Tuscany is a paradise for enthusiasts of cyclotourism as it boasts a good network of roads and paths and has little traffic, inviting cyclists to venture amid landscapes seemingly from yesteryear. The possibilities are endless and there are routes for all difficulty ratings. In this post we cover a route from Siena to Florence in two or three stages – depending on how fit you are – crossing a region where one of the world’s most famous red wines is produced – Chianti. With beginners in mind, we have chosen an easy itinerary stretching for 95 km. While it does include slopes, particularly in the area known as Colline del Chianti, you will find it is well worth the effort, as the route takes you through a stunning countryside, and inquiring travellers will be rewarded with amazing stories and local hosts eager to help and strike up conversation. There are exquisite culinary experiences awaiting you, too.

Jewels of Tuscany

As soon as you land at Florence’s international airport, head for the city’s historic centre. If you choose a morning flight, before going to pick up your bikes at the hire shop, you can walk around the monumental area of what is the cradle of the Renaissance.

Renaissance Tour

A quick but really spectacular walk starts at the Piazza del Duomo, which looks onto the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore with its huge dome – the work of Brunelleschi – and its beautiful facade faced with Tuscan marble. Next up is the Piazza della Signoria with the stunning Palazzo Vecchio, the Neptune Fountain, a reproduction of Michelangelo’s David and a collection of statues of the Medicis, prominent among them being Perseus with the Head of the Medusa,by Cellini. The last stretch of our stroll involves crossing the emblematic Ponte Vecchio over the river Arno.

Ice-cream, Bicycles and Trains

We recommend you hire your bicycle at Florence by Bike and then head for the Firenze Santa Maria Novella railway station, less than 1 km from the bike shop.

If you fancy a genuinely artisan ice-cream, stop off at I Gelati del Bondi, at Via Nazionale 61R (on the corner of the Via Faenza), as you will pass by it on your way to the station. They sell ice-creams made by the master, Vetulio Bondi. Consider that people travel to Florence for a few hours solely to attend private classes by this artigiano gelatiere.The train ride to Siena takes 90 minutes (timetable at http://www.trenitalia.com). Only the regionali trains allow bikes on board – there’s an area set aside for them at a charge of 3.5 euros per bike.

Once in Siena, your best bet is to head straight for the hotel, park your bike and go out to enjoy the afternoon and evening in a city which is lively and picturesque throughout. Your way to the Piazza del Campo – where they hold the spectacular, hair-raising Palio di Siena horse race – is lined with many charming restaurants. When choosing a menu, remember that you’re going to be pedalling the next day.

The Essence of Chianti

You cycle out of Siena along the SR222 secondary road, also known as the Via Chiantigiana, which starts at Siena’s central train station and crosses the whole region as far as Florence. After an initial climb, you take an early detour along a more solitary road, the SP102. It leads to Corsignano, Vagliagli and Radda in Chianti, the tarred stretches interspersed with sections of typical Tuscan strada bianca, a dazzling, bright, white compacted-earth surface.

Here, you cycle between hills carpeted with vineyards and olive groves, flanked by rows of cypress trees and past various wineries, notably Terra di Seta (1 km before Vagliagli) and Capannelle (on the outskirts of Gaiole in Chianti), where you can join guided tours and tastings of local wines and virgin olive oils.

The village of Radda in Chianti is a good spot for taking a breather and refuelling. From here, you could go for an optional, 17-km detour loop to visit Castello Vertine and Gaiole in Chianti. This small, tranquil village is a centre of pilgrimage for devotees of vintage cycling. The vintage bike festival known as L’Eroica is held every first Sunday in October here, an event which draws over 7,000 cyclists on vintage bikes. If you want to shorten the ride slightly and save yourself the odd climb, from Radda in Chianti head straight for Panzano. There, connoisseurs of quality meat should stop and sit down to a meal at the Officina de la Bistecca – the former Antica Macelleria Cecchini– where you will meet Dario Cecchini, a craft butcher who imbues his creations with passion and know-how. There are several menus – including a vegetarian one – for both lunch and dinner, but the undisputed star dish is Bistecca a la Fiorentina, still cooked and served on the bone. This experience is key to understanding Dario’s pure, contagious love of his trade, meat and land – he descends from eight generations of butchers. He is so enthralled by his craft that he offers guests the chance to be “a butcher for the day”.

Florence In Style

From Panzano, the road leads down to Greve in Chianti, and then continues on to Chiocchio and Strada in Chianti. Here, you leave the SR222 and head for Ferrone and Impruneta along local roads with the aim of entering Florence via its most spectacular, panoramic access – San Miniato Hill.

From Impruneta, the SP70 takes you to Cascine del Riccio where you have to climb a very steep, narrow street up to San Michele a Monteripaldi. Once on the top, you cycle past some stately villas in the direction of Piazzale Michelangelo, at which point the town lies at your feet. This undoubtedly provides the perfect end-of-route picture.

For the finishing touch to your cycling “escapade”, we recommend booking ahead to dine at Essenziale, chef Simone Cipriani’s new restaurant, which wows guests with a minimalist yet friendly and carefree ambience. Here, the traditional Tuscan recipes della nonna have been reworked and reappraised in subtle, delicate and amusing terms. The Conoscersi tasting menu (3 dishes for 35 euros) and La persistenza de la memoria (5 dishes for 55 euros) are a feast of flavours and sensations, as well as a journey into the culinary essence and history of the region. At Essenziale, you will also be taken aback by the lack of any barriers between the kitchen and dining area, while the chef personally serves and describes his creations and reveals his secrets.

Practical Guide

- Route Navigation: you can check out the 95 km itinerary we have just described at this Google Maps link. To plan other routes, the best paper map is Firenze, Siena, Chianti by Kompass.

- Duration: everyone can split up the route at will, depending on accommodations and the number of days available. To enjoy everything the region has to offer, you should ideally devote 3 or 4 days to the trip.

- Choosing Bikes: if you fly with Vueling, you can take your own bike on the plane, but, as the bike tour is only a two-day ride, it may be more convenient to hire one at your destination. At Florence by Bike they renew their fleet every year and have all kinds of bicycles. Touring bikes are the most suitable for the route we have laid out. If you’re worried about slopes, they also have electric bicycles (90 euros for 2 days), which will allow you to negotiate climbs effortlessly.

- Accommodation: available accommodation in Siena and Florence is in overwhelming supply, but be sure to book in advance to secure rooms in the historic centre. En route, your best bet is to look for small B&Bs or go for agritourism.

Text by Sergio Fernández Tolosa & Amelia Herrero Becker

Images by Con un par de ruedas and Giovanni Rasoti

Majorca is renowned the world over for its beaches and coves, but the Sierra de Tramuntana, which rises over a thousand metres above the island’s north coast, is a veritable paradise for hiking enthusiasts. An intricate network of centuries-old tracks and footpaths has been upgraded into a set of fully-fledged walking routes traversing a surprisingly rocky landscape carpeted with dense forest. Peeping out of the clearings are a number of quaint villages and hamlets that preserve their pristine charm. A long-distance footpath, known as the Dry Stone Route (Ruta de Piedra en Seco) or GR-221, runs from one end of the range to the other, flanked by the most rugged landscapes in Majorca. The route, imbued with the region’s rich cultural heritage, covers 120 km and can be done in full or by sections. For visitors with a tight schedule, we have selected three of the best sections along the trail.

1. Ses Basses and La Trapa – the Stunning Sa Dragonera Vantage Point

The walking route starts at the Coll de Sa Gramola, a mountain pass accessible from the Andratx main road. From here, a trail heads westwards towards the caseta de Ses Basses. After that the path narrows and leads to an area with various viewpoints overlooking the sea, affording wonderful panoramic views. The trail gradually merges into the wild landscape which compounds a rugged, breathtaking setting against the backdrop of the island of Sa Dragonera protruding into the sea. After a descent flanked by vegetation, you come to an old Trappist monastery now under restoration. The project will eventually include a shelter for hikers. For the return trip, you go back the same way you came.

Recommendations:
This is an easy route, covering 15 km for the whole round trip, ideal for a morning’s hike.
Access: Coll de Sa Gramola lies 5 km from Andratx, reached via the Ma-10 main road, where there is a parking area. If you happen to come in two cars, you can extend the excursion beyond La Trapa as far as Sant Elm, where you can park one of the cars beforehand. The walking distance from Coll de Sa Gramola to Sant Elm is 13 km in all. Remember to take water as there are no drinking sources on the way and little shade.

2. Camí de s’Arxiduc – a High-Flying Lookout Between Valldemossa and Deià

The excursion begins at the Charterhouse of Valldemossa, the former residence of King Sancho I of Majorca. Exit the village of Valldemossa following the white and red markers of the GR-221 along a stony path with a steep gradient that ends at the Es Cairats shelter, which is still closed. It should be noted that original route of the GR-221 was very different from the current one as it used to go over the summit of Talaia Vella, from where it joined up with the Camí de s’Arxiduc. On the new route, old lime kilns are visible on the ascent leading to Es Cairats, as are charcoal kilns and the small shelters once inhabited by those in charge of managing resources in the magnificent holm oak woods.

After the shelter, the footpath turns into a track and you soon come to a wild, open area. The GR-221 markers lead to the summit of Puig Gros, the Pla des Aritges plain and Es Caragolí, where the route finally links up with the panoramic Camí de s’Arxiduc. Before taking a detour to descend towards Deià, it is well worth walking a few extra yards – even though this involves going back on our tracks – along this emblematic route, as it runs along the ridge of the mountains. It was commissioned by the Archduke Louis Salvador of Habsburg-Lorraine in the late-19th century for the sole purpose of being able to enjoy the scenery.

Recommendations:
While only 13 km long, the route has a difficulty of medium-high, on account of the slopes and terrain, which is very rocky and steep in some stretches.
Access: You can leave your car in Valldemossa and take the bus back from Deià.

3. From Sóller to the Monastery of Lluc – A Weekend in the Mountain Heartland

One of the most spectacular, varied, accessible and best appointed sections of the GR-221 is the one that connects the historical town of Sóller to the Monastery of Lluc. It covers a distance of 35 km and can readily be divided into two stages – of 19 km and 15 km each – with an overnight in the Tossals Verds shelter.

Stage 1 – On the first day, the GR-221 markers point you from the centre of Sóller to the bucolic Biniaraix gorge. This involves a pronounced accumulated slope, leading up to the Coll de l’Ofre and the Cúber dam. From here, the more seasoned hikers can proceed to the Tossals Verds shelter via the new Pas Llis bypass, with an added ascent and a brief, simple equipped pass. The alternative is the old route which goes around Coll des Coloms and does not entail any difficulty.

Stage 2 – After regaining your strength in the shelter, you proceed along the GR-221 towards the panoramic areas of Coll des Prat and Coll des Telègraf. From here, a long descent leads you to the monastery along a winding path which snakes through a holm-oak wood featuring old but recently restored ice pits.

Recommendations:
The trek lasts two days and the difficulty level is medium to high, as it includes steep slopes – with a daily accumulated slope of over 1,100 metres – and prolonged descents along tracks. The terrain is rocky and requires mountain footwear, in addition to trekking poles. While the path is signposted with posts, waymarkers and paint marks, it is advisable to take your own hiking map, such as the one published by the Editorial Alpina. You should also book overnights at the Tossals Verds shelter in advance, as capacity is limited (website).
Access: You can get a bus to Sóller from Palma, or you can travel on the old Sóller railway, which has been plying the route daily since 1912. You can take the L330 line bus to make the return journey from Lluc to Palma.

Don’t wait to discover the rugged enclaves of Majorca – check out our flights here.

Text by Sergio Fernández Tolosa & Amelia Herrero Becker of Con Un Par de Ruedas

Photos by Con Un Par de Ruedas

Por Tensi Sánchez de Actitudes Magazine

Lisbon is without doubt one of the most beautiful and magical cities in Europe. As soon as you arrive, you feel immersed in a world of new sensations that only Lisbon can offer.  Historic Lisbon stands in perfect harmony alongside the more modern features of this vanguard city, where its wide range of leisure activities and cultural options have made it a highly fashionable destination.  Each area of the city offers a vast array of attractions to make sure you’ll always have plenty to do and the streets are teeming with ambience both day and night.

Lisbon’s winding and sometimes steep streets can make it difficult to get around the city, but the public transport services and even taxis are not expensive.

Here are some useful travel tips that don’t appear in many guidebooks.

Port – Santa Apolonia area

This is a fairly new part of the city that has attracted many new restaurants and shops to set up in old port warehouses, creating some unique and spectacular spaces. Be sure to visit the excellent delicatessens or have breakfast at Gourmet Deli Deluxe, try the international dishes at Bica do Sapato restaurant and the  vintage furniture shop known as Loja da Talaia.

This area also boasts some fabulous nightspots, including the famous LUX discotheque, but if you’re not on the “guest list” or you know someone who can get you in, the queues outside are horrendous, though it’s well worth the hassle.

Bairro Alto – Principe Real area

Barrio Alto is home to the Principe Real area, an old residential district next to the Botanical Gardens and where you’ll find many of the city’s most modern shops and restaurants, including trend-setting  concept stores  Espacio B,  21 pr Concept Store, Real and  Fabrico Infinito.

If you love fashion, be sure to visit such shops as  Nuno Gama,  Alexandra Moura, Kolovrat, Ricardo Preto and Nuno Baltazar. These top designers all attend Moda Lisboa, Portugal’s most important biannual fashion show that is becoming increasingly famous the world over.

Next on our route is Poison d’amour, a cake shop that is sure to make your mouth water, boasting a wonderful terrace where you can enjoy a moment of pure magic. The terrace of the Lost In café-bar, which has an Indian-style decor, offers breathtaking views over the city. For some authentic Portuguese home-cooking, we highly recommend Tasca Do Urso at 32 Rua Do Monte Olivete. And last but not least, theFacto Royale hair salon with its exquisite decor and reputation as one of the finest in the city.

Baixa and Chiado area.

A great way to spend the afternoon is to stroll through the streets of Baixa and Chiado, taking in the most authentic side of Lisbon, its houses, cafés, streets… this is home to a shop called Pelcor, famous throughout Portugal for its cork fashion accessories and incredible handbags. Along Rua Nova do Carvalho you’ll find a bar called Sol y Pesca where you can enjoy a glass of fine wine, then go for a cocktail in the pub known as Pensao Amor, a former brothel that has managed to preserve much of its original decor and boasting a replica of the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Don’t miss even the smallest detail!
Close by is the restaurant  La Velha Senhora offering superb local cuisine at affordable prices.

Alcántara area

Another of Lisbon’s lesser known gems, this area is home to some of the city’s coolest shops, cafés and restaurants, alongside the trendiest advertising agencies and photographic studios.
It’s like a small city in itself, a dream factory where everything is ad hoc and created for LX Factory.

Sunday is the perfect time to visit this area and check out the LX Market where you can find fabulous porcelain, books, clothes, live music, etc.…All the shops and businesses have managed to preserve the essence and decor of the industrial spaces they once were.  There are over one hundred unique premises, such as the stunning  Achimpa bookshop,  La Cantina restaurant and even a press kiosk inside a container called Mag. All this and so much more is available in LX Factory.

Olivais area

Another fascinating area to see is the so-called  new Lisbon which arose from the EXPO 1998 World Exhibition. If you like architecture, you’ll love the Portuguese Pavilion by Álvaro Siza, winner of the Pritzker prize, along with many others. The area is fully inhabited and all the pavilions have been reused. A fine example of urban renewal that other European cities would do well to copy.

The Expo area gives shape to the Olivais district, which is linked to the city via underground, Vasco da Gama Bridge (the longest in Europe), and the intermodal station designed by Santiago Calatrava.

Must-do

*Try the best sweet in the city (and it’s not the famous Bethlehem Cake) at the cake shop called Pastelería do restelo “Careca” on Rua Duarte Pacheco Pereira. The delicious Palmees do Careca!

*Admire the work of a possible future Pritzer prize winner,  Charles Correa, the Champalimaud Foundation building and have lunch in the incredible Darwin restaurant on Avenida de Brasilia.

*Choose a good hotel such as Eurostars Das Letras offering first-class service to make your stay even more enjoyable.

*Visit the MUDE museum of fashion and design, a building dating to the 1950s and former headquarters of Banco Nacional Ultramarino. Its original use can still be appreciated thanks to the decadent industrial ambience that makes it all the more fascinating.

By Tensi Sánchez from Actitudes Magazine

Photos by Rubén Seco

If you feel like going to discover hidden Lisbon reserve your Vueling?

At first glance, Zurich would seem to be the city of money and private banking, nice shoes and the ultimate in education, the city of luxury and shopping, of lakes and parks. But Zurich is also a city with a very interesting cultural side to it and some daring designers.

A good reference point for finding your way around Zurich is the Hauptbahnhof or, in other words, the central railway station. This enormous station will be your starting point or destination on any trip to or from the airport and from where you can catch the urban trams and buses that travel around the city. In the Swiss capital, public transport is the best option. Forget the taxis unless you want to pay about 30 euros per trip. Speaking of money, the Switzerland still uses the Swiss Franc and paying for things in euros is expensive. We recommend you use a card whenever you can. The cost of living in Switzerland is approximately two and a half times that of Spain. For example, a breakfast of white coffee and a croissant will cost you about eight euros.

Old Zurich is close to the central station, just across the River Limmat. Pedestrian cobbled streets, many bookshops and perfect for a stroll around here.

After, I head over to Langstrasse between districts 4 and 5. A Swiss friend highly recommended it to me because it is the best place to find the most modern and exciting part of the city.

Langstrasse was once a rather vulgar street – if that word can be used to describe the this luxurious city– where you can still find the odd erotic cinema and presumably a few places devoted to decadence. However, the modern reality is completely different. Langstrasse is where we can find such original cultural offerings as Perla-Mode. I walk inside and allow myself to be seduced by the words of Stefan. Perla-Mode is, according to Stefan, a group of artists who have taken over number 84 Langstrasse to develop contemporary art, thought and culture. A series of different rooms enable artists to exhibit their works, people to attend informal talks and chats on culture, art and anthropology and also house an improvised cinema built using old seats from the football stadium and wooden palets to show films that are later discussed in a small room. Wonderful. Perla-Mode consists of the Corner College and Motto Books, where you can find numerous books and magazines on architecture, photography and design from all over the world. Stefan tells me that there are plans to demolish the building to build housing blocks and that Perla-Mode will most probably no longer exist in February 2012. If you are in the Swiss capital before then, it is worth calling by to meet this group of artists to see what they have done to the place.

Just opposite Perla-Mode, I find Soho – an enormous erotic clothing store with various fetish items, leather boots and, as Sonja explains (the girl who approaches me as I enter the shop), things to help make life a little less boring.

I make my way along Langstrasse and find many more shops, some more interesting than others. I’m heading towards Joseffstrasse, following the directions given to me by the people of Zurich. Langstrasse itself is home to all kinds of shops: shoe shops, food outlets, kiosks, fashion shops, etc.

Before stopping to eat somewhere that was recommended to me, the Bistro Föifi 30 at 48 Josefstrasse, I venture over to explore a curious-looking shop, Senior Design Factory. Seduced by the window display, I walk inside and speak to one of its creators, Deborah Biffi, who tells me the story of this social design project that she began in 2008 with her partner Benjamin Moser. The history of Senior Design Factory began with a university degree project they decided to move from paper to reality and which materialised in the space where I’m standing. The project seeks to work with older people no younger than 75. They work with them on the creation of hand-made craftwork designed by them. All the wisdom and experience of many years manifested in wonderful decoration items. Some of them are rather surprising: from kitchen items to lamps or household decorations. Wool is a main feature of the items on sale in this shop. On Saturdays, workshops are held in which the older people teach youngsters the secrets behind their creativity.

The shop itself and its social purpose fascinated me and I was chatting for a long time with Deborah. As I leave, I see that the Bistro Föifi 30 is full to bursting and I am recommended a Turkish restaurant on Gasometerstrasse, Bar Valentins. After a bite to eat, I head down Josefstrasse towards the viaduct. I am told there are some very interesting things to see over there, and they were certainly right.

Before reaching the viaduct, I find Josefwiesse – a lovely park where parents are playing with their children and where others can have a drink while the kids run around in the park. A touch of the mountain countryside in the heart of the city.

As I leave Josefwiesse, I come across the famous viaduct. It is right next to the park and called Im Viadukt on Viaduktstrasse. Each archway of the viaduct is home to a fashion shop, a bar or another of many varied businesses. I take a look around and decide to enter Famous Ape. An original Swiss shop with two establishments: this one in Zurich and another in Geneva. Anina tells me a little about the shop and lets me look around. Goyagoya is another of the shops I decide to take a closer look at. Women’s clothing from German designers and some hard-to-find brands because they produce their work using traditional methods. 52 different shops and a market, the MarktHalle. Accessories and bicycles in Velos, workshops like Daniel Blunschi, flowers in Marsano, hairdressing and clothing in Fashionslave or fashionable bars like Ambrossi Coffee Bar.

I leave the area to head over to the Cabaret Voltaire, temple to Dadaism and a must-see in Zurich. Before I get there, I stop off to visit the city’s great lake. I sit on a bench, like many other locals, and stare at the ducks, the Alps in the background and the edge of Zurich as it surrounds the lake.

The Cabaret Voltaire smells of history. In fact, it has a room containing exhibitions and where they offer performances that maintain the spirit that gave rise to the Dada movement. I like what I see and have a beer in the bar at the Cabaret Voltaire. Before leaving the culture centre, I visit the shop to buy a piece of history in the form of a souvenir.

In the evening, I go for a few beers at Sihlcity – a leisure centre that has risen out of the ruins of an old factory. In the middle of the square, they have kept the characteristic chimney that provides the industrial feel that the surroundings cry out for. There are hotels, shops, restaurants and a disco and concert hall, the Papiersaal, where you can have a few drinks of an evening.

Why not take a trip to Zurich? Have a look at our flights here!