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BICYCLE TUSCANY |
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| A bike tour in Tuscany is a cyclist's dream trip, and you will understand this very quickly! Spend a week with us biking in italy, the land of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Experience Renaissance treasures of Siena, Etruscan ruins, medieval walled villages, and magnificent views with a splash of Tuscany wine. The bright and warm sun, meshed with superb history, rustic cuisine, and breathtaking views, makes biking in Tuscany a trip of a lifetime.
Join us in Tuscany on a bike, Italys most beloved landscape, where the extraordinary beauty of daily life never fails to amaze! You'll bike your way up and down hills sampling epic wines and pici con fungi. You will enjoy your week on a bicycle under the Tuscan sun. "Fantastic experience! Fun, safe, interesting and organized." Rebecca Kuga & Irene Gilbert, Sonoma, CA About traveling by bike in Italy Situated in Mediterranean Europe, Italy has land frontiers with France in the north-west, Switzerland and Austria in the north and Slovenia in the north-east. The peninsula is surrounded by the Ligurian Sea, the Sardinian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea in the west, the Sicilian Sea and the Ionian Sea in the south and the Adriatic Sea in the east. Italian is the language of the majority of the population but there are minorities speaking German, French, Slovene and Ladino. Geographical Profile At the foot of the Alpine arc stretches the vast Po Valley plain, cut down the middle by the course of the river Po, the longest in Italy (390 miles), which has its source in the Pian de Re (Monviso) and flows into the Adriatic through a magnificent delta. The Alpine foothills are characterized by large lakes: Lake Maggiore and the lakes of Como, Iseo and Garda. The Apennines form the backbone of the peninsula, stretching in a wide arc concave to the Tyrrhenian Sea. The Corno Grande (Gran Sasso d'Italia) is the highest peak. A large part of central Italy is characterized by a green hilly landscape, through which the rivers Arno and Tevere (Tiber) run. The southern section of the chain pushes out to the east forming the Gargano promontory and, sloping down further south, the Salentine peninsula. It then proceeds to the west with the Calabrian and Peloritano massif stretching across the Strait of Messina into Sicilia. The principal islands are Sicilia, rising up to the great volcanic cone of Etna (10,860 feet) and Sardegna. The main archipelagos are the Tremiti Islands in the Adriatic Sea, the Tuscan Archipelago, the Pontine Islands, the Aeolian Islands and the Egadi Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of Sicilia. Tuscany, or Toscana, lies in central Italy, midway down the peninsula, with miles of coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Rolling hills, snow-covered mountains, and dramatic cypress trees provide breathtaking views seemingly whichever way you look. The Arno, perhaps its most famous river, stretches clear across the region from Florence before making its way to the sea just outside Pisa. The beauty of the Tuscan landscape proves a perfect foil for the abundance of superlative art and architecture found here. That same landscape also produces some of Italy's finest wines and olive oils. The combination of unforgettable art, glorious views, and eminently drinkable wines that pair beautifully with the simple food of the region makes a trip to Tuscany something beyond special. Tuscany was populated, at least by the 7th century BC, by the Etruscans, a mysterious lot who chose to live on hills -- the better to see the approaching enemy. Some 500 years later, the Romans came, saw, and conquered; by 241 BC they had built the Aurelia, a road from Rome to Pisa that is still very much in use today. The crumbling of the Roman Empire and subsequent invasions by marauding Lombards, Byzantines, and Holy Roman Emperors meant centuries of social turmoil. By the 12th century, the formation of city-states was occurring throughout Tuscany, in part, perhaps, because it was unclear exactly who was in charge. The two groups vying for power were the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, champions of the pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively. They jostled for control of individual cities and of the region as a whole. Florence was more or less Guelph, and Siena, more often than not, was Ghibelline. This led to some bloody battles, notably the battle of Montaperti, in 1260, in which the Ghibellines roundly defeated the Guelphs. Eventually -- by the 14th century -- the Guelphs became the dominant force. But this did not mean that the warring Tuscan cities settled down to a period of relative peace and tranquility. The age in which Dante wrote his Divine Comedy and Giotto and Piero della Francesca created their incomparable frescoes was one of internecine strife. Florence was the power to be reckoned with; she coveted Siena and conquered and reconquered it during the 15th and 16th centuries. Finally, in 1555, Siena fell for good, and in rapid succession Pisa, Prato, Volterra, and Arezzo succumbed as well. They were all united under Florence to form the grand duchy of Tuscany. The only city to escape Florence's dominion was Lucca, which remained fiercely independent until the arrival of Napoléon. Eventually, however, even Florence's influence waned, and the 17th and 18th centuries saw the decline of the entire region as various armies swept across it. Today many of Tuscany's cities and towns are little changed. Civic rivalries that led to bloody battles so many centuries ago have given way to soccer rivalries. Renaissance pomp lives on in the celebration of local feast days and centuries-old traditions like the Palio in Siena or the Giostra del Saraceno (Joust of the Saracen) in Arezzo. Many present-day Tuscans look as though they might have served as models for paintings produced hundreds of years ago. In Tuscany, it often seems as though the Renaissance was something that took place within living memory
Florence & Rome AirportsFlorence: Located four kilometers from the center of Florence, the "Amerigo Vespucci" Airport occupies an area of approximately 115 hectares between Castello and the Plain of Sesto Fiorentino. The area, to the north-west of Florence, lies between the "Firenze Nord" exit from the superhighway and Florence's industrial area near Prato.
Taxis are stationed in front of the arrival
terminal or can be called by radiotaxi Car rental agencies operate at the airport - at the arrival terminal. The airport can be reached from the center of Florence, driving the whole length of Viale Guidoni up to the road leading to the "Firenze Nord/Firenze Mare" superhighway (A1 and A11). The airport also has good connections to the center of the city, which can be reached in about fifteen minutes by taxi, and about twenty minutes by the Sita/Ataf service "Fly by Bus" between the airport and Santa Maria Novella railway station. But being in the heart of Florence also means, even more, being in the heart of Tuscany. In fact the airport can be easily reached from Prato (8 km), Pistoia (24 km), Montecatini (36 km), Lucca (65 km), Siena (68 km), Arezzo (77 km), Pisa (86 km), Carrara and Massa (117 km), Grosseto (143 km), as well as from the sea and its ports: Livorno (115 km) and Piombino (170 km). The information desk (arrival terminal) is open from 7.30 am to 11.30 pm providing tourist information (tel.055.315874) and real time information on flight arrivals and departures (tel. 055.3061300) as well as information on lost baggage (tel.055.30061302). The information desk can be reached by fax 055.315874 ROME AIRPORT Click here, for more information about our parking and fares. At Roma Ciampino airport there are 1,900 parking places available for cars and motorbikes opposite the Terminal, 8 of which are reserved for the disabled. Click here for more information about our parkings and fares. Is there motorbike parking available at Fiumicino
airport? Is it possible to reserve a parking place? At the airport Once you have checked-in and received your boarding card, you should proceed to the departure gate indicated by the check-in personnel. Remember to keep your travel documents (including your boarding card) ready to show the security check-point and the gate personnel. Whom do I contact if I lose an object?
Where can I ask for information at Fiumicino airport?
the Interactive Information Points are available The Interactive Information Points are also accessible to passengers in wheelchairs. Flight information is also available on this site web , on monitors and through the SMS "ADR Message" service. Where I can ask for information at Roma Ciampino
airport?
Flight information is also available on this site web, on monitors and through the SMS "ADR Message" service. Whom do I contact if I require special assistance?
At Fiumicino airport, a call system featuring "touch screen" totems located outside the Terminals (Departures levels) and in the multi-story car park is available for passengers with limited mobility. The special assistance lunges operated by Aeroporti
di Roma are located: In the Fiumicino Airport train station, there is a special assistance lounge operated by Trenitalia. Nurseries These are areas equipped for the care of small
children (bottle warmers, cribs, changing tables. |
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