A Detour from a Quiet Beach Holiday

A detour from a quiet beach holiday.

With a multitude of nephews we are on holiday on the Giannella lido north of the Argentario promontory, in the municipality of Santo Stefano. Driving along the Via Cassia on several occasions, crossing the junction for Monte Amiata, I was bitten by the desire to turn off to visit that mountain, but I always postponed it to the next trip; now that, on holiday, I am no longer pressed by time, I have the opportunity to put my project into practice. I leave grandmother, mothers and children on the beach, get on my Ducati Monster 620 and off I go! I follow the tombolo road to Albinia, a service centre for the surrounding area, but without particular attractions, I take the Maremmana state road, after just over three and a half kilometres I turn onto the SP 160. If up to here the road has consisted of low-gradient straights, now a series of climbs, bends and hairpin turns begins.

The landscape is pleasant, hills, gentle green slopes, characteristic villages, the first of which: Magliano in Toscana, with its tower, I let flow past on my right. The next village: Pereta I do not fail to visit. An ancient hamlet surrounded by walls, and dominated, needless to say, by a tall tower. At the next centre, no less deserving, Scansano, birthplace of the renowned Morellino, I do not stop, even though I would be tempted to stop at the wineries to stock up on a few bottles, but I refrain, the motorbike is not ideal for carrying them. I can't not stop at Roccalbegna, a charming municipality that rises at around 500 m at the foot of two imposing cliffs, a pleasant hamlet for its natural surroundings, its town plan and its architecture.

Once past this last hamlet the real climb up Monte Amiata begins among wonderful forests of beech and chestnut trees, which create a fascinating environment, which has, however, as a counterpart, the blocking of long views. My route is essentially that of a motorcyclist; had I prolonged it, once at the Amiata, my short climb on foot, right up to the top, I might perhaps have enjoyed the vast panorama that I imagine stretching from the Argentario to the Uccellina and beyond. On the way back I change itinerary, I speed up a little, I want to return to the Giannella still in time for a swim, I promise myself to come back to visit the most interesting hamlets along the route, a plan no longer carried out. Bends and hairpin turns make riding the motorbike fun.

I do not visit Santa Fiora, which from what I read would deserve a careful visit, I cannot miss at least a short stop at Sorano, which I already visited and greatly appreciated years ago, and at Pitigliano. Sorano stands out for its location in a rugged landscape, superbly perched on slopes and ravines. Interesting are the access roads carved into deep cuts in the tuff, which seem to date back in part to the Etruscan age. Slightly less characterised is the whole of Pitigliano, perhaps more monumental in its architecture. Descending towards the sea one returns to more even routes, from Albinia I retrace the outward road.