La Petraia stands on the slope above Castello, on the north-western edge of Florence, and the first thing you notice is its tower, a leftover from the medieval fortress that stood here before the Medici made it a villa. Ferdinando de' Medici bought it in the 1560s and had Buontalenti reshape it, keeping the tower and building around it, so that the house looks like a small castle that learned manners. The garden below is laid out in terraces, with a fountain topped by a Venus wringing out her hair, a famous work by Giambologna.
The most surprising room is the central courtyard, which was roofed in glass in the nineteenth century to become a ballroom. That happened when the villa passed to the House of Savoy, and Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of united Italy, used it with his companion Rosa Vercellana, whom the Florentines called Bela Rosin. The frescoes around the walls show scenes from Medici history and were painted much earlier, which makes the ballroom feel like a time capsule with a skylight.
The ride starts in the suburbs and soon turns pleasant. From Sesto Fiorentino, a town of forty-odd thousand with fuel and cafes, you can climb through olive terraces on narrow roads toward Monte Morello, with views back over the Arno plain. Surfaces are patchy and the lanes are tight, so keep to a slow pace, particularly on weekends when walkers and cyclists use the same roads.
The second half of the ride title is Cerreto Guidi, a village west of Florence where the Medici built a hunting lodge, and the road from here runs along the Arno valley to the hills of Montalbano, Leonardo's country, with Vinci close by. The terrain is soft, with vines, olive groves and cypress, and the road meanders in an unhurried way that suits a late afternoon. Fuel is easy along the main road through Empoli, but pumps in the hills are rare, and many places close on Sundays, so fill up in town.
Go in May, when the garden is fresh, or in October, when the grapes are in and the air is clear. Check opening days, because Florentine villas often close on one weekday each week.