Hiking in Tuscany: our favorite 5 walking routes
We often hear that the best way to explore a new place is walking through it, and we couldn’t agree more.
Tuscan land is full of natural paths and walking routes, but if you want to find the best trekking itineraries, we have what you were looking for: a list of our favorite walking routes for hiking in Tuscany. Fasten your shoes and prepare your backpack: we’re ready to go.
Via Francigena
Known since the X century, the Via Francigena is one of the most famous European pilgrim’s routes and one of the preferred itinerary for hiking in Tuscany. Starting in Canterbury, it crosses France, Switzerland and Italy to reach Santa Maria di Leuca, from where the crusaders and devotees sailed for the Holy Land.
In Tuscany, this route – which is in fact more a group of routes than a single path – goes from the Sisa pass for 380 km, crossing 38 municipality – including Massa, Lucca, Siena and Montepulciano – and involving more than 1.000 accommodation facilities.
It can be done by walk, by bike and even by horse, and it is described as an “interior journey, a path of the spirit, religious or secular, which enriches the personal experience”.
Vetta Mare
An amazing path who goes from the peak of Monte Amiata – 1738 asl – to the beaches of Porto Ercole, the walking route “Vetta Mare” will take you from the mountain to the sea in 136 km of pure wonder.
Divided into 7 stages, it winds through Maremma crossing places and villages notable both from a historical and naturalistic point of view.
Our favorite highlights? The Sovana Archeological site – the only place in the World when you can walk through tuff caves – the Cascate del Mulino, a stunning natural spa, and the Tarot Garden, where the sculptures of Niki de Saint Phalle evokes Gaudi’s Barcelona.
Anello del Rinascimento
The Renaissance culture is deeply tied to the city of Florence, but the artistic and innovative thrust of the period was not limited to the capital of Medici reign and it was reflected in the towns and the villages who surround it.
The Renaissance Ring is a rich historical-artistic hiking itinerary in Tuscany who will make you relive the splendours of one of the most prosperous era of Tuscany and discover less known yet wonderful pieces of art of the major artists of the period.
Divided into 13 stages – eight composing the main “circle” and five possible variants – this 178 km trekking path can be done by walk or by bike and it gravitates around a very iconic epicenter: the Brunelleschi Cupole.
Grande Escursione Appenninica (GEA).
425 km along the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines: conceived in 1981 by to trekking experts – Gianfranco Bracci and Alfonso Bietolini – “The Great Apennine Hike” (GEA) is one of the most famous and loved Tuscan walking route.
If you are planning to hike in Tuscany, you should definitely consider this itinerary, who crosses the unspoiled nature of the Apennines winding through small villages, ancient hermitages, parks and natural forests.
Nowadays it can be divided into 28 stages – they were 25 in 1983, when it was inaugurated by its creators together with Reinhold Messner – at the end of each one there is a receptive structure that guarantees food and lodging, often indicated as “GEA Stopover Place“.
Grande Traversata Elbana
Rolling hillsides and art towns are the most known image of Tuscany worldwide, but in this region there’s far more to see. Elba Island, a few km away from the Tyrrhenian Coast, is less famous than the inner part of the region, but not less worthy: its beautiful coast, amazing sea, mountains and luxuriant woods definitely deserve a visit.
A unique way to discover the wonders held in this island is the hiking path called “The Great Elban Traverse”, that in 4 or 5 days crosses all the ecosystems and natural heritage, from the coasts to the woods, to reach the peak of Monte Capanne.
Here, at 1000 mt asl, it is possible to admire one of the most amazing panoramas of Italian mountains: the endless view towards Corsica, the Tuscan Archipelago and the Italian peninsula at the horizon.
