Classic Chianti Cycling

Mr Daxter, 12/07/2022

Wonderful holiday. The scenery was spectacular and every hotel was a great experience.

Mrs Tanner, 23/10/2018

A leisurely end of season break

Mrs Clucas, 12/09/2018

Very well organised holiday, local reps were excellent, and great hotels. Good quality bikes and easy to follow route instructions (Ride GPS worked well). This is a stunning area, with beautiful views and interesting historic towns. The cycling is challenging in places as Tuscany is hilly!! However, the views, hotels and food/wine availbale compensate for the effort required.

Mrs Moffat, 16/07/2018

Excellent holiday, lovely hotels and good food. Cycling was quite tough but we still enjoyed the routes and the countryside was beautiful. One problem we had was when going by bus to Siena no one told us that in Italy you need to validate your ticket on the bus. As a result we ended up with a €120 fine!

Mr Lypka, 13/06/2017

Cycling around the hills of Tuscany is challenging and you need to be in good shape to take them on. Its worth it though for the views and the downhill stretches. I particularly enjoyed the four night stop allowing for visits to Florence and Siena. The highlight though for me was San Gimignano.

, 03/06/2016

don't under-estimate how hilly/undulating Tuscany is.

, 20/09/2015

Well organised and professional service - headwater deliver what they promise and the holidays are excellent. A reasonable degree of fitness is required for the cycling holidays - not suitable for beginners or irregular cyclists.

, 26/08/2015

A challenging holiday but thoroughly enjoyable. The views were amazing and the rides took you through beautiful places. The use of the word undulating in the notes was over used, hill was closer! Had such a sense of achievement at the end of the holiday! Would love to do this again.

, 24/08/2015

We were initially slightly worried by the directions and unknown roads etc, however the notes proved to be excellent and only got momentarily lost once during the whole holiday. Take plenty of food, water and sun cream on the rides as shops and shelter can be few and far between.

, 17/08/2015

I have found Headwater holidays to be consistently excellent over the three occasions that I've used them. You find some amazing places for us to stay in and provide really useful information on local places to visit. It's lovely to get off the usual tourist tracks and really get to see the countries in more detail, experiencing far more of the areas we visit. The views were spectacular which made up for the challenging sections of the rides, and we were entertained by a golden eagle only metres away from us on the first and last cycle days.

, 21/07/2015

This is a great way to explore Tuscany with a good physical challenge and lots of wonderful gastronomic experiences thrown in.

, 23/06/2015

A challenging (take note) cycling tour taking you to some beautiful places in Tuscany. The bike was great and despite having to get off a few times in a few places I was mostly very happy with the km and the routes. If I could change any part of the route it would be the strada biancha on day 1 as that really is a bit tough with no views for most of it. The rest of the routes were fine and took you to beautiful scenery.



I was sorely disappointed with the hotel in Siena and would strongly recommend that Headwater change this option as it spoilt my trip a bit. The other hotels were great - my favourite was Pescile. Hotel Revere was good if the weather was ok but I can imagine this is a bit gloomy if its raining as there are limited places to sit inside.



The food was mostly good - breakfasts can be a bit 'Italian' but on the whole not too bad. The biggest let down for food was being sent to two Pizzerias two nights in a row in Certaldo. There is a huge choice of restaurants in Certaldo Alto and I would have preferred paying for my own meal and being given options.



A highlight was a tour of Montalcino (can be done from hotel Revere) and finding some amazing restaurants in San Gim (better at night to avoid the day trippers) and Siena.



For anyone wanting to know here are my restaurant highlights:



Siena - La taverna de San Giuseppe

San Gim - Cum Quibus

Certaldo Alto - Fonte Antica



Overall very happy and am missing the cycling now I am back in the UK

, 02/11/2014

We had a wonderful holiday and will have plenty of fond memories and photo's. It was a nice mix of exercise,visiting some lovely cities and villages and relaxation.The beauty about cycling is that you get time to appreciate the views, the Tuscan countryside is absolutely amazing. Our reps were extremely pleasant and helpful which went a long way towards our holiday enjoyment. We would definitely do another cycling holiday or even a walking one, but would not want to cycle on another Strada Bianca! It was a very well organised holiday from start to finish. Thank-you Headwater

, 21/10/2014

The cycling was challenging, much more difficult than we expected from the rating. We would not have made it without the help and assistance from the reps Katy and Jim. They were excellent. There were downhill parts of the route that were dangerous for moderate cyclists. I know the area is hilly, however some of the climbing was more akin to a cycling race than a holiday.

, 30/09/2014

Beautiful countryside, tough cycling you would need to do some cycling at home prior to a 2 bike plus. We feel the hotels are much more cosmopolitan than in the past. Whilst they are of a very good standard we miss the more authentic accommodation with more local traditionally prepared food and eating together as a group.



My husband found the food at Relais della Rovere disappointing.

, 13/09/2014

Excellent holiday, very well organised. Will definitely take another holiday with headwater

A special thank you to the reps Kate and Jim Illingworth who went far over and above there duty to make our holiday outstanding

A special thank you to headwater for the 2 bottles of wine we received for our 30th wedding anniversary



Thank you all

, 11/09/2014

Excellent! Not a cheap holiday, but worth every penny. Good hotels, excellent food. Bikes were good. Friendly helpful service from the reps who went out of their way to meet the needs of individual guests.

, 10/07/2014

This was our first holiday with Headwater and we thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. The cycling was challenging and we would advised others choosing this holiday to be prepared for the 'undulations' also known as long, steep hills! However, saying that if you are of a competitive nature they only added to the enjoyment when you reach the top. On the whole the accommodation was fantastic especially the Relais della Rovere where nothing was too much trouble and Le Renaie whose family atmosphere was lovely. We're now looking forward to choosing from next year's brochure - roll on next summer!

, 25/06/2014

Tuscany is wonderful. Beautiful countryside and enchanting hilltop towns. However the cycling routes are long and steep, and hard work in the very high temperatures we experienced. It's a glorious holiday if you're fit!

, 01/06/2014

Katie and Jim looked after all our needs and we are grateful to them for making our holiday work. We found the cycling very tough, but were able to switch to the walking holiday with their help. We probably over estimated our ability but the grading of the holiday was a little misleading to us. Some of the other guests agreed that they had found it tougher than they had expected. Overall, the holiday was enjoyable and we would use Headwater Holidays again.

, 09/10/2013

good mix of cycling and rest days. Profile maps giving an indication of the heights gained and lost would be of interest. We cycled an extra day whilst at H della Rovere, and some information about possible routes might have been useful. In fairness, we hadn't told the reps we intended to do this as it was a last moment decision. Hotel Rovere room 404 was noisy as it was opposite reception and trundling suitcases early and late were noisily intrusive. Don't book this room or ask the hotel to lay down a rubberised pathway... The room was also quite dark.

Reps were excellent and helpful setting up and checking the bikes.. Rattly rear mudguards over the via bianchi and uneven road surfaces needed a bit of first aid. A bike bottle holder on the bike frame would have been nice

, 16/09/2013

Very well organised. Excellent reps on site. Excellent choice of hotels

, 09/09/2013

Very well organised allowing us the opportunity to have many splendid days to enjoy both countryside and town alike. Accommodation, with one notable exception, excellent. Scenery, sights and sounds will all remain locked in the memory for a long time to come - would happily recommend the holiday

, 25/07/2013

Fabulous way to see Tuscany. Excellent service from the reps and they were reliable with delivrng luggage and had super local knowledge. All the hotels were friendly and had lovely pools which we needed when we arrived. A great holiday that I would thoroughly recommend.

, 20/06/2013

generally excellent holiday. I think however, we over estimated our capabilities on the bike ride in tuscany. But enjoyed it nevertheless, esp. the scenery. We would certainly book with headwater again but be more careful on the bike ride we choose in future

, 18/06/2013

we loved cycling in Chianti country - the climbs up to the hilltop towns were always rewarded with fantastic pistacchio gelati!