Skip to content
Itineraries bike

From Florence to Strada in Chianti by bike

A gravel route in Chianti, among the Gallo Nero vineyards

A few kilometers from Florence there is a paradise of hills and dirt roads running through the famous Gallo Nero (Black Cock) vineyards. From the very town center of the Medici city, you only have to climb to Poggio Imperiale and you already breathe a different air; after a short ride, it is already open country. After about a kilometer uphill, the city appears to us below, cut by the Arno, with Mount Morello looking down on it and that self-supporting red lantern (the spire on the dome of the Duomo) that has protected it for centuries. As we go down Via San Felice a Ema, the wind begins to hit our faces, but we only need to turn left to be away from traffic.

In Pozzolatico there appears a different world, sweet hills, olive trees everywhere. It climbs, but never mind, the road is so beautiful that the climb is not tiring. This ancient road that used to lead peasants to town, now cuts through the hillside gently and leads directly to Impruneta. We haven't taken the dirt road yet, but it's only a short distance away.

Crossing Impruneta is a wonderful experience: the famous "cotto" has been produced there for centuries and even now, as you pass through the streets around town, you can see open warehouses filled with vases, furnishings, bricks, amphorae of that inimitable red of terracotta baked by skilled hands. We continue up and down hills filled with olive trees. This is Chianti by bicycle, a perennial challenge with often very steep climbs, but also stretches of smooth dirt roads.

Once you arrive in Ferrone there finally begins the long stretch of dirt road, and this is where the real fun begins. The bottom is firm, the wheels glide lightly through the puddles, and the ups and downs increase until you reach Mercatale.

From here starts Via Luciana, which unwinds through the woods. It feels like going back to a time of knights and merchants: a road that climbs gently between now-abandoned farmhouses and passes by Tower Luciana, which nowadays is still used as an observatory, but all in all a medieval tower.

Coming up after a steep descent the vegetation changes, the soil remains good, with low clay content and where stretches through the forest alternate with cultivated fields. We take the Chiantigiana road again. A pure spectacle of hairpin bends. Every little bit makes me want to stop and take pictures of the views, and you can glimpse along the way names of very famous wineries, which have their century-old mansions here.

Choosing gravel is not only a technical choice, but also a way of not having to share the road with cars, only with vines. Riding in complete peace, never worrying about cars racing by on your left is one of the main reasons to choose gravel instead of other disciplines.

Strada in Chianti welcomes us with its peculiar scent, the undergrowth and the hills, especially in the cold months, fill our nostrils. Vineyards and olive trees as far as the eye can see.

A few hours have estranged us from the city, we have traveled centuries-old roads, seen ancient observatories. We can head back toward Florence after Grassina, leaving Chianti and its scent behind.

Explore

Discover something of interest near this itinerary
[]