Guided Trekking in Maremma this Summer

If Tuscany off the beaten track is your preferred type of holiday, but discovering it alone isn't, then these guided treks in Maremma this summer might just be the perfect thing for you. You will certainly get to see a side of Tuscany that most never will.

There is even a "trek" - a guided tour in one of the most beautiful and stunning towns in Maremma - and one that takes you to the best beach in Italy :)

And if you are visiting later in the year, there are some that continue into the autumn and winter.

 

Follonica

The ironworks and the historic centre

This town trek will take you from Follonica's historic heart and its ironworks, to the church of San Leopoldo, and the Art Nouveau Liberty villas along the waterfront.

2 July, 30 July and 27 August. The trek starts at 09:30. Duration: about three hours.

Meeting point: Museo del Ferro - the Iron Museum - in the ex-ILVA in Follonica.

Information and booking: scoprirelamaremma@nuovamaremma.it. Tel. +39 0566 846231, 328 3708576

 

Le Bandite delle Ferriere

This one takes you right out of town into the lovely Parco Naturale di Montioni, along the valley of Pietraia, the source of the freshwater springs that surface in the town. The route passes through evergreen Mediterranean woodlands, to cooler and more humid mixed oak and holm-oak woods.

18 June, 16 July, 13 August and 10 September. The trek starts at 08:30. Duration: about four hours.

Meeting point: the COOP supermarket car park in Via Chirici in Follonica.

Information and booking: scoprirelamaremma@nuovamaremma.it. Tel. +39 0566 846231, 328 3708576

 

Gavorrano

The ancient mines and castles

A guided walk to discover the town's most important historical and cultural aspects. From the industrial plants of "Pozzo Roma" and "Rigoloccio", to the ruins of "Fonte Vecchia", once the source of drinking water for the town, and through its medieval alleyways.

11 June, 9 July, 6 August, 3 November, and 28 December. The trek starts at 08:30. Duration: about four hours.

Meeting point: the car park in the Piazza IV Novembre in Gavorrano.

Information and booking: scoprirelamaremma@nuovamaremma.it. Tel. +39 0566 846231, 328 3708576

 

 

Massa Marittima

The historic centre of Massa Marittima,
including the Museum of San Pietro all'Orto

A guided tour through the ancient medieval alleyways of "old town" Massa Marittima, the spectacular central pizza with the Cathedral of San Cerbone, the Town Hall, the "tree of abundance" fresco that caused so much of a stir in the town when it was discovered, and the Palazzo del Podesta. And then on up the steep hill to "new town" with its Sienese Fortress walls and the Torre del Candeliere, and the lovely cloister of Sant'Agostino.

The trek includes a visit to the Museale di San Pietro all'Orto - the Museum of San Pietro all'Orto with the works of Ambrogio Lorenzetti.

Friday 21 June, Friday 19 July and Friday 16 August. The tour starts at 18:00 and ends with a small tasting of local products. Duration: about two hours.

Fee: Euros 7,00 for adults, Euros 5,00 for children.

Information and bookings: info@coopcollinemetallifere.it. Tel. +39 0566 902289

View from the Sienese tower and the Torre del Candeliere...

 

The old mining shafts of the the Valley of Stregaio

This trek is one for lovers of medieval history as well as geology, for it takes you into cavernous limestone and clay woodlands full of old narrow ancient mine shafts, natural and man-made. Hundreds of them grouped together and connected by small tunnels that create an inter-connecting system along the south slope of the Monte Gai (Mount Gai) and the Valle dello Stregaio (Valley of Stregaio).

Friday 12 July, Friday 9 August and Friday 6 September. Trek starts at 07:30. Duration: about four hours.

Fee: Euros 10,00 per person.

Information and bookings: info@coopcollinemetallifere.it. Tel. +39 0566 902289

 

The mining village of Niccioleta and the Massa Marittima Mining Museum

The heart of Maremma is metalliferous hill country, home since prehistoric times to metal extraction and many ancient hill top villages whose inhabitants worked the copper, silver and pyrite mines that surrounded them. This trek through the tiny village of Niccioleta brings to life its daily life of not so long ago, before the mines closed in 1992.

It's story also includes a dark episode in the Second World War when, on 13 and 14 June 1944, 83 miners were machine-gunned down in reprisal for their refusal to follow Nazi and fascist orders.

The tour ends with a visit to the underground mining museum in Massa Marittima - price included in the trek fee - with its seven-hundred metres of tunnels and exhibits.

TIP: The museum is a great place to visit for children as well and makes for a very welcome cool retreat during the heat of the summer. It is open late some evenings as well during the summer months.

Friday 28 June, Friday 26 July and Friday 23 August. Trek starts at 10:00 and ends with a small tasting of local products. Duration: about two hours.

Fee: Euros 7,00 for adults, Euros 5,00 for children.

Information and bookings: info@coopcollinemetallifere.it. Tel. +39 0566 902289

 

The Lago dell'Accesa

The deep karstic lake of Lago dell'Accesa not far from Massa Marittima is a beautiful spot and its crystal clear waters home to an abundance of fish as well as being a special place to take a swim.

It holds the prestigious and rare "5 Vele" award from the Guida Blu di Lega Ambiente e Touring Club.

But that is not all, for apart from the local legends of a sunken city as well as a crocodile in its 45 metres depths, and black panther in the woodlands nearby, the land around the lake was once occupied by an important Etruscan mining settlement (gold, silver, lead and iron). Remains of the civilisation are still being excavated - every August by a team from the University of Florence - and so far one hundred and four tombs have been uncovered.

The trek ends at the Museo Archeologico in Massa Marittima's main piazza next to the duomo (but it isn't clear from the information whether the entrance fee is included or not, but I suspect it does).

Friday 5 July, Friday 2 August and Friday 30 August. Trek starts at 10:00 and ends with a small tasting of local products. Duration: about two hours.

Fee: Euros 7,00 for adults, Euros 5,00 for children.

Information and bookings: info@coopcollinemetallifere.it. Tel. +39 0566 902289

 

 

Montieri

Canonica di San Niccolo

The trek starts about one kilometre from the town of Montieri and will take you through a chestnut, beech, maple and conifer forest, where you will be able to see the tracks and traces of many of Maremma's wild animals.

The tour also takes in a visit to an ancient priests house dedicated to Saint Nicholas, which housed an Augustinian monastery. The Canonica was unique in its time for two reasons: the first is that it's architectural design is that of the shape of six petals. The second is that, the monks who resided here were as much, if not more, concerned with the economic and commercial aspects of the world than the spiritual, in that they directly controlled the excavation of the minerals in the nearby mines.

Thursday 20 June, Thursday 4 July, Thursday 18 July, Thursday 1 August, Thursday ? August and Thursday 29 August. Trek starts at 09:30 and ends with a small tasting of local products. Duration: about two hours.

Fee: Euros 7,00 for adults, Euros 5,00 for children.

Information and bookings: ufficioturisticomontieri1@gmail.com. Tel. +39 0566 997024

 

Buca delle Fate - Il Piano

Starting from Montieri, this trek takes you through a chestnut forest to a location called "Poggio", and ancient mines including a mixed jasper and limestone quarry. Then onto a "Buca delle Fate" - the Fairy Hole - a tunnel that leads to mining galleries in which silver ore ("galena argentifera") was mined during Etruscan times.

The trek continues along the ridge of "Poggio", climbing to the location of the local public park called, "Il Piano".

Thursday 27 June, Thursday 11 July, Thursday 25 July, Thursday 8 August, Thursday 22 August, and Thursday 5 September. Trek starts at 09:30 and ends with a small tasting of local products. Duration: about two hours.

Fee: Euros 7,00 for adults, Euros 5,00 for children.

Information and bookings: ufficioturisticomontieri1@gmail.com. Tel. +39 0566 997024

 

Monterotondo Marittima

Le Biancane

TIP If you only get to choose one trek this summer in Maremma, then this has to be the most memorable for the whole family. It helps if you are fascinated by geology, but you don't have to be. Fabulous for amateur landscape photographers.

The colours, smells and sights of this trek will make it hard for you to believe that you are in Tuscany at all. The "le Biancane" is the name given to this wondrous geothermal landscape that is part of Maremma's "Parco Geotermico delle Biancane" - Geothermal Park. You'll see "bulicani, fumaroles, lagoni, solfataras, and putizze", as well as geothermal wells, and power plants. And a flora adapted to the hot and acidic conditions.

Curios? Find out more here and here , including videos.

Every Wednesday from 19 June to 4 September. Trek starts at 09:30 and ends with a small tasting of local products. Duration: about two hours.

Fee: Euros 7,00 for adults, Euros 5,00 for children.

Information and bookings: parco2005@libero.it. Tel. +39 0566 917039

 

Parco Naturale della Maremma

There are guided treks throughout the year in Maremma's stunning Parco Naturale della Maremma. The park web site has details of them all, including the towers, the beaches, a night tour and bird watching.

Visit: www.parco-maremma.it/en/trekking-tours.html

 

Scarlino

"A piedi verso Scarlino" - on foot to Scarlino

This trek will take you along the route that the villagers of Scarlino in the middle ages would have taken to reach their fortified village from their cultivated plains below and the marsh behind the sea. It passes through centuries-old olive groves, reaching at its climax, the city gates. From here the tour will take you through the medieval alleyways to points of particular interest and then to Scarlino's castle - the "Rocca Pisana" - at the summit of the hill. The return route traces the ancient springs of Canalino.

Tuesday 23 July, Tuesday 20 August and Tuesday 17 September. The trek starts at 08:30. Duration: about four hours.

Meeting point: the Infopoint in the Scarlino cemetery car park

Information and booking: scoprirelamaremma@nuovamaremma.it. Tel. +39 0566 846231, 328 3708576

 

The coastal towers

This trek takes in not just some medieval coastal towers, the best beach in Italy! Through the woods and Mediterranean macchia of the "Oasi delle Costiere", this tour will take you from the industrial mining archaeology at the cove of Cala di Terra Rossa, to the rocky shore of Cala Martina, and then to the sands of Cala Violina and Cala Civette. The return path follows another equally great route along the ridge of the hills. All the while with panoramic views of the Gulfo di Follonica.

25 April, 25 June, 3 September, 2 November and 27 December. The trek starts at 08:30. Duration: about four hours.

Meeting point: the car park of the hotel Residence La Darsena in Puntone di Scarlino.

Information and booking: scoprirelamaremma@nuovamaremma.it. Tel. +39 0566 846231, 328 3708576