Duration: 3 hours

Distance: 8 km, height: 200 meters, highest point: 900 m. Degree of difficulty: easy.

Description: this path circles the mountain of Montieri. There are numerous panoramic views of Tuscany’s hills and valleys. The beginning features a chestnut forest, and later you will pass through pine forests and more open areas. With a little luck, you can see birds of prey flying around the slopes. Wild boar, deer, rabbits, badgers, porcupines, and foxes also live here.

Distance: 12 km, height: 300 meters in altitude. Degree of difficulty: medium.

Description: departure from the hotel, possibility of picnic and return with our minibus. Descend into the Cecina valley and cross the Cecina springs before going up to Gerfalco, a very picturesque village. During the return to the hotel it will be flatter and you can enjoy the shade of the centuries-old chestnut trees.

Duration: approximately 3 hours

Distance 7 km, height:400 meters downhill, highest hike point: 750 m. Degree of difficulty: medium.

On this unique route you will be walking downhill along paths used by miners in former centuries. Travelling through uncultivated meadows and chestnut and oak tree forests, eventually you will come upon an ancient mine. A unique and bizarre landscape of “red cliffs” waits at the end of the tour. These cliffs are the remains of copper manufacturing during the 19th century. Here, the copper-rich rocks from the nearby mines piled up. Using an electric-chemical process, the copper was washed out of the minerals. After many years the rain has transformed these residues into real and very suggestive sculptures

Start of the walking tour: Gerfalco. Duration: 3 hours. Distance: 8 km, height 500 meters, highest hike point: 1060 m. Degree of difficulty: medium.

After visiting the picturesque medieval village of Gerfalco you will walk up a small path to the ridge of the “Cornate”. In former centuries, these mountain slopes were populated and cultivated. Over the years, plants and rare animals have re-claimed the landscape and a new ecological balance has been established. During most of the trip you will have a nice view of the coast and the island of Elba. You will pass by a former famous marble quarry that provided the marble for the Cathedral of Siena. After a few hours of hiking it is possible to join our 3-course picnic lunch (with the horseback riders) close to the ruins of the a 12th century silver mine. In the afternoon you have the option of climbing the “Poggio Mutti”, where you will find many entrances to former mines and natural caves hidden in thick evergreen bushes. Even the Etruscan people extracted minerals here. Evidence of these extractions has been mixed with others.

Duration: 4 hours

Distance: 10 km, height 400 meters, highest hike point: 840 m. Degree of difficulty: medium.

From Montieri, this trek leads downhill to the chapel “Madonna dei Castani”, which played an important role in the social development of Montieri. In the valley, the landscape changes from woods to meadows, which are used for herding. Next, you will hike uphill to “Monte Murlo”. The peak offers a splendid panorama of Montieri and the surrounding valley.

Departure from the Hotel, 1 km, 100 meters altitude difference. Go up directly in front of the hotel and after a short walk you will arrive at the ruins of the Canonica di San Niccolò. Most of the buildings, a large handicraft area and a hexapetal church and most of the other buildings were built in the 12th century. The center is linked to the Bishop of Volterra and through this place they managed the activities of extraction and transformation of the mineral quarried in the mines of the hill (one of which is only a few tens of meters from the church). The particular plan of the church and the rich architectural furnishings are clues to the symbolic importance of the site, an expression of the power and ability of its client, the Bishop of Volterra, to control the mining territory.