Jardin de Boboli and Historic Centre of San Gimignano

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Jardin de Boboli

   Cosimo I's wife, Eleonora of Toledo, bought a half-finished palace on the south bank of the Arno in 1549 and decided it needed a garden. The Boboli, behind the Pitti Palace, rises up a steep hill in a series of terraces, avenues and lawns, and it became the model for formal gardens across Europe, including Versailles. The design began under the sculptor Tribolo and was carried on by other Medici artists over the next century. A curved amphitheatre of grass behind the palace was used for festivals and plays, and the great grotto designed by Buontalenti has fantastical stone carvings and a Venus bathing in a hidden room.

   Read the complete Jardin de Boboli write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Jardin de Boboli is where the day begins. Next is Villa de Il Trebbio.

2. 2. Villa de Il Trebbio

   The Medici came from the Mugello, and Il Trebbio is one of the places where you can see it. The family's rise to Florentine power in the fifteenth century began in these hills north of the city, among farms and woods where they held land long before they held banks and palaces. Il Trebbio is a fortified villa near San Piero a Sieve, redesigned for Cosimo the Elder by the architect Michelozzo, and its crenellated walls, tower and gardens mark it as a country retreat that is also, quietly, a statement of status. It is one of the Medici villas listed by UNESCO in 2013.

   Read the complete Villa de Il Trebbio write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Villa de Il Trebbio comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Villa La Magia.

3. 3. Villa La Magia

   The Medici loved the countryside, especially when it came with hunting grounds, and Villa La Magia at Quarrata was one of their country retreats at the foot of the Montalbano hills, a few kilometres south of Pistoia. Francesco I de' Medici bought it in the sixteenth century to use as a hunting lodge, and it belongs to the World Heritage inscription for the Medici villas and gardens of Tuscany. The villa is a solid rectangular building around a courtyard, more farmhouse than palace, with a park that has become home to contemporary art installations, a rather unexpected touch for a Renaissance hunting lodge.

   Read the complete Villa La Magia write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 83 km into the recorded legs you reach Villa La Magia. Next is Historic Centre of San Gimignano.

4. 4. 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

   Historic Centre of San Gimignano, about halfway. Next is back through Villa La Magia.

5. 5. back through Villa La Magia

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Villa La Magia write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Villa La Magia sits at 166 km, about halfway. Next is back through Villa de Il Trebbio.

6. 6. back through Villa de Il Trebbio

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Villa de Il Trebbio write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Villa de Il Trebbio comes up about 305 km into the recorded legs. Next is Jardin de Boboli.

7. 7. Jardin de Boboli

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Jardin de Boboli write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Jardin de Boboli closes the day.