Chianti Regon

Monday - Florence to Greve in Chianti

We got up early and hit the road. We are doing the ride that we missed when Cam got bitten by the bug. Our destination today is Greve in Chianti. The Chianti region is famous for its Chianti wines and olives.

The landscape is no where near as pretty as the other parts of Tuscany but it was stil pretty.

The ride was only 35km and we arrived in Greve at around lunchtime. We went straight to the tourist office to find some accommodation. We ended up staying in a small hotel with a pool - oh the hard life....

After checking in and dumping our stuff we hoped back on the bikes to take a side trip to the highly recommended Abbey at Bagia di Passignana. The road climbed, very steeply at first, and then eased up slightly. Our first stop was the quaint hilltop town of Montefioralle, from there we climbed for another 8kms. To give you an ideaof the pain - it was about 35 degrees and the climb varied between 8 and 10% grade.

Once we arrived at the Abbey there was NOTHING to see. The Abbey apparently is not open to the public anymore and if it is then it is a secret entrance. Needless to say neither Cam or I were happy campers. : (

On the bright side we had a great decent back down into Greve.

After showering and grabbing a bite to eat we headed over to Le Cantine, a wine cellar, for some local wine tasting. The cellar is set up in a very unique way. You purchase a wine tasting card - we bought the €25 card, then you work your way around the cellar. There are 7 banks with around 10 to 12 different variety of wines. You put your card in a slot and choose the wine you wish to sample. Each wine has a cost and this is deducted from your wine card. The prices ranged from €0.40 to well over €7.00 per taste. We average around €1.80 - €2.00 but splurged out and spent €5.00 on a taste from a bottle that was worth €104.00.

After purchasing an awesome desert wine - our reward for the day we climb Passo dello Stelvio, we headed back to the hotel for our much deserved swim and chill out.

Tuesday - Greve in Chianti to Monteriggioni

We were up and on the road by about 9.30am - we were heading for Siena, where we would catch the train back to Florence.

The first part of the day was a long slow climb upto Panzano in Chianti. Once there the road took us down to the valley floor where we then climbed upto Radda in Chianti - this part of the ride was pretty and the climb was easy.

Once in Radda we had a bit of a look around before grabbing some lunch.

After lunch we rode along the ridgeline to Castellina in Chianti. This section of the ride was a lot faster and more enjoyable then we anticipated. We arrvied in Castellina early and as a result we grabbed a coffee and tossed up the idea of changing our route slightly.

From Castellina we decended for about 10kms or more - what a hoot!! We were heading for Monteriggioni, a small walled city sitting on top of a hill. The town was tiny - we rode from one side to the other in less than a minute. The main wall still entirely surrounds the village and on fridays you can walk around the top of the wall. This gives you a whole new meaning to lets go for a walk around town....

From there we rode back down to the train station and caught the train back to Florence.

Click here to see the pics