I spent a week riding around Tuscany with my daughter Minou from Sep 28 to Oct 4. We’ve done that before. A couple of years ago, we rode from Trieste, Italy to Lake Bled in Slovenia and back to Ljubljana, and Timo and I spent a week or so riding through Puglia earlier in that year. It’s fun spending this time with my kids and it’s great seeing them enjoying such a healthy pastime.
Our plan was to have short days, arrive just after lunch and have plenty of time to look around and enjoy the sights of Tuscany.
Leaving the tourist mayhem and on to flat roads to Pistoia
We set off from Florence with the obligatory start of tour photos in front of the big cathedral, then got on the cycle paths to leave the city. Strangely, Komoot routed us along a fairly busy road with biking infrastructure that was only half built. That meant that we were on and off the road throughout the morning.
We stopped in a park for a lunch which was becoming my standard in Italy – fresh rolls or focaccia with cheese and local salami or prosciutto. You can’t do better than that. It’s much nicer and easier than trying to find a restaurant or bakery at lunch time.
As we sat and ate, I looked over my shoulder and saw a couple of bike tourers at a table fifty metres away, so I had to go and chat with them. Cyclists are a friendly bunch, but being in Europe, a passing wave usually suffices. In the Stans, it was obligatory to stop and tell most of your life story along with an update on road conditions and accomodation and camping options ahead.
In Prato we thought we saw otters (very rare here) in the river, but they were common local animals that were competing with the ducks for food tossed to them off the bridge. Here, the nice new bike path hugged the river and made for a relaxed, car-free interlude after the busy section before lunch.
In Pistoia, we stayed in an old building and the bikes stayed in the basement of the building behind. It would be a perfect wine cellar – cool and atmospheric – but I’m glad I wasn’t there too. For all its charm, our room was a little cramped with no wifi, and for the price, wasn’t great value. It’s what you pay at the moment though. The high season is slowly winding down and the prices for accommodation remain as high as the vendors can keep them. I understand that these days, the traditional peak season is extended at its start and finish, as tourists clamber to see the sights. Tuscany is really a big destination, and its charm justifies the numbers of tourists. Today didn’t really have that much charm except for the town itself, but there would be plenty to come.
On to Lucca
We were quickly out of Pistoia and onto a fairly busy road for the first part. Later, we joined one of the Eurovelo routes and took some smaller lanes and roads through the countryside. When we did, the fields were made up of plant nurseries and again, the day wasn’t the most interesting day of bike travel that we’ve had.
Into Lucca though, that all changed. We rode through the southern gate to this magnificent walled city, then clattered out way to the room wed booked. Google took us on a complicated route that had me completely disoriented by the time we arrived. We’d learn to specify walking instructions to google, rather than biking ones. This way, we’d go direct and being in Italy where traffic laws are barely advisory, we could ride up one-way streets in any direction.
Our bikes were kept in a locked courtyard carpark a few hundred metres away. This made things a little more complicated but we thought it was the easiest option. Besides, I didn’t feel like carrying them up the steep stairs into our rooms. In the end, I should have.
We went looking for lunch at the wrong part of the day and ended up eating kebabs, sitting on the grassy inside bank of the town walls overlooking the city. I was still disoriented and if it weren’t for Google, I would never have made it home.
