Why this ride
From Pisa it runs 356 km to Pisa; allow about 5 h 12 of riding. It goes by way of Villa La Magia, Historic Centre of Siena and back through Villa La Magia. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Piazza del Duomo and Historic Centre of Siena
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 356 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 12
- 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
Chiantigiana Wine Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 104 km this is Chiantigiana Wine Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 104 km
- Named road
- Chiantigiana Wine Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Piazza del Duomo
Nothing prepares you for that first glimpse through the gateway. A wide green lawn, and set on it like ornaments on a cloth, the white marble cathedral, the round baptistery, the cemetery cloister of the Camposanto, and of course the bell tower, leaning at an angle that looks wrong no matter how many photographs you have seen. The Piazza del Duomo in Pisa, also called the Field of Miracles, was one of the first places in Italy to be listed by UNESCO, back in 1987.
Read the complete Piazza del Duomo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Piazza del Duomo is where the day begins. Next is Villa La Magia.
2. 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
Villa La Magia comes up about 75 km into the recorded legs. Next is Historic Centre of Siena.
3. 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
about 179 km into the recorded legs you reach Historic Centre of Siena. Next is back through Villa La Magia.
4. 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, late in the day. Next is Piazza del Duomo.
5. Piazza del Duomo
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Piazza del Duomo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Piazza del Duomo. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Piazza del Duomo to Villa La Magia
Piazza del Duomo → Villa La Magia is 75 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Villa La Magia to Historic Centre of Siena
Villa La Magia → Historic Centre of Siena is 104 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Historic Centre of Siena to back through Villa La Magia
Historic Centre of Siena → back through Villa La Magia is 103 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Villa La Magia to Piazza del Duomo
back through Villa La Magia → Piazza del Duomo is 75 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.