TUscany and the coast // italy

When I think about our time in Tuscany it’s almost surreal, like it was like a beautiful week long dream at the end of which I awoke in Rome. After a rough week in the rain (in a van!) in Portugal and a few days in Spain we were ready to get back on the bikes. We ferried from Barcelona to Genoa and trained down to Pisa to begin tour #2. Pisa to Florence and then down to Rome was our route and it was filled with beautiful ocean views, vine-filled rolling countryside, Italians that will make you forget you’re homesick and a surprisingly supportive clan of drivers that are super friendly to bikers. We drank coffee, rode, ate pizza, rode, ate pasta, drank wine, slept at farm and then did it all over again the next day. I’ve always heard how fantastic Tuscany is and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a glass of wine while relaxing at a remote villa, but we did it differently than I imagined i.e. on bikes, and it was so much more special than I had imagined. Go to Tuscany and create your own version. You’ll remember it with a big smile, just like a great dream.

Bike mission // tuscan coast

When you get tired of riding your bike in Tuscany, a glass of wine, some pasta and welcoming people are never far away.  To make things easier, getting on and off a train in Tuscany with a bike is as smooth as early morning ocean in the corner of your eye riding down the coast. Soon after we arrived in Italy at the port of Genova we set out to quickly inventory the city contents via bikes following only our noses. We steered our bikes randomly through narrow cobblestone alleys wrapped in warm aromas of ageless tradition in open air markets, velvet soft pasta and generation tested pizzas. We pointed our bikes south towards Rome and for weeks on the bikes and found wonderful people welcoming us with smiles and a contagious passion for the most basic elements of life. We followed this routine, riding the trains when the roads were too steep, and hunkering down in the country side when the rains came.

Bring your bike, pack light and stay on farms when you get tired or join a group tour and let them do the planning.

FOOD // TUSCAN FARM-TO-TABLE

Pizza, pasta, ricotta, vino…we had it all, and we had a lot. On the second leg of our bike touring adventure in Europe (France was part 1) we experienced Tuscany in a way that exposed us to all the delightful dimensions of this rich culinary region - fresh off the farm! Olive oil is the darling of the Tuscan culinary scene, expect a lot of this with gooey Italian bread. Cacio y pepe is the pasta staple that lives on every menu, though I’m more of a red/meat sauce pasta eater. Ragus over fresh tagliatelle and raviolis that will blow your mind are ubiquitous in this region and I got some weird enjoyment in putting down some wild boar ragu after our incident in France. If it seems like I overused ‘fresh’ when describing this food it’s because I have. Italy serves the freshest, most satisfying food I’ve eaten in my life. Pack a pair of loose pants and eat your way through this beautiful countryside. Pizza, pasta, ricotta, tiramisu! Repeat as necessary.

HIT THESE 'HOBOS' HOT SPOTS

Bike // Coastal Tuscany // Great routes and GPX files

Hike // Parco Maremma // Solitude and wildlife by the ocean

Dine // Quarto D'ora Italiano // Best. Pizza. Ever.

Wine // Bolgheri // Quaint town with Tuscany's best wines

Stay // La Cuccumella // Play your cards right and you might get your hands on fresh farm provisions

Stay // La Valentina Nuova // A farm in the national park by the ocean, equipped with the Italian family you never had