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Welcome to Hooked on Cycling and our cycling holiday in Tuscany. This Italian cycling holiday is through the beautiful Tuscany region from Pisa to Tuscany. It is available as a self guided cycling tour for arrivals on any day. This is a very flexible and varied 7 day trip that touches the highlights of Northern Tuscany. Every day except 1 there are 2 cycling possibilities, a short and easy route and a longer or more demanding route for the keener cyclists. The trip starts in Pisa, whose origins are lost in Myth and legend. It was an extremely important maritime republic and it holds some of the world’s most famous monuments. The next overnight stop, after a short climb takes us to Lucca, a small intimate town full of beautiful churches and surrounded by an impressive city wall that is still intact. On the way to Vinci, home of the famous Leonardo we pass though the Fucecchio wetlands, one of Europe’s most important inland wetlands; here many different bird species come to nest or rest during the migratory period. The last ride takes us to Florence; cradle of the Renaissance.
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Self Guided available March to October Level 2 self guided tour
Day 1 Arrival in Pisa During the course of the day you arrive in Pisa.
Overnight stay in Pisa with dinner at the hotel
Day 2 Pisa Round trip with a short 19 km and a long route 42 km Short route: An easy relaxing warm up ride mostly along cycle paths that take you in to the heart of Pisa where you will have all the time you want to visit and admire the famous Miracle square and the leaning tower. Long route: The first part of the round trip goes through the countryside lying between Pisa and the Monte Serra with the possibility to stop and visit the Certosa of Calci that houses the oldest and one of the most important Paleonthological museums of Italy. The second part of the day is the same as the easy tour, so you can spend the afternoon visiting Pisa and its many monument
Day 3 Ride from Pisa to Lucca with a short 27 km and a long route 50 km Short route: Today’s trip starts with a short, challenging climb that quickly flattens out and in only 20 km you reach Lucca, giving you all the time you need to visit the town in depth where you will be enchanted by how the churches, palaces, towers and city walls, of this unique fortified town, have been preserved in time. Along the way you pass by San Giuliano Terme, at first sight the town does not seem very interesting but reading through its history we find that it has several historical, artistic and cultural elements. Long route: A very demanding and extremely rewarding ride for both natural and scenic reasons. The road slowly and steadily climbs from Calci up to the group of mountains called Monti Pisani from where you have wonderful views of the underlying valleys. Once past the watershed it is all down hill till Lucca
Day 4 Lucca round trip with a flat 31 km and a hilly route 33 km Once again you can choose between 2 trips according to your interest. Both trips take you to visit not only the beautiful town of Lucca, but also the characteristic villas that were built in the surrounding countryside from the 1400 to the 1700 century. The difference between the two trips is not the length, but the gradient, the easy route is nearly all flat, while the hilly route has a height difference of around 300 metres. giving you an enviable aerial view of Lucca and its surrounding countryside These villas have very different historic and artistic characteristics and very nice, well preserved and maintained monumental gardens that have a large variety of plants.
Day 5 Ride from Lucca to Vinci 48 km This day is clearly divided into two sections: the first part can be considered a transfer ride, taking you from the hotel to the village of Altopascio. The second part is from Altopascio to Vinci and of highly naturalistic interest as you pass though the “Padule of F ucecchio” nature reserve, the largest inland wetlands of Europe. Here many bird species come to nest and during certain periods of the year you can see large numbers of migratory birds that stop for a well deserved rest on their migratory routes.
Day 6 Ride from Vinci to Empoli and train to Florence with a short 11 km and a long route 18 km Today is dedicated to visiting Vinci, its small but extremely interesting museum. The medieval hamlet of Vinci is famous for the 2 museums dedicated to the genius inventor Leonardo Da Vinci where you can see many live size constructions of his incredible inventions and the original designs. After visiting Vinci you can either go the short way or the longer, hillier way to Empoli where you drop off the bike and take the train in to Florence
Day 7 Departure The trip and our services end after breakfast.
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What is Included
- 6 Nights Bed and Breakfast
- 3 star hotels
- Luggage Transfers
- Information Pack
- Routes and Maps
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Extras
- 21 speed Rental Cycle
- Cost before and after tour
- Flights
- Extra nights in Florence
- Private transfers from/to airports
- Travel Insurance
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Tariff 2008
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Tour Code CEPF
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Price per person based on two persons sharing double/twin room
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£474
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Single occupancy
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£762
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Extra nights per person in Pisa B&B
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£53 double , £74 single
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Extra nights per person in Florence B&B
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£61 double , £91 single
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Rental Cycle
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£71
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How to get there By Plane Fly to Pisa with Ryanair or with British airways and the by bus or taxi to your hotel To View our other cycling holidays in Italy
Click below to view our Walking Holidays in Italy
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