Tuscany's rolling hills are an ideal riding area for bike tours. Ciclismo Classico's "Tuscany - More Miles for Less" tour covers the Arno Valley, Chianti and Montalcino over six days. Biking through the countryside allows visitors to see a side of Italy few tourists encounter. Riders can expect to pedal past stone walls, cypress trees and vineyards. Bicycle and helmet rentals as well as luggage transportation are taken care of so riders can move unencumbered from one city to the next. Many meals and refreshments are included, and the guides are experienced bilingual cyclists.
If a multi-day bike tour is too long, Bicycle Tuscany has one-day escorted or self-guided bike tours around Chianti. They include bike and helmet rental, lunch and a tasting at a winery.
Ciclismo Classico
30 Marathon Street
Arlington, MA 02474
800-866-7314
ciclismoclassico.com
Bicycle Tuscany
+39-3299881857
bicycletuscany.com
Chianti Kitchen offers cooking courses in a Tuscan villa surrounded by orchards and olive groves. The group also organizes tours around the region and can arrange visits to organic farms, farmers markets and vineyards.
Divina Cucina offers one-day or week-long cooking programs in Certaldo, in the heart of Chianti. Cooking classes are supplemented with tours around the region to wineries, markets, cheese-makers and local artists and artisans. The full week programs include tours of hill towns and historic sites.
Chianti Kitchen
Strada Val di Sambra 12
53019 Castelnuovo Berardenga
Tuscany
Italy
+39-577-355003
210-401-3683 (within the U.S.)
chiantikitchen.com
Divina Cucina
+39-925-402-4569
divinacucina.com
No trip to Chianti would be complete without a wine tasting and winery visit. Private wine tours are an opportunity to spend time with an expert guide and to visit wineries and vineyards. The company Italy and Tour/Italy and Wine offers a "Chianti Wine Tour" and a "Castle of Chianti" tour that include tastings, lunch and drives around the countryside.
Cellar Tours offers luxury Chianti wine tours that include gourmet dining and tastings.
Italy and Tour/Italy and Wine
Via Montebuoni, 8
Impruneta 50023
Florence
Italy
+39-3318749912
italyandwine.net
Cellar Tours
Cellar Tastings S.L.
C/ Zurbano 45, 1st Floor
28010 Madrid
Spain
+34-91-182 9790
310-928-7559 (within the U.S.)
cellartours.com
For someone who wants to tour Chianti but does not have much time, City Discovery arranges day tours of the province that depart from Florence. Excursions venture to different areas in Chianti and visit churches, farmhouses and castles. All tours stop at a winery for a tasting. Dinner in a village restaurant is a popular tour add-on. The company also offers a Chianti horseback-riding adventure, which includes lunch and a wine tasting. For non-riders, there is an option to take a horse-drawn carriage ride. There are also full-day trips around Chianti on a scooter.
City Discovery
c/o Tours and Co. Associates, Inc.
13 N. Saint Clair St.
Toledo, OH 43604
866-988-8687
city-discovery.com/country/Italy
Charming Italy can put together flexible tour packages around Chianti. The company can arrange villa and car rentals so that travelers can put together a self-guided tour of the area. Charming Italy also can organize private shopping tours, sightseeing, cooking classes and wine tours. For someone looking for the flexibility of a private car but without the hassle of driving in an unfamiliar country, the company can arrange a private car, professional driver and local guide to give tours of the region.
Charming Italy
Via Aldo Rossi, 16
51016 Montecatini Terme
Italy
+39-0572-73199
617-418-3484 (in the U.S.)
charmingitaly.net
