SOUTHERN TUSCANY May 6-15, 2011. 

DOLOMITES June 24-3 July, 2011 (details to be announced)

Hotel, castle and Agriturismo!  Spectacular…

With Our tour will take place inland and along the West Coast of Central Italy, in the Southern part of Tuscany. We shall stay in three very different accommodations during this tour: the first four nights will be in the delightful seaside town of Porto Santo Stefano on Monte Argentario on the coast, then the next two nights will be in an authentic farm agriturismo near the beautiful medieval hilltop town of Montalcino, followed by the last three nights in an almost 1000 year old magical castle in medieval Sorano, situated deep in the old Tufa areas of the Etruscans.

This tour is fully comprehensive, with really atmospheric accommodation, fine Italian dining and good local wines all included. Experience the very best of Tuscany in the company of Martin and our good friend Goffredo Filibeck, Professor of Botany at Viterbo University, as our local English speaking guide. You will have the best possible introduction to Tuscany.

The area of the tour will approximately coincide with the district called "Maremma", that is the coast (and the hills near the coast) of Southern Tuscany. But our itinerary will also include visits to some other interesting districts: the area of Monte Amiata (a volcanic mountain 1,700 metres high); the Isola del Giglio (an island in the Tuscan Archipelago) - and, last but not least, we may visit Sienna and some of the famous hill towns of Tuscany.

TUSCANY is not only the land of Art and History, but also of teriffic Biodiversity. More than 5,600 plant species grow there (while for example, the UK has only 1,500). More than 400 bird species can be observed - and large mammals like the Wolf, Brown Bear and Wild Boar still inhabit the forests of Italy. The climate is very varied, from the high mountains to the subtropical coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Geomorphology and Geology are even more varied. As a result, the landscape is incredibly diverse, changing every few kilometres.

Landscape and geology: The name Maremma comes from the Spanish word "marismas" ( marshes), as this stretch of coast was almost entirely covered by wetlands. Nowadays, although many of these marshes have been drained, there are still many interesting wetlands, rich in birdlife. The landscape of Maremma includes coastal flatlands with marshes; coastal lagoons; coastal hills with rocky calcareous cliffs; and inner hills, made of soft volcanic rocks (tufa), in which erosion has excavated deep canyons. Therefore, Maremma's coast is a mixture of sandy beaches and rocky cliffs.

For example, we shall visit the half-island of Monte Argentario (635 m high), that has high cliffs, but is connected to mainland by two "tomboli" (flat stretches of sand dunes). The geology of Maremma includes Permian metamorphic and sedimentary rocks, Mesozoic limestone, Tertiary "flysch", and Quaternary volcanic tufa - all very interesting. The landscape of Maremma is very beautiful - where there is a harmonious mixture of wilderness, agriculture and history.

Monte Amiata is a volcano that was active 400,000 years before the present to 100,000 years b.p. Today it is extinct (but there are hot springs and fumaroles). Its height is 1,738 metres and it is covered with sweet chestnut and beech forest.

Isola del Giglio (where we'll take a boat trip and hike and swim) is an island 15 km W of Monte Argentario. It belongs to the Tuscan Archipelago, the group of islands that lie between Tuscany and Corsica. The island is 8 km long and 496 m high and is made up of granite. The sea-water is extremely clear and good for swimming.

During our tour we shall see many Etruscan ruins. Etruscans were a pre-Roman people; their history begins in the ninth century bc. They were very powerful in the seventh and sixth centuries bc. They decayed after the fourth century bc, but they reached a high degree of technology, art and science. In their religion, tombs were very important, so they built big necropolis ("towns of tombs"). Today, we can see these tombs, dug into the volcanic rocks. They are particularly interesting, because they are shaped like houses (and as big as houses). Often, necropolis were built in gorges, and nowadays forests cover these ruins, therefore they are wild, remote and fascinating places, where nature and history are harmoniously mixed.

In the area of our tour there are, of course, also many Roman ruins. There are also some Middle Aged castles; and particularly common are lookout towers on coastal hills, built from the Middle Ages up to the 17th century, as a defence against Saracen pirates. Particularly picturesque are some villages, still inhabited, and built in the Middle Ages on steep cliffs along the numerous tufa gorges.