The Via Etrusca from Volterra to Piombino

Distance: 22.23 km

Ascent: 558 m

Descent: 859 m

The journey starts from Volterra, one of the ancient Etruscan Dodecapolises and today home to one of Tuscany’s most important archaeological museums: the Museo Guarnacci. The route drops into the valley of the River Cecina and winds its way to Pomarance, first crossing the gentle, rolling hills of the Volterran countryside and then hitting the Berignone Nature Reserve, which you can get to with a short detour through watery woodland.

Distance: 19.85 km

Ascent: 863 m

Descent: 675 m

From Pomarance the journey continues towards Castelnuovo Val di Cecina and comes within touching distance of the Rocca Sillana, one of Tuscany's most important examples of eleventh-century military architecture. It also provides you with a view of the region, as far as the eye can see.

Distance: 20.57 km

Ascent: 963 m

Descent: 1008 m

Before going down into the valley of the River Cornia, you dive into the strange, even infernal landscape of the Valle del Diavolo, with its steam jets, sulphurous fumes and bleached hills. These are the manifestations of geothermic processes, which you can observe from the Biancane Nature Park trail.  Along the way you bump into the important archaeological site of the Etruscan baths at Bagnone, a complex from the third century B.C. that fulfilled both sacred and recreational functions. Even today, water bubbles up here at a temperature between 40 and 70 degrees centigrade.

Distance: 15.04 km

Ascent: 407 m

Descent: 752 m

The route takes you through the historic centre of Monterotondo Marittimo, where you can see the ruins of the Rocca degli Alberti, a castle from the twelfth century. You then enter the Colline Metallifere Grossetane National Park, which takes visitors on a tour of the area’s mineral history.

Distance: 16.16 km

Ascent: 519 m

Descent: 361 m

You get back on the road for a fairly long stretch towards the Monteverdi Marittimo territory, but your stopover is the village of Sassetta. The Sassetta thermal spa lies not far off the trail, a construction made solely of stones found in the fields and wood from the chestnut trees of the Val di Cornia. Here the water is rich in sulphites, calcium, precious minerals and oligoelements, born naturally from the soil at a temperature of 49.6°C.

Distance: 10.15 km

Ascent: 339 m

Descent: 556 m

The route goes through the hilltown of Suvereto, a real treasure trove of medieval streets, stone houses, old palazzi and striking churches. Looking over it from on high is the Rocca Aldobrandesca, standing on top of a hill outside the town walls, as another reminder of the settlement’s medieval origins.

Distance: 7.2 km

Ascent: 295 m

Descent: 151 m

After a few kilometres, the route cuts through the historic centre of Campiglia Marittima. Artisan shops and workshops, museums and osterias nestle within its circuit of walls. The nucleus of the medieval village is a castle, which towers over everything else; the castle museum, located in the bridgehouse, is open to visitors.

Distance: 23.06 m

Ascent: 477 m

Descent: 702

After the medieval centres of Suvereto and Campiglia Marittima, you cross the San Silvestro Archaeomineral Park, which comprises 450 hectares of museums, tunnels, archaeological trails and Rocca San Silvestro, the old mining village built during the Middle Ages for the rich seams of lead, copper and silver. You follow the slope of the hills and go down towards the coast, following the medieval road of the via dei Cavalleggeri, which goes through the Rimigliano Park through sand dunes, Mediterranean scrub, and oak and pine woods.

Distance: 14.52 km

Ascent: 623 m

Descent: 808 m

The next leg bends south between the sea and Piombino promontory, and this is where Etruscan civilisation is at its most evident. Baratti and its gulf were an Etruscan port and a centre of Etruscan industry, and here you can visit the necropolis and the city of Populonia, with its acropolis, archaeological museum, medieval castle and breathtaking view out over the sea. The final stretch goes over the rocks and into a wood, where you stumble across Etruscan tombs but can also walk down to the coves at any point, and arrives at its final destination with the Piombino Archaeological Museum. This coastal city has a train station, but you could also take a boat to the Isle of Elba and see the places where the Etruscans mined their ores, which were then worked in Baratti.