, that the richer the family, the higher the tower house, and the original 70 such towers were once linked by aerial walkways in such a way that allied families could quickly gather together in times of danger.

This illustrates neatly how mad they all were, and how dominated this period was by alliances between families, cities, the Church - alliances that shifted constantly. By the end of the week this behaviour will seem normal.

From San Gimignano we head off into Chianti. This has become perhaps the most famous wine region in Italy, although historically it has struggled with a reputation for growers that ignored the DOC (Dinominazione di origini controllata), diluting the 'Chianti' name to the point where the best growers ignored the DOC rules completely, producing their own wines that became known as 'Super Tuscans'.

Steps have now been taken to improve the regime that covers Chianti, and during our two day visit to the region we'll visit top growers in Panzano, Greve in Chianti and Radda in Chianti.

Traditionally the top names in Tuscan wine were the Brunello di Montalcino, and the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, both included within the four regions originally granted DOCG (Dinominazione di origini controllata garantita) status, which now includes Chianti.

Montalcino and Montepulciano are both stunning hill top towns in the south of Tuscany, and at the end of the week we visit top wine makers in each of these highly traditional wine regions.

In the middle of the week we cycle to Siena with it's amazing scallop-shaped piazza del Campo, home to the world's most ridiculous horse-race, the Palio.

Within Siena there are 17 historic wards, known as contrade, each with it's own church and special flag with heraldic animal motifs.

Each July 2nd and August 16th these contrade compete in the Palio, their main raison d'être. Ten horses race three times round the Campo, and the contrade draw lots for the right to compete. They also draw lots for the ponies and jockeys, traditional cowboys from the coastal plain south of Pisa.

These jockeys are subject to bribes and threats, and have no loyalty to any contrade. Nine of the starters wait in the starting pen until they are charged by the tenth, thus starting the race. Once they go, it's three laps of chaos, and the first horse over the line is the winner, whether or not it still has a rider! Some commentators have said that its obsession with contrade and the Palio has prevented Siena from developing as a modern city. Bad news if you're resident, perhaps, but just amazing for the visitor.

With its amazing cathedral, or Duomo, and the huge di Medici tower overlooking the Campo, Siena is completely unforgettable. It's a tourist trap, and it's expensive. It's high on top of a hill, but to sit on the edge of the Campo in the late afternoon is just one of those moments in your life.

It's difficult to sum up Tuscany in a few paragraphs. The food is gourmet food, the wines are great, the scenery stunning, the history almost mind-blowing. And on our bikes, we get to see the very best of one of the world's most interesting regions.