Why this ride
A 99 km round trip from Quarrata - roughly 2 h 16 in the saddle. It goes by way of Villa de Cerreto Guidi, Montecatini Terme and back through Villa de Cerreto Guidi. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Villa La Magia and Montecatini Terme
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 99 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 16
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Villa de Cerreto Guidi.
2. Villa de Cerreto Guidi
Cosimo I de' Medici liked to hunt, and in the 1560s he had a villa built on a hilltop at Cerreto Guidi, on the edge of the marshes and woods west of Florence, where the game was plentiful. From the outside it is austere, a solid block of stone facing a square, but the approach is spectacular: a pair of great brick ramps, known as the Medici bridges, zigzag up to the entrance. The villa is part of the UNESCO listing of the Medici Villas and Gardens in Tuscany, and it holds a dark legend. Cosimo's daughter Isabella died here in 1576, and the story goes that she was murdered by her husband, Paolo Giordano Orsini, for her alleged infidelity. Whether it is true or not, it is told to every visitor.
Read the complete Villa de Cerreto Guidi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Villa de Cerreto Guidi comes up about 25 km into the recorded legs. Next is Montecatini Terme.
3. Montecatini Terme
The water at Montecatini has been drunk for health since the Middle Ages, but it was in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that the town became one of the great spa resorts of Europe, with grand thermal establishments built in neoclassical, Liberty and Art Deco styles, set in parks of plane trees and pines. The Tettuccio, with its marble colonnades and frescoes, is the most famous, a temple of water where visitors drink from taps along a counter. In 2021 Montecatini became part of the Great Spa Towns of Europe World Heritage Site, alongside Baden-Baden, Bath, Vichy and others.
Read the complete Montecatini Terme write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 48 km into the recorded legs you reach Montecatini Terme. Next is back through Villa de Cerreto Guidi.
4. back through Villa de Cerreto Guidi
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Villa de Cerreto Guidi 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 Cerreto Guidi, late in the day. Next is Villa La Magia.
5. 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 at Villa La Magia. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Villa La Magia to Villa de Cerreto Guidi
Villa La Magia → Villa de Cerreto Guidi is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Villa de Cerreto Guidi to Montecatini Terme
Villa de Cerreto Guidi → Montecatini Terme is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Montecatini Terme to back through Villa de Cerreto Guidi
Montecatini Terme → back through Villa de Cerreto Guidi is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Villa de Cerreto Guidi to Villa La Magia
back through Villa de Cerreto Guidi → Villa La Magia is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.