TUSCANY is the golden heart of Italy - unparalleled for the richness of its history, its art, and above all for its world-renowned landscape - an idyllic pastoral which has captivated generations of travelers.

This tour offers a wonderful contrast between two different areas of the province, beginning in Chianti, often described as the quintessence of Tuscany, and then moving to the less well-known Casentino, a wilder region of outstanding natural beauty in the Appennine Mountains above Florence. The hiking is generally easy to moderate, with some more challenging hikes available to choose from during the latter part of the trip.

Our first night will be spent at the lovely Hotel Villa Aurora. The hotel sits in the center of the village of Fiesole, just 5 miles from Florence, the cradle of the Renaissance and a European center of art and architecture. The hotel was built as a theater by an English lord around 1860 and is steps away from a Roman Amphitheater and parkland through which a path leads up to a Franciscan Monastery overlooking Florence.

The next day we drive south into Chianti. The region extends from Florence south to Siena, and is bordered east and west by the rivers Staggia and EIsa. Much of our time will be spent in the famous wine growing area. Apart from the vineyards, the landscape is dominated by a concentration of olive groves, old farmhouses with wonderful gardens and orchards, hilltop cypresses, terraced slopes and wooded valleys - everywhere there is a balance between careful cultivation and great natural beauty. Seventy years ago D.H. Lawrence remarked "a country so perfectly cultivated as Tuscany, where half the produce of five acres of land will support ten human mouths, still has so much room for the wild flowers..." We will find this still extraordinarily true, as we hike along ancient tracks and paths between charming old small towns and villages for the next three days of our tour.

One hike leads from Greve (the unofficial capital of Chianti) up to the highest point of the region, Monte San Michele. The views from here down to the surrounding countryside are quite awe-inspiring. There will also be opportunities as part of our "hike through History" to visit some of the famous cities, towns and villages of Chianti, such as Siena, San Gimigano, Volterra and Volpaia.

In Chianti we shall be based at a gracious country house just outside Castelina, the Villa Casalecchi, set in its extensive grounds surrounded by woods and vineyards. In the evenings we shall be sampling some of the best of Tuscany's famous country cuisine, as well as being able to try the local vintages of wines exported all over the world.

From Chianti we drive up into the Apennines, to the Casentino. Here for the last thousand years the area has been inhabited mainly by monks in three famous monasteries, notably Camaldoli. Under their care the area has remained a forested haven for many kinds of wildlife, even wolves! Hunting is forbidden, and the monks' rule still obliges them to plant five thousand trees every year. These mountain ridges are now a national park, and are much studied for their unchanged wildness, so rare in Italy.

Hiking here offers some of the most marvelous scenery in the whole region as we cross the Monte Falterona massif and discover the highest peaks of the Tosco-Romagnola Apennines, and the source of the Arno river.  We stay in the tiny hamlet of Campigne, in a former ducal hunting lodge, the Hotel Grand Duca, known for its gastronomic delights, with home-made pasta, an imaginative use of many herbs and excellent salads.
After two days' hiking in the Casentino, hike our last day in the delightfully peaceful Mugello area just north of Florence before returning for a celebratory last night at the Hotel Villa Aurora.

• Famous medieval Tuscan cities, towns and villages
• The wild and remote Appenine region
• The renaissance city of Florence
• Walks through a rich historical tapestry
• Some of the world's best wine
• Landscape of amazing color and light

Please contact us today for more information