Walking and Eating in Tuscany and Umbria: Revised Edition

by James Lasdun and Pia Davis

Book Overview

This book, now thoroughly revised and updated, is written to satisfy readers who want to build their holiday around walking, or those who simply want to integrate a bit of walking into their holiday. It begins with a "practicalities" section and extend into the walks themselves. From six or so "base towns," the authors offer routes of one or two hours, half day, and one, three, and five days. There are also some extraordinary walks worth going out...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0141009004
• ISBN13: 9780141009001
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.6" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

A wonderful and thorough walking guide

I was inspired by this guidebook to do 4 days of walks in Tuscany this spring -- from Buonconvento to Montalcino, Sant'Antimo via Ripa D'Orcia to Bagno Vignoni, and on to Pienza. I had previously done the Montepulciano-Pienza walk. Every walk I took was wonderful and I can't recommend this way of seeing Italy highly enough! There is no way I could have done these walks without this book, which I found to be very accurate. There were a few places where I had minor trouble interpreting the directions, but was never really lost, and I found the maps very helpful. Proprieters of the places I stayed or stopped for a meal were sometimes amused, but always pleased, when they heard I was on foot. I also had the Lonely Planet guidebook to walking/hiking in Italy, but found that to be much less helpful and less detailed. It was clear to me that Lasdun and Davis had done painstakingly thorough background research. (i.e., had walked every trail more than once, and had tried every restaurant -- obviously a great hardship, especially in the spring and fall!) It will take me years to do all the walks in this book that call out to me, but I'm already thinking of my next trip (in grape harvest season this time).

Four Couples, Ten Unique and Wonderful Walks

I planned a walking trip to Umbria and Tuscany based on this excellent and thorough guidebook. My wife and I and three other couples, all friends and all in our 50's and 60's, spent two weeks in May of 2000 walking three of the inteneraries in Umbria and seven in Tuscany. The experience was, arguably, the most satisfying vacation any of us has ever made. Fields of red poppies, yellow buttercups,and a vibrant bouquet of many other flowering plants and trees colored our surroundings. The book guided us through dramaticaly changing scenes from stately vineyards, to deep woods, to beautiful medieval and renaissance villages, towns, and abbeys, to mountain pastures and fields of flowers, and to a procession of stunning views. Walking gave our encounters with the places and people of our trip an exhilerating immediacy and intimacy that we would have otherwise missed. Buy the book, make the trip, do the walks, and be entranced. (The Lamole and the San Michele to Radda walks need updating because of property and road changes, but you can still find your way.)

Extremely useful and very well researched

I bought this book before a recent trip to Italy. We stayed in a town described in the book and did one of the walks. Wonderful scenery and we thoroughly enjoyed the walk, and the excellent lunch at the restaurant recommended. We thought the book extremely useful and very well researched, and hope to use it to plan more walks next year. - Duncan Naylor and John Cowell

We found this book delightful, a real benefit to our trip.

We found this book delightful, and a real benefit during our first visit to Italy in May of this year. We have holidayed extensively in many parts of France over the years and were looking for some assistance in our first attempt to discover the gems of Italy. Early in our holiday we ate (twice) at the Le Cave de Maiano and really enjoyed it. We also followed one of the walks from Fiesole. We stayed at one of the "agriturismo" recommendations in the book ("La Gavina") for two nights and found it exceptional. The proprietors were very friendly and welcoming. Their house is beautiful and it was really nice to stay on a working farm which produces its own meats, cheeses, vegetables, olive oil, and wine. The evening meal was truly excellent and as good as the best restaurants we ate in. The company was international and great fun. We would recommend this opportunity - and this book - to all future travellers.