Walking the Via Francigena - Siena to Bolsena

Arrive in Siena and check into your centrally located hotel Depending on your arrival time, enjoy a short visit to this beautiful old town, one of the best preserved medieval cities in Italy, known for its beautiful central square in the shape of a heart and its stunning - albeit unfinished - cathedral.

Hotel (example): Hotel Chiusarelli

Your first day of hiking takes you out of Siena and into the hills of Val d'Arbia. Leaving the outskirts of the city, you'll mostly follow the typical “strade bianche”, unpaved country roads, through the rolling countryside, which offers some beautiful views.

You'll pass some interesting sites: the impressive Grancia di Cuna, a fortified farm where the Republic of Siena's wheat reserves were once stored, Monteroni d'Arbia and the fortified village of Lucignano are your final destination for today.

Hotel (example): Hotel Borgo Antico

Today you continue your hike in a southerly direction. The first village you encounter is Ponte d'Arbia, a small village by the bridge over the Arbia River. After just over an hour through the rolling hills, you'll then reach the charming fortified town of Buonconvento, the town where Emperor Henry VII died in 1313.

Here you'll walk directly through the old town and have time for a short coffee break. After Buonconvento, you'll walk across the plains for about an hour, always with the silhouette of the mountain village of Montalcino - the highest and one of the most beautiful villages in the area - before your eyes. After this flat stretch, you start climbing the first hills, through the area of Brunello di Montalcino, one of the best Tuscan red wines. Here you'll leave the official Via Francigena route and continue uphill towards Montalcino, where you'll spend the night.

Take time to visit the castle (which also has a wine museum) and the beautiful old town with stunning views all around.

Hotel (exampel): Hotel Dei Captiani

Today’s route brings you right into the heart of the stunning Val d’Orcia. The route mainly follows so-called strade bianche through the archetypal Tuscan landscape, a landscape of rolling hills, alternating vineyards and forests. Towards lunch time you reach the beautiful medieval village of San Quirico, where you can have a drink in the square and a stroll through the Horti Leonini, a fifteenth-century garden. Then you have the choice: either you can have a relaxed day, and stay in San Quirico overnight, or you can walk on to the wonderful Renaissance town of Pienza, where you have time to look around and perhaps visit the beautiful museum, inside the Palace of Pope Pius II. Pienza is often described as the “ideal city” or the “utopian city”. It is certainly one of the best planned Renaissance towns, where a model of ideal living and government was attempted. It represented the utopia of the “civitas“, based on the concept of a town able to satisfy the needs of a peaceful and hardworking population. Pienza’s location in the centre of the Val d’Orcia, a wonderfully harmonious valley, helps the town to embody the fundamental principle that humanistic architecture attempted to create: a balanced relationship between humans and Nature.

Hotel (example): 

You can then walk along the banks of the Orcia River and reach Bagno Vignoni. Alternatively, take a detour to the beautiful medieval town of San Quirico, have a drink in the main square and stroll through Horti Leonini, a 15th-century garden, and then continue to Bagno Vignoni. This village was built in the 13th century to allow Lorenzo de' Medici and various popes to relax in the healthy thermal waters. What makes it special is that instead of the usual central square, there is a large thermal pool! Especially on cooler days, the effect of the rising steam is incredible.

You'll then continue to your accommodation for the night, Castiglione d'Orcia, on the other side of the Orcia River.

Hotel (example): Podere Perelli

Today will be a long day: you leave Val d'Orcia and head towards Radicofani, continuing in a southerly direction. First you descend to the River Orcia, which you cross, then a steep climb brings you up to the fortified town of Rocca d'Orcia and Castiglione, dominated by its impressive castle. This is followed by a long stretch of almost 20 km of rolling hills.

Halfway you'll reach Via Cassia - where you'll pass the remains of the medieval “hospital” that bears witness to the pilgrimage past on this ancient Roman road. Almost all the way you walk in the shadow of Tuscany's (extinct) volcano, Mount Amiata, and with views of the oddly shaped high hill on which Radicofani sits.

The last few kilometers are a steep climb up to the fortress, a tiring climb but worth the effort if only for the view from the fortress. If you still have the energy, visit Pieve di San Pietro, a little jewel from the 13th century, and perhaps after dinner take an evening stroll in the old town center and admire the magic of the illuminated fortress.

In Radicofani, there is limited access to good hotel rooms. That's why we've included a stay at a castle hotel in Proceno instead. A taxi (included) will pick you up in Radicofani and bring you to Proceno. The next morning you'll be driven back to Radicofani where you'll have time to visit the castle and then walk to Proceno and on to Acquapendente along the official route.

Hotel (example): La casa del Calzolaio

Today you leave Tuscany behind and enter Lazio, the region around Rome. For a long time, this area has been on the border between Tuscany and the Papal States. If you were too tired last night, perhaps find some time to look around Radicofani and visit the fortress before starting your day hike, which today is definitely easier!

As Radicofani is located at the top of the hill, the first half of the walk is almost entirely downhill. Therefore, you can fully enjoy the landscape, beautiful hills with the silhouette of Monte Amiata always in sight. After about 10 km, you'll reach the valley of the Paglia River, where you can enjoy a short flat stretch.

Here you'll cross the busy Via Cassia, but we avoid following this route (leaving the 'original Via Francigena') and instead head towards the charming village of Proceno, along perhaps one of the most beautiful sections of the entire route. The old town of Proceno, set in this beautiful landscape, is an ideal stop for the night. You'll stay at the same hotel as yesterday.

Today you can look forward to another long but beautiful stage! The first part of the route descends back down to the valley of the Paglia River, where you reach Via Cassia again. Of course, you'll avoid the main road and climb up to the village of Acquapendente on smaller roads.

Through Porta della Ripa you'll enter the old town center, which is well worth a visit (and a coffee break). Take time to visit the Romanesque crypt beneath the Basilica del Santo Sepolcro, where, according to tradition, stones bathed in the blood of Christ are kept. A long day. From Acquapendente, the route takes you through rolling hills and around lunchtime you'll arrive in San Lorenzo Nuovo.

From here you can already catch your first glimpse of the large Bolsena Lake. The route continues through wooded hills and finally descends through the fields to the beautiful town of Bolsena, which has two distinct but perhaps equally attractive parts: the old medieval town, dominated by the castle, and the picturesque lakeshore: where you can quietly stroll around and relax your legs after another beautiful stage.

Hotel (example): Hotel Royal

After breakfast you check out of the hotel.