Country walks?
 

Staying in Chianti/Siena area and would like to know of any 5-7km "walks" through the countryside - perhaps going from village to village. We want to do this on our own, stopping with our picnic lunch en route. Any suggestions?

You might try the book, Walking and Eating in Tuscany and Umbria by James Lasdun and Pia Davis. It has several options for easy to fairly easy walks in the area you mentioned, especially in Chianti and around Siena (Montepulciano, Montefallonico, Pienza, Montalcino). Lonely Planet also has a book, Walking in Italy, with a section on Tuscany. And finally, you might consult CAI (Club Alpino Italiano). You can find them on them web by doing a search. They may have maps for the specific areas in which you are interested, and CAI is also responsible for marking all the trails in Italy. It's a great place to walk. Have fun.

still looking for someone who has done a country walk in these areas????

Hi. We are also planning on doing some hiking and I am really excited. I saw my friends pictures and it is highly recommended. It is called Cinque Terre. It is a bit north of Pisa but can make for a nice day trip. The hike takes about 5 hours and on it you travel through 5 beautiful villages (great views of the ocean.)

Sorry for the vagueness here----I hiked around San Antimo and found the trails marked to several nearby towns

I did some walking on my own near Siena last February.The one I enjoyed most was from Montalcino to St.Antimo. <BR>From Siena train station bus to Montalcino, it is a lovely little town upon the hill,where several stores you could get food for picnic. In the toruist centre you could get a map(or just follow the sign). The walk (about 8 km) is easy, through several gentle rolling hills,some vineyards, many olive groves as picturesque as in most postcards. The highlight is the sudden appearance of Abbey S.Antimo at the end of the walk. The light yellowish centuries old stone Abbey standing solitarily in a green valley is an unforgetablly sight. It just happened the monks were doing "chant Gregoriano" in the almost empty chapael when I walked in. It was very moving. <BR>There is a bus stop at the nearby intersation(the village of Castelnuovo) for going back to Montalcino.

Thanks Judy!! This is exactly what I was looking for - sounds perfect.