Under the Tuscan Rain and Sun: the Via Francigena from Lucca to Siena

October 24, 2024

The Tuscany region is one of the most famous places in Italy. It is regarded as the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, with many historic and architectural treasures. Tuscany also boasts beautiful landscapes, with hills comprising almost two-thirds of the region. Eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites are also present here.

After entering the region of Tuscany at the Cisa Pass, we had several days of rain, wind, and fog as we traversed the Apennine Mountains. Upon reaching the historic city of Lucca and taking a rest day, we set off to trek into the heart of the Tuscany region, with a series of charming and iconic hill towns awaiting us at the end of each of our stages.

What we didn’t know was whether the rainy conditions would continue, or if we would be able to enjoy the Tuscan sun as we trekked south.

Navigating through the Tuscan Rain

Back on the trail after a rest day in Lucca, we had an easy 11.6-mile stage to the city of Altopascio. We left Lucca via the east Porta Elisa gate.

Leaving Lucca to begin our stage

It was the most urban stage we had to date, as we walked through many neighborhoods, industrial areas, and along roads. We took a picnic lunch break in the town of Porcari overlooking a roundabout and watched the traffic go by us.

Lunch view of the roundabout in the town of Porcari

Although there was a chance of rain, we managed to get just a few drops on us before finishing our stage.

San Miniato was the first of several Tuscan hill towns that we would be trekking through in the coming days. With rain in the forecast again, we left our hotel shortly after 8:00 am, as we had a long 17-mile stage ahead of us.

Making our way through Altopascio at the beginning of the stage

As we left Altopascio, we walked by its church and tower.

Passing Altopascio’s church and tower

We had a delightful first few miles in some peaceful forest. It had rained quite a bit the night before, so we had to contend with some mud and puddles, but it didn’t slow us down too much.

Hiking through the forest and mud

After leaving the forest we stopped for a break in a village. The rain had held off, but while we sat the sky darkened. It began to pour just as we moved under an awning in front of a store.

After about ten minutes the rain intensity lessened. We were supposed to hike along a canal in an open field, but, since rain was still falling, we decided to take an alternate road walk instead. Being close to trees and buildings would provide us with better cover if the rain got bad again.

There was actually a bike lane next to the traffic.

Walking on the bike path to Fucecchio

The rain finally subsided as we arrived in the town of Fucecchio. Here, we rejoined the walking route. After passing a church and crossing the swollen Arno River (which flows through nearby Florence), we began our climb to San Miniato on wet grass along a canal.

Church in Fucecchio; crossing the swollen Arno River

Walking toward San Miniato (hill in the distance)

While we would need to climb to each hill town we visited on this trek, San Miniato had an elevator that cut part of the ascent off for us.

Making our way to the elevator; looking back at the top of the elevator

The hill town sits at the intersection of the ancient Lucca to Siena and Florence to Pisa roads. Its three hills attracted the Lombards, who built a castle here in the 11th century.

Entering San Miniato

After checking into our hotel, we briefly explored the town streets. We also enjoyed the views of the countryside below us.

View of San Miniato from our hotel room
Exploring San Miniato at night

Plodding through the Challenging Mud

We had another day of light but steady rain as we began our 15.2-mile hike. As we left San Miniato, we were treated to a final view of the town and countryside.

View as we left San Miniato

The route took us on many short ascents and descents through the hills, with beautiful views around us.

Forest trail early in the stage
Scenic view in the rain

Later we passed a grove of olive trees that were being harvested.

Harvested olives

The dirt path was full of mud and some puddles from all the recent rain. When we reached each area, it took a few moments to figure out the best way around it without getting wet, but it was still passable.

Mud and puddles on the path

However, after a lunch break we came to a steep downhill section that was just full of thick, oozing mud. This mud was clay-like and stuck to our shoes almost right away. With each step, more mud accumulated underfoot, causing us to slip like we were walking on ice.

After taking some tentative steps and immediately slipping downhill, we made our way back to the top of the hill. Darren suggested climbing up and walking along a parallel vineyard. However, when we reached the end, it was impossible to climb down from the vineyard to rejoin the path.

Steep muddy downhill section

After turning back to walk to the top of the hill again, we pulled out our phones to determine if there was another option. I spied a path starting about 200 feet behind us. That trail would take us to the highway that we were eventually join anyway. So we turned around and did that.

Map of our detour – orange was our original route; green is the reroute to the highway from the mud

At the end of the stage we began a gradual dirt road climb to our destination – the town of Gambassi Terme.

Dirt path climb and views from the trail

It is named after the Gambassi family, who were a part of the Florentine nobility that resided in the area since the 1350s.

Reaching Gambassi Terme at the end of the stage

Basking in the Sun and Enjoying the Views

After all the precipitation, we finally had a rain-free forecast with the sun out for the second half of our short 8.5-mile stage.

Early morning vista from the route

As we hiked, we had wonderful views of the Tuscan countryside and just one slow section of mud.

Hiking in the clear weather

Beautiful Tuscan views

At the end of the stage, we climbed up to the hill town of San Gimignano.

Approaching San Gimignano at the end of the stage

When we entered San Gimignano through one of its gates, we were immediately impressed with the grandeur of its architecture.

Walking through San Gimignano after entering its gate

Surrounded by 13th-century walls, San Gimignano traces its roots to the 3rd century BC. As the town thrived, wealthy families built over 70 towers to safeguard their valuables and show their affluence.

In the 14th century the Black Plague killed half of San Gimignano’s population, resulting in a decline in its importance. Today, about 15 of the medieval towers remain. Not surprisingly, San Gimignano’s historic center is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

View of some of the remaining towers

Since it was such a short stage, we arrived in town before our hotel check-in time. So we headed to the Piazza della Cisterna (named for its 13th century cistern), and ordered a couple of beers at a cafe next to our hotel. It was nice to relax in such a beautiful place and take in all the history around us.

Piazza della Cisterna; view of the cafe next to our hotel

One of San Gimignano’s highlights is the 12th century Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta. We had timed tickets to visit the church and its famous series of frescoes.

Entering the Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta

After we entered the church we used the included audio guide to learn about the 14th century frescoes in detail.

Looking down the nave of the church

One church wall is composed of scenes from the Old Testament and the opposite wall depicts New Testament details of the life of Christ.

Old Testament scene wall (top row – story of Creation; middle row – scenes from Noah and the Ark; bottom row – parting of the Red Sea and scenes from Job)
Life of Christ scene wall (top row – scenes from the birth of Christ; middle row – wedding at Cana, the Transfiguration, resurrection of Lazarus, Jesus entering Jerusalem; bottom row – scenes from the Passion of Christ)

We ended our day with a sunset dinner on a restaurant terrace overlooking the countryside.

Dinner on the terrace

We ordered cinghiale in umido (wild boar stewed with tomato and black olives) and fettuccine alla carbonara e tartufo (fettuccine with bacon, eggs, and truffles). Accompanied by some Tuscan wine, it was one of the best meals we had in Italy thus far.

Dinner of wild boar and fettuccine

Watching the sunset from our table
Walking back to our hotel after dinner

Our day in San Gimignano exceeded our expectations and was a highlight of our entire Via Francigena journey.

A Steep Climb to Monteriggioni

We had full sunshine as we began a 17-mile trekking day. After looking back at San Gimignano one last time, we hiked on a route that took us into some hilly forest.

Taking one last look back at San Gimignano

We had several miles of sharp ascents and descents, and forded three streams.

Forest hiking; fording a stream

At about the halfway point of the stage, we entered the historic center of Colle di Val d’Elsa. From the 14th century it was a possession of nearby Florence.

Entering Colle di Val d’Elsa

Views of Colle di Val d’Elsa’s historic center

After hiking through the old town, we dropped down to an urban walk for a couple of miles. The route took us back into the countryside toward the end of the day.

Vineyard vista from the trail

We began to see our hill town destination of Monteriggioni in the distance.

View of Monteriggioni toward the end of the stage

We had an extremely steep climb in the last half mile to Monteriggioni’s Porta Fiorentina (Florence direction gate) to enter the fortress at the end of our stage. After we settled into our B&B, we went out to explore just as the sun was setting.

Making the final steep climb to Monteriggioni

The Monteriggioni medieval fortress was built in the 13th century by the city of Siena as a defense against onslaughts by Florence. There are 14 towers along the circular fortress walls and just one central street.

Looking down the main street in Monteriggioni

Monteriggioni towers, church, piazza, and sunset from the Porta Fiorentina gate

Arriving in Siena and Exploring the City

We left Monteriggioni through the opposite Porta Franca (Rome direction gate) in some drizzle to begin a 13.1-mile stage to Siena. Neither of us had been to Siena before, so we were both excited to have a rest day to explore the city.

Early morning view in the drizzle

The hike took us through some more forest and past several castles.

Castello della Chiocciola (14th century) and Castello di Villa (13th century)

Throughout this section, we had seen more hikers than any other time on the Via Francigena. With all the hill town destinations and great scenery, hiking from Lucca to Siena is a popular multi-day trek. Since those hikers would be completing their trek in Siena, there were many signs counting down the distance left to the finish.

Signs pointing us toward Siena

After we climbed up to Siena in the final miles, we walked through the newer city before entering the medieval walls.

Entering into the historic center of Siena

Siena competed with Florence for central Italy dominance in the Middle Ages. Its population of 60,000 was larger than Paris in the 13th century. After the Black Plague in the 14th century, Siena lost much of its influence. Today, its preserved historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We focused our time in Siena on two major locations: the Piazza del Campo and the Siena Cathedral (Duomo). The Piazza del Campo was originally a field and became the heart of the city. It is surrounded by structures such as the iconic Torre delle Mangia tower and Palazzo Publicco city hall. Twice a year the Palio di Siena horse race is held on this site. A rotating group of ten of the 17 contrade, or neighborhoods race for three laps around the piazza track.

As we arrived at the piazza it began to rain quite hard. So we did much of our sightseeing in the intermittent storms.

The Piazza del Campo in the rain
Torre delle Mangia tower and Palazzo Publicco city hall

At the high point of the slanted open space of the piazza is the 15th century Fonte Gaia (Fountain of Joy).

Fonte Gaia in the Piazza del Campo

Before arriving in Siena we bought a combination timed ticket for the Duomo, Piccolomini Library frescoes, museum (housing the cathedral’s original contents), Baptistry, Crypt, and panoramic viewpoint.

Siena Duomo

Also included in our ticket was a Gate of Heaven tour. We were able to climb up to the attic of the cathedral and look down to the nave and altar.

Gate of Heaven tour stairs and attic; looking down to the nave

One catwalk took us across the cathedral’s interior.

Catwalk views across the cathedral’s interior

Another narrow section took us outside for rooftop views.

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Rooftop views

Looking back to the Piazza del Campo and Torre delle Mangia tower from the Duomo rooftop

Back on the ground, we explored the inside of the Duomo. A highlight was the mosaic floor of the cathedral. It was the work of over 40 artists who labored for nearly 175 years.

View of the Duomo interior from the ground floor

Some of the mosaics on the floor of the cathedral

We also marveled at a Michelangelo sculpture of the Apostle Paul.

Michelangelo sculpture of the Apostle Paul

The Piccolomini Library contained frescoes illustrating ten scenes from the life of Pope Pius II. They were painted between 1503 and 1508. We also saw a series of illuminated manuscripts.

Piccolomini Library frescoes and illuminated manuscripts

Later, we visited the beautiful Baptistry of San Giovanni, built in the 14th century.

The Baptistry of San Giovanni

We also enjoyed visiting the Duomo Museum. It exhibited some of the original cathedral pieces. The museum was located in the planned right nave of the Duomo Nuovo. Originally approved in the 14th century to enlarge the Siena Cathedral, the new structure was never completed, due to the Black Plague.

Even some light rain couldn’t keep us off the unfinished facade viewpoint, as we had a nice view of the Duomo and tower behind us.

At the unfinished facade viewpoint in the rain with the Duomo and tower in the background

During our last night in Siena we walked down to the Piazza del Campo and had pre-dinner beers overlooking the square at sunset. We both loved exploring Siena and discussed coming back for a longer visit in the future.

Enjoying a beer overlooking the Piazza del Campo

Our time in Tuscany experiencing the history and culture of the hill towns and seeing the natural beauty of the rolling hills had been worth all the weather hardships we had faced in getting there. But we weren’t through yet, with another four stages left in the Tuscany region.

We now have about 180 miles and 13 stages left until we reach Rome!

Via Francigena Tuscany sign on the trail – we have nicknamed the mascot “Giuseppe”

Take a look at our highlight video from our time trekking this section:

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