Route started 2009

"We had a very comfortable night in Siena at the Hotel Villa Liberty, a convenient location for the centre of Siena, which gave us a marvellous opportunity to have a good look round.  The following morning we met the very friendly, charming Guiseppe who took us and the bags to Monte Oliveto Maggiore.  Fabulous, a perfect start to our walking holiday.  The end of the walk, the final ascent to Pieve a Salti, I apologise to admit that I did use your name in vain.  What a hill!  But a huge relief when we reached the hotel and that magnificent panorama.

"Simon, I could go on day by day, but to condense it all, we have to say that the hotels were varied in character but all equally comfortable, welcoming and ideal for our needs.  Though I must say that Meuble il Riccio in Montepulciano was very special - the most delightful owners and rather quirky hotel, just lovely.  We thoroughly enjoyed the slightly different terrain, crossing the river, ascents and descents, churches, abbeys, gravel, mud, tarmac and boulders.  Our bags were always waiting for us, thank you Guiseppe.  The timings given suited us well, we arrived usually between half an hour to an hour before the expected times, which was reassuring enabling us to have plenty of time to explore our surroundings, and of course plenty of time to find a good 'watering hole'!" June 11

"I loved having the built-in structure which we could work around on our own schedule.  It was so nice to arrive in each town at the end of the day and know exactly where we were staying and that it would be comfortable.  I always felt that help was at hand should we have needed it.  Truly, there's nothing I liked the least." May '11

"It's difficult to say how it could be improved as we enjoyed it so much. Obviously some bits were more pleasurable than others but, overall, it was a wonderful holiday. After Montalcino the scenery is really pastoral with the leaves turning on the trees & the vines. The Val d'Orcia is spectacular and we would like to do more walking there." Sep '10

"We are very satisfied with our holiday. Your service from the beginning to end (such as this questionnaire) is excellent and attentive to details which we very much appreciate. Your hotel selection (except for maybe the upgrade at Bagno Vignoni) was perfect. Every hotel being meticulously clean, charming and with a wonderful staff / owners." Aug '10

"Hi Simon, we were much more than broadly happy with the holiday. We rate it just below Andalucia as our favourite On Foot walk (so far). The taxi at 9:00am from Siena was a little early, especially on a short day but on the plus side we would have probably not gone into the abbey if we had set off at 10:00am, which would have been a real shame. Giovanni did phone the day before to check that the early pick up was ok with us. It was one of the many highlights of the walk.
Other highlights include: Pieve a Salti.. (don't know why - It just was). The first views of Sant Antimo in its valley setting, with the village towering above. Walking both ways to Sant Antimo and then back to Montalcino. We never tired of the views and it wasn't too hard either. Crossing the swollen river bed (filled our boots but good fun). The days walk from Montalcino to Bagno Vigoni. The sheer variety of scenery with only ourselves and butterflies for compnay. The setting of Bagno Vignoni and the days walk from there to Pienza.Sitting on the terrace with  a couple of beers at the Piccolo.
The views on every single day, rainy ones included. Pienza. Not the mud on day 2 (although we had a good laugh about it).  We have attached some photos over a couple of e-mails (the sky was bluer than it looks on some of them)." May '10

"The walking was excellent and varied and the locations for overnight were in interesting towns that we enjoyed exploring and helped to provide for a special experience. Cant think of any improvements!  Guiseppe inspired confidence that we would always meet up with our luggage." May '09