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Tuscany by Carriage
offered by supplier M18372 (view this supplier profile)
Key Information:
Tour Duration: 6
- 15
day(s)
Group Size: 6
- 15
people
Destination(s):
Italy
Specialty Categories:
Horse Buggy
Cultural Journey
Season: April - October
Airfare Included: No
Tour Customizable: No
Minimum Per Person Price: 2400 Euro (EUR)
Maximum Per Person Price: 5600 Euro (EUR)
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This is a tour through Tuscany as the normal tourist will never see. You drive with our well-trained four-in-hand teams, put to hunting breaks, along the backtracks, you will be hosted by the families of the vintners and castle owners, by the countesses and princes, your will be treated as a guest and not as a tourist. Do not expect the luxury of a 5-star hotel, you will be accommodated sometimes in simple farmhouses, sometimes without private facilities in your room, but this is the entrance fee to see Tuscany as it really is. You will gain atmosphere. The wine and food you will be served is the food the Italians eat, and the wine the Italians drink, things you will never get in an Italian restaurant out side Italy. You will always feel welcomed and never exploited as a tourist. You will travel at a speed allowing you to see the flowers along the road and to chat with the people working in the fields.
Our horses are of the Old Oldenburg breed, the classical old German coach horse, and of the Kladruber breed, the horse once pulled the state carriages of the Austrian emperors. Our carriages are the classical hunting breaks, seating 6 persons and pulled by a team of four. Their springing is comfortable. Luggage transfer is provided by us, so please mark your suitcases clearly with your name. You do not need too much luggage as nowhere a formal dress is expected. Details please see out of our dress code. If you want to take more than one suitcase per person we recommend to repack your suitcases, so that you do not need all of them every day. The other, not needed luggage can stay in our escort vehicles.
The Tuscany tour leads on four-in-hand hitched carriages from Siena through the countryside into the Maremma, the wide open land between the coast and the forested hills south and east of the city of Grosseto. For the nights we have mostly private castles, wineries, stud farms and private estates with olive oil- and wine production. Some of the ways used are former mule tracks, steep, narrow, grown-over, so a big mail-coach cannot make this route. In some of the overnight stations we are guests of the owners, of the padroni, we are taken into their families and we are treated rather as guests than tourists. The meals are excellent, rich and always made out of local products. During the day we will sometimes picnic in the fields with wine, bread, ham, olives. Tour program is operated with full board; that is all meals and beverages are included.
Tour Itinerary:
Day 1: Guests make their own way to Siena. We meet around 7.00 pm in the hotel "Castagneto", a 3-star hotel in a former villa, with a view of the historic town of Siena. In the evening we visit the famous piazza del campo, where, during the summer, the "Palio", the horse-race takes place. Dinner in a typical restaurant in the old town.
Day 2: We start around 9.00 am from the riding stable a bit outside of Siena, and drive along quiet country roads southward. First wide open country with light brown soil lays on both sides of the road. Later we come into oak forests. We cross a river (Merse) at a ford, than use an abandoned road through dense forests high above the river Merse. At the little town of Monticiano we will take a snack in the bar near the market square, surrounded by curious local residents.
Another 1,5 hours and we bend off into a rough track which leads us up and up to the castles of Luriano, where the Marchesa Misciatelli runs a private stud farm, breeding an old Italian breed: the Persano horse. The castle built out of natural stones rules over the oak forested hills, which are full of wild boars. We stay in the hunting lodge: simple rooms, clean and a cosy dining hall will host us for the evening and the night. Doretta, the friendly host, will serve a hearty meal.
Day 3: Not too early in the morning we hitch the horses and drive up the final steep track to the castle yard, where the Marquesa will serve a drink. After leaving this imposing place we ride a mile or so along the road and then off into the "Jungle": narrow tracks and dense oak forests for a couple of hours. Now and then we cross a creek, sometimes the bridges are washed away, and all hands have to help to fill the gap with rocks and poles, to allow the carriage to cross the stream.
After leaving the forests, we have a wide view and, if visibility is clear enough, we sometimes can see the sea in the far distance. Shortly after noon we enter the private estate of Peruzzo. An estate of 12.000 acres. Signore Marucchi himself will welcome us and urge us to join him for lunch. Beautiful rooms with much private atmosphere, a breath-taking view over olive tree gardens and wine fields as well as oak trees. A superb Italian hospitality. We will stay here two nights.
Day 4: Relaxing, walking around, taking a ride with the carriage to some neighboring villages, a visit to the Etruscian tombs. In the evening, again, a typical Tuscan dinner.
Day 5: We take an early morning leave of the estate of Peruzzo and drive through wide flat country: land which has been recultivated and drained after a more than thousand years of malaria infected swamps. Now dairy and arable land on both sides of the track. Lonely country, with almost no towns. Very few are built on top of the hills, more like fortresses than farm villages, to protect themselves from the raids of the pirates of North Africa and from the malaria down in the swamps.
Early afternoon we arrive in a little walled-in place called Paganico where we will buy some food for the picnic. Shortly after leaving town we stop at the banks of the River Ombrone for a picnic. Another two hours later we arrive at the private villa of the Countess Louisa Querci dell Rovereh in Campagnatico where we will spend the night. A dinner served in the nearby taverna closes this day.
Day 6: As we have a long distance ahead of us (some 50 kilometers) we will start rather early. Open country, hidden farms, rough roads. No taverns, no towns anywhere! We will have a picnic at a vinery and give the horses some water. In the evening we approach Alberese, a small place, consisting out of a former summer palace of the Austrian arch-dukes, some houses, and a large state-owned estate with hundreds of wild bulls and huge herds of horses, the Maremma cattle and the Maremma horse! Here the "Butteri", the Italian mounted herders are still working as they did some hundreds years ago.
Day 7: We will spend three nights here. The morning offers an opportunity to those with a minimum of riding experience to join one of the Butteri for a ride from 7.00 am to 11.00 am, sharing with him his daily work. The carriages will start for a ride into the natural reserve of Uccellina about 11.00 am, with a picnic in the caves inside the reserve. The evening will bring a farewell dinner in Rispescia, in a well known restaurant for sea-food.
Day 8: Ride with the four-in-hand hunting breaks through the Natural reserve of Parco Uccellina along the coast of the Tyrennic Sea. By special permit we are the only ones allowed to drive with our carriages into this Natural Reserve: we will pass huge umbrella pine forests, the dunes, the sandy coastline, will have a picnic near the caves. Evening: dinner in a cosy tavern nearby.
Day 9: Drive along old merchant tracks out of the middle ages, crossing the river Trasubbie, lunch in a little local tavern along the road. Evening: overnight in the Villa Bell Aria of the Contessa Luisella Querci di Rovere Galli, a charming lady hosting us in her family villa inside the little walled-in town of Campagnatico. Dinner in a local ristorante.
Day 10: Stage Campagnatico via Paganico, a medieval walled-in town out of the times of the Sienese fights against the Florence city state, to Argiano. Crossing the river Ombrone, picnic at the banks of the river. Following a drive through the nearly endless vineyards of the castle of Banfi, formerly owned by a noble family, the last member of the family, Theofila of Banfi, was head of the house hold of pope Pius X. Now it has been restored to perfection by an Italo-American trust, financed by Japanese money. Center of the famous Tuscan red wine "Brunello".
Overnight: castello di Argiano, this castle was the Southern most out post of the Sienese city republic during the renaissance times, now owned by an English-Italian couple, she, Sarah Sesti, is out of a famous English horse breeding family, he, Guiseppe Sesti is a multi-talented vintner, writer, organizer of a Summer opera festival, member of the Cardellini-singers and, and, and full of good stories. Dinner with the family in the old chapel.
Day 11: A second day at Argiano. Around lunch outing to the monastery of San Antimo, a basilica out of the 8th century, now lived-in by Cistercensian monks, where we can listen the Gregorian chants. Lunch in a nearby tavern. On the way home we can stop a the wine town of San Angelo in Colle. Evening: dinner with the family, visit of the Cardellini, an a-capella folk singers group of the Monte Amiata, the highest mountain in Tuscany.
Day 12: Drive from Argiano via the castle Gioconda of the Marquesi di Freschobaldi and through their vineyards; along the ridge between the Ombrone valley and the Orcia river. Stop for a picnic at Castiglione di Bosco. Evening: the abandoned old farm houses of Aiale and Castelrotto, two of 16 farmhouses of the castle Nuovo Castello di Tancredi, owned by the Principe Guido Aldo Venturini del Greco, married in second marriage with an American interior designer.
This is a house in the middle of no where, the horses are stabled underneath, rooms are simple but clean, a spacious living room with a huge open fire place will serve for the dinner, prepared by the wife of the local farrier. We will visit the Prince's cantina and either dine there or in one of the old farm houses.
Day 13: Carriages drive from Aiale via wild and steep tracks to Via Maggio. Picnic along a little stream. Evening: Via Maggio, a small lonely place with nice little apartments and good food.
Day 14: We leave Via Maggio and slowly approach Siena. We will have lunch in a private farmhouse, where the farmer will serve a good Lasagne and his own red wine. Evening: overnight in a small 3-star hotel just outside the city of Siena, a wonderful view at the citadel of Siena and the dome. Dinner in a typical restaurant in the historical old center of Siena.
Day 15: Individual departure. You may fly out of Florence. If requested, we can arrange a bus transfer.
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Price Includes:
- 14 day journey with four-in-hand hunting breaks
- 15 nights en route
- Full board with all beverages
- English, German and Italian speaking staff.
Also see tour packages in:
Europe
Italy
Outdoor: Land Rambler
Cultural Journey
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