Why this ride
From Pienza it runs 231 km to Pienza; allow about 4 h 19 of riding. The stops in between: Historic Centre of Siena, Historic Centre of San Gimignano and back through Historic Centre of Siena.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Historic Centre of the City of Pienza and Historic Centre of San Gimignano · 231 km from Pienza
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 231 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 19
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Val d Orcia Scenic Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 71 km this is Val d Orcia Scenic Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 71 km
- Named road
- Val d Orcia Scenic Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Historic Centre of the City of Pienza
Pienza is what happens when a pope decides to rebuild the village he was born in. In the fifteenth century the hamlet was called Corsignano, and one of its sons, the humanist Enea Silvio Piccolomini, became Pope Pius II. He commissioned the architect Bernardo Rossellino to turn it into an ideal Renaissance town, and within a few years a cathedral, a papal palace, a bishop's palace and a town hall stood around a single carefully composed square. The village got a new name, after the pope, and became one of the first places where Renaissance ideas of town planning were put into actual stone.
Read the complete Historic Centre of the City of Pienza write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Historic Centre of the City of Pienza is where the day begins. Next is Historic Centre of Siena.
2. Historic Centre of Siena
Siena sits on three ridges in the heart of Tuscany, a red-brick medieval city that has hardly changed its shape in seven hundred years. At its centre is the Piazza del Campo, a sloping, shell-shaped square paved in brick and divided into nine sections, a reminder of the Council of Nine that governed the city in its golden age. The Palazzo Pubblico, with the slender Torre del Mangia, stands at the bottom of the square, and inside are frescoes by Ambrogio Lorenzetti showing the effects of good and bad government, painted in the fourteenth century.
Read the complete Historic Centre of Siena write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Historic Centre of Siena comes up about 71 km into the recorded legs. Next is Historic Centre of San Gimignano.
3. Historic Centre of San Gimignano
Seen from the surrounding countryside, San Gimignano looks like a medieval Manhattan: a cluster of stone towers rising from a hilltop above vineyards and olive groves in the Val d'Elsa. In its heyday, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the town had dozens of them, built by rival families as symbols of power and wealth. Fourteen survive, enough to make it one of the most recognisable towns in Italy and a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1990.
Read the complete Historic Centre of San Gimignano write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 115 km into the recorded legs you reach Historic Centre of San Gimignano. Next is back through Historic Centre of Siena.
4. back through Historic Centre of Siena
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic Centre of Siena write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Historic Centre of Siena, late in the day. Next is Historic Centre of the City of Pienza.
5. Historic Centre of the City of Pienza
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic Centre of the City of Pienza write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Historic Centre of the City of Pienza. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Historic Centre of the City of Pienza to Historic Centre of Siena
Historic Centre of the City of Pienza → Historic Centre of Siena is 71 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Historic Centre of Siena to Historic Centre of San Gimignano
Historic Centre of Siena → Historic Centre of San Gimignano is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Historic Centre of San Gimignano to back through Historic Centre of Siena
Historic Centre of San Gimignano → back through Historic Centre of Siena is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Historic Centre of Siena to Historic Centre of the City of Pienza
back through Historic Centre of Siena → Historic Centre of the City of Pienza is 68 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.