Walking and Eating in Tuscany and Umbria
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Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9780140244762
ISBN: 014024476X
Label: Penguin Books
Manufacturer: Penguin Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 367
Publication Date: 1997-01
Publisher: Penguin Books
Studio: Penguin Books
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Makes the dream vacation possible
Comment: Whenever I tell my friends that my wife and I just spent a week hiking through Tuscany, they exclaim, "That's my dream vacation." This is the book that makes it possible, even if, like us, you don't speak a word of Italian and were never in Italy before. The authors describe 40 different walks, from 1/2 day walks near Florence to walks, that strung together, can occupy a week or more of your time. The trail descriptions are precise and easy to follow, but the book is much more than that. It's a practical, how-to guide that enables you to just go off and "do it." Great restaurant suggestions (of course), places to stay, tips on how to navigate the bus and train systems, which tourist offices are helpful, with phone numbers, and snail and e-mail addresses. It was our Bible in Italy. Buy this book so the authors will be encouraged to write more.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great walks!
Comment: The walks in this book are great!
With this guide, you can truly get off the main tourist routes and into the Tuscan back country for a very different experience of Tuscany.
In mid May 2007, we did the walk from Greve in Chianti to Radda, and a walk from Pienza to Montepulciano. On the Greve to Radda walk, we hiked in the woods, saw wild boars, and spent a most enjoyable two days in Volpaia, a little town of 50 people, some hundreds of years old, surrounded by vineyards in the Tuscan hills.
The walk from Pienza to Montepulciano was beautiful. The classic Tuscan views of hills, cypress, winding country roads.
If you enjoy walking and want a non tourist view of beautiful Tuscany, I do strongly recommend this book!
Customer Rating:
Summary: New Updated Edition Available Now
Comment: The original edition of this book, written nearly ten years ago, needed
updating, so we went back to Italy, this time with two young children.
We've updated the original walks and restaurant reviews and added some new
walks and locations. If you are thinking of buying the book, make sure you
have the newer edition (both editions are available on Amazon, and the newer
one is also cheaper). To order the new edition type "walking and eating
2005" (without the quotation marks) into Amazon's search box.
If you have any questions about the book, please feel free to email me at:
walkingandeating@aol.com. Over the years we have had so many letters from
people about the book, saying what a difference it made to their holiday. We
hope you enjoy it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Don't forget Umbria!
Comment: We used this book for a trip to Umbria with our children ages 9 and 12 this September and thought it was great, both for the walking and the eating. We have been to Tuscany several times and wanted to branch out to Umbria on this last trip, and can only say we wish we had done so sooner. We stayed in the lovely town of Norcia, and did the "san Eutizio" walk: an amazing adventure with children! Norcia was an easy place to be with kids, the hotel recommended in the book was extremely friendly, the town had such a safe feeling and enough of interest (particularly the gelato bar) to the kids to keep them busy. The walk - one of the longer ones in the book - was an ambitious one for kids, but gave them an exceptional feeling of accomplishment at the end, and they loved the beautiful abbey at San Eutizio, especially enjoyable on our visit because as we ate dinner at the tiny restaurant next door (the only building in the immediate environs) there was a wedding going on, which spilled into the outdoors. While my husband and I lingered over our "vino," the kids went inside the abbey and mingled with the wedding party stragglers, a few of whom - along with our kids of course - crawled through an ancient tunnel behind the altar, an action that is supposed to cure all ills.
We also went up to Castelluccio, the mountain village about 15 miles from Norcia, which was stunningly beautiful, remote, and virtually deserted. There is a small restaurant there which was fabulous, and the sunset behind the austere Sibillini mountains was a stunning backdrop to our outdoor meal. Next time we would plan to stay in this tiny village overnight.
Note: we had the 2005 edition, and the friend who recommended this book says the san eutizio walk wasn't in the original.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Finally a new edition of this classic!
Comment: I first discovered this book on a trip to Italy in 1999, and after my first walk I was hooked. The walk (Lamole Ring walk) took me to a place I never would have found on my own, and the experience of visiting this lovely off-the-beaten-track hamlet and its beautiful surrounding countryside on foot turned out to be the highlight of my vacation. The restaurant recommended (the only one in Lamole) was also one of the best I've ever eaten in, and was at the same time friendly and not terribly expensive.
I used the book extensively when I returned in 2003, doing seven more of the walks (mostly in the "Southern Tuscany" section) and they have all been splendid. However, I encountered several changes (more on the restaurant side than the actual walking side, though there were also some of those), and was hoping the authors would do a new edition by the time I was next lucky enough to be going to Italy. I think I was probably one of the first people to use the new edition when I went this September (2004) and I am happy to report it was excellent! I drove first to Lamole (where - in spite of another reviewer here who must have been looking for an American-style parking garage - there is no problem whatsoever in parking your car: it's just a tiny hamlet and you can park anywhere you like) and found the restaurant to be still at the top of its form, still friendly and unpretentious. The walk has been improved in that formerly there was a stretch on the road (admittedly untrafficked, but road nonetheless) which has now been replaced with a shortcut through the woods. After my walk I drove up to hotel/hostel/restaurant on top of San Michele, and spent the night there, amidst the sighing evergreens there at the top of the mountain. Sublime!
One further observation: Don't buy the old edition! Amazon only shows the old edition unless you type "2005 edition" into your search!!!
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Editorial Reviews:
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Taking readers on a series of walks that not only go deep into the classic landscape of vineyards, olive groves, forests and mountains, but also through hill towns, villages and other cultural centers, this book offers 40 itineraries--from half-day to full-day walks to routes stretching over several days. Photos throughout.
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