L’Eroica & Tuscany Cycling Tour
L’Eroica and Tuscany Cycling Tours Overview
This tour combines all the best that cycling, L’Eroica and Tuscany have to offer. Immersing ourselves in Gaiole in Chianti (the heart of L’Eroica), we’ll then explore the region and be perfectly positioned in the centre of Gaiole to enjoy Italy’s best cycling festival, L’Eroica.
Expect amazing days on the bike with picturesque landscapes and leisurely dinners where true artisans share with you their passion for the simplicity and seasonality of Tuscan cuisine.
L’Eroica is not just about vintage steel frame bikes with downtube shifters and toe-clips, woollen jerseys, leather shoes and white gravel roads. It’s that and a whole lot more.
With unique climbs on the Strade Bianche that seem to never end, and which test both body and mind, to the mystical feel of candle lit paths, traditional bowls of ribollita soup and Chianti wine at rest stops, L’Eroica is a ride like no other. It is a truly unique and special event celebrating the golden years of cycling and has become renowned worldwide for its festive spirit and captivating emotion.
Rediscover a taste for adventure with us on our L’Eroica and Tuscany Tour and lose yourself in the beauty that is Tuscany.
The L’Eroica and Tuscany Tour Itinerary
Welcome to L’Eroica & Tuscany
You’ll have plenty of time to acclimatise and enjoy diverse rides across the Tuscan hills as we prepare the legs during the first few days and enjoy all that the different areas of Chianti have to offer before we get ready to soak up the atmosphere as we roll into Gaiole on Thursday, the same day that the L’Eroica Festival starts, featuring the best ‘antique/vintage’ cycling market you’ll ever see and a carnival atmosphere, with cyclists arriving from all over the world.
You’ll enjoy daily rides through the superb Colli Senesi and the Val d’Orcia, the rolling hills around Siena, and of course Chianti and its unforgettable Tuscan countryside, culminating in the ride of a lifetime – L’Eroica. We’ll do a different ride each day, exploring some of the most spectacular areas of Tuscany and have you fully prepared to take on the famous Strade Blanche and L’Eroica.
Welcome to ChiantiFollowing our welcome lunch, today’s ride to a hilltop hamlet is the perfect introduction to Chianti with the idyllic rolling hills striped with vineyards and backed by dense wooded forests and the little villages that dot the landscape.
Highlight: The picturesque hilltop hamlet
Distance: 39.2km
Elevation: 715m
Into the Crete SinesiThis is a truly typical Tuscan day on the bike where you will encounter undulating quiet country roads amidst the rolling hills, woods, olive groves and vineyards as you wind your way towards the Siena and what many consider is the most beautiful part of Tuscany,
Highlight: Exploring the tiny backroads of Chianti.
Distance: 77km
Elevation: 1287m
Exploring the Medici HeartlandToday you explore the beauty and challenge of the Chianti hills, with the ride including more sustained climbing with 5 distinct climbs as we traverse through some of the most iconic vlilages between Siena and Florence.
Highlight: The beautiful and free flowing descents
Distance: 72km
Elevation: 1767m
The Black RoosterWe set off in the direction of Siena before we we join part of the Strade Bianche course, enjoying one of it’s gravel climbs before making our way towards Castellina in Chianti and Radda in Chianti.
Highlight: The postcard perfection of the landscape at every turn.
Distance: 72.2km
Elevation: 1455m
Coffee RideToday is a bit of a rest day on the bike in preparation for the grand event – L’Eroica. You head out after a leisurely start on a traditional coffee shop ride. Expect one climb and a landscape with olive groves and vineyards vying for dominance, as you wind your way past incredible views. There will be plenty of time for on-the-bike conversation as you make your way to our stop for caffe e torta (coffee and cake) and then making our way back to the villa.
You can take the opportunity to spend more time in the village and market, ensuring you are prepared for tomorrow or simply enjoy soaking up the atmosphere of the now bustling town.
Highlight: Enjoying the atmosphere in the village as the festival grows.
Distance: 32.9km
Elevation: 734m
L'Eroica - Long CoursesYour ride entry to L’Eroica is guaranteed. With entries limited and every year the event selling out in no time, to have your entry secured as part of our group is priceless. Whatever your distance, this is the pinnacle of the week and the most amazing and special ride you will ever do.
Steel frame bikes with downtube shifters and toe-clips, woollen jerseys and leather shoes, you are ready. You roll down into the piazza in darkness, stop by the bar to ensure that you have enough espresso to get through the day and head over to the start line. Whether you’re up for the biggest challenge set with the 209km ride or joining in the festive spirit at the end of the 135km ride, it’s your choice.
Highlight: The view of rolling along the gravel roads, with Siena bathed in a golden hue at dawn.
Distance: 135 or 212km
Elevation: 2380m or 3819m 
L'Eroica - Short CoursesToday, you will take in part of the L’Eroica route and climb up to Castello di Brolio, set amidst olive groves and vineyards, before the challenge of one good long climb on the Strade Bianche, joing the other “heroic” cyclists.
Highlight: The Strade Bianche
Distance: 46, 81 or 106km
Elevation: 755m, 1612m or 1793m
Pricing & Dates
6995
per person twin share / Maximum 14 guests
Show Price As
2024
Start Location & Details
City: Florence, Italy
Drop Off Location: Santa Maria Novella Train Station
Drop Off Time: 11:00am
Finish Location & Details
City: Florence, Italy
Drop Off Location: Santa Maria Novella Train Station
Drop Off Time: 11:30am
Inclusions & Details
Accommodation & Meals
- Our L'Eroica & Tuscany cycling tours include 6 nights accommodation, twin share with private bathroom.
- Single occupancy available. Talk to us when booking
- All breakfasts
- Lunches on the road
- All dinners at a range of our favourite restaurants and osteria’s, including local wines at each dinner*
- *wine provided at dinner is to accompany meals / beverages ordered by guests will incur additional charges
Ride Support
- Professional bilingual ride guides with extensive cycling experience, local knowledge and first aid experience, ensuring your riding experiences are truly local and take in many of the undiscovered back roads and rolling hills of this spectacular and diverse region.
- Unique GPS routes, provided on tour as part of our bike tours in Tuscany.
- Support van on daily rides, with mechanical support and your safety as our priority.
- Nutritious snacks and water are provided
Transfers & Activities
- All transfers / transportation from pick up to drop off, including baggage and bike transportation.
- Entrance fees to sites and tours / activities included in non riding partner program
Ride Kit
- 2 piece, Italian made A’QTO Cycling Kit including jersey and bib shorts.
- Laundry for your cycling clothing.
Not Included
- Airfare.
- Bike hire.
- Travel & International Medical Insurance
- Guide Gratuities
- Specific gels and energy bars
Have More Questions About Our Tuscany and L'Eroica Cycling Tour?
Bike Hire & Gear
Full Carbon Road Bikes
You can choose to hire a Pinarello or Bianchi with a compact crankset.
Vintage Steel Bikes
Need a beautifil pre-87 steel machine with downtube shifters? We partner with Roberto, a Tuscan local with a large supply of cycling history. These bikes are not your old “clunkers”……think Pinarello, Guerciotti and Cinelli with full campy. You’ll want to take it home with you.
Accommodation
Enjoy our hand-picked selection of boutique hotels and family-run villas across Tuscany which reflect the true character of Tuscany and its beautiful, warm and open people with whom we’ll share our experience.
Included is our beautiful hilltop villa within walking distance to Gaiole’s piazza and L’Eroica’s world famous vintage bike market. Perched on a hill overlooking Gaiole and with stunning views across the rolling hills, there is no better place to be than at our family run B&B which we have selected for your final 4 nights. You’ll be right amongst the action of the L’Eroica Festival, while also feeling relaxed and away from it all as the Villa grounds, infinity pool and views take in the spectacular Tuscan countryside.
Food & Wine
Enjoy with us the very best food and wine experience of Tuscany. For centuries, the wholesome elements of the earth and sun have determined the flavours of the region. World famous wines from a terroir that is among the most important in the world, to olive oils made with ancient rural wisdom and paired with dishes created from simple, fresh produce of the land.
We will enjoy a richly diverse food and wine journey which includes home cooked meals with our hosts where beautiful Autumn produce combines with traditional cooking methods and hospitality that is second to none and beautifully prepared meals in our favourite local osterias and restaurants that capture the very essence of Tuscany’s open and warm character.
Testimonials
L’EROICA WAS THE HIGHLIGHT
It’s easy to make it all about the riding and what comes with it, but there was just so much that was arranged for our group in the way of eating, drinking and sight-seeing that it all just blurred into this wonderful trip. For us, it was everything we had hoped for, the place, the people, the culture, the food and wine and, of course, the riding.
