Villa Ferdinanda with its host of chimneys
Leave Artimino (257m) from Porta Turrita, an elegant gateway-cum-clock tower, and walk due E on Viale Papa Giovanni XXIII, lined with holm oaks and olive trees. With views to the River Arno, Prato and the Apennines, this leads towards Villa Ferdinanda. As you reach the entrance to the villa, by all means detour briefly L into the grounds of Hotel Paggeria to see the remains of the ancient Etruscan settlement.
From the entrance to Villa Ferdinanda, take minor road Via del Palazzone (signposted for Poggio alla Malva), skirting below the villa. Not far downhill, after the tennis courts, ignore Via Querceto (you need this on the return stretch) and branch L at a sign for the Necropoli Prato Rosello and red-and-white waymarking. You follow a stony lane leading SE past rock roses, tree heather and myrtle shrubs to an open outcrop. Ignore the fork R for Poggio alla Malva and keep straight ahead in descent, accompanied by marvellous views stretching for miles around over the beautiful hills. Stick with the waymarks at forks and you’ll reach an information board at Necropoli Prato Rosello (30min). Here, paths lead off through woodland in different directions to the tumuli tombs. After a wander around, return to the information board.
The walk begins and concludes at Artimino’s Porta Turrita
From the information board, take the first path R (E) in gentle descent past a shed. Marked red-and-white n.300, the way is a veritable corridor of tree heather, broom and lavender. Down at a minor road (98m), turn R (SW) along the tarmac to a cenotaph and park, which doubles as a delightful lookout over the River Arno. Continue into the village of Poggio alla Malva (90m) and Piazza Ario Dante Naldi. After a short uphill stretch past a madonna statue, turn L on narrow Via Pineta, flanking the church and bell tower. A short stretch S past fields leads to a hamlet and the Barco Reale gateway (40min).
Standing near the base of a knoll clothed in pine woods, the Barco Reale gateway marks the entrance to what was once a vast hunting reserve adjoining Villa Ferdinanda. Set up by the Medicis in 1626, the reserve was enclosed by a 52km boundary wall.
Retrace your steps but leave Via Pineta very soon at a shrine and proceed N on a stony lane, going gently uphill between vast vineyards backed by Artimino and Villa Ferdinanda. As you reach a road and another shrine, branch L (SW) on unsurfaced Via Poggilarca, which leads to erstwhile Medici farm Poggilarca (122m, 20min). Now abandoned, Poggilarca stands on a marvellously scenic knoll, a perfect picnic spot. As you approach the property, fork R on the white gravel lane below the buildings. This leads N through vineyards. At an orange tank where the lane enters a property, leave the lane for the wide way to its R between rows of vines. Where the vineyards end, walk straight ahead on a rough track past olive trees, to emerge on Via del Palazzone.
Go L uphill, sticking with the quiet road up to the turn-off for Necropoli Prato Rosella, but this time branch L on Via Querceto past groups of old houses. A couple of minutes on, leave it for a lane R (mostly W) in gentle ascent. Further on, at a concreted stretch near a villa, take the uphill fork, which quickly brings you out onto Viale Papa Giovanni XXIII again. Turn L back to Artimino (45min).
WALK 3
The hills of Vinci
| Start/Finish | Vinci |
| Distance | 11km |
| Ascent/Descent | 450m |
| Grade | 2 |
| Walking time | 3hr 20min |
| Map | Tamari Edizioni Il Montalbano a piedi e in bicicletta 1:20,000; or Kompass n.2439 Toscana Nord 1:50,000 map 2 |
| Access | PiuBus links Empoli railway station and Vinci with a frequent service. |
| Note | The stretch between Fosso delle Quercete up to Faltognano can get overgrown but the way is clear. |
Paths, lanes and quiet country roads lead out of Vinci through olive groves up to the modest stone house at Anchiano where Leonardo was born. After climbing to the scenic hamlet of Santa Lucia, the walk follows a loop through woodland in the Montalbano hills. There’s plenty of drinking water en route but no food or refreshments once you’ve left Vinci, so go prepared.
Lovely views to the Montalbano ridge during the ascent from Anchiano
From Piazza Leonardo da Vinci (bus stop) in the upper part of Vinci (86m), follow Via Montalbano N, beneath the town walls and tower, to a park. Keep straight ahead (ignore the fork R for n.12) and 5min later branch R on Via Belvedere, alias n.14. After a steepish climb you leave the houses and tarmac behind, thanks to a lovely lane climbing gently N through olive groves. This is referred to as the Strada Verde (green way) and is well signed. At a road, go R – with a watchful eye for traffic – for the final metres to the casa natale (birthplace) of Leonardo at Anchiano (216m, 30min).
Not far along the road is a visitors’ car park at an intersection. Here, go straight ahead on narrow Via di Santa Lucia and puff your way up past the church to the hamlet of Santa Lucia (320m), where the loop begins. Santa Lucia offers a marvellous lookout over Vinci and the Valdarno.
From the small square-cum-parking area, branch R on n.14 and a lane. Soon, at a ceramic madonna shrine, you veer R in descent E through terraced olive groves, then into woods to a house and mill (280m). Just before the buildings, turn R on a path which immediately veers L through stands of bamboo below the house towards red-and-white markings on trees. This soon crosses the stream, Fosso delle Quercete, and climbs steadily SW on an occasionally overgrown path through abandoned terracing to emerge at a scenically sited cluster of houses. Ignore the lane to the L but take the road L the short distance uphill to Faltognano (364m, 1hr). As you approach the hamlet, the road is flanked by a high stone wall. Where this ends, branch L up to a church and a massive holm oak tree.
The holm oak is 5.2m in circumference and 15m high, and is at least 200 years old. From here, wide-ranging views can be enjoyed over Valdarno and the River Arno.
Continue following waymarks past a World War I cenotaph and out to a minor road. Go L but be prepared to leave the asphalt at the next bend for a lane lined with cypresses, which continues in the same direction NE entering woodland. Further along is a spring, Fonte del Sassone (518m), at the head of the Fosso delle Quercete valley (which you crossed after Santa Lucia).
A short distance due east from here is Il Cupolino (640m), the highest point on the Montalbano ridge.
The lane moves essentially W through chestnut and conifers, reaching a strategic 480m junction (50min). Here, n.14A heads NE to join other routes on the main ridge, but it is not recommended as the area is heavily wooded so views are limited. Go L (SW) on the clear lane in steady descent past properties and lovely views. Further down, the way is surfaced to Santa Lucia. Here, you pick up the road back to Anchiano then the Strada Verde to Vinci (1hr).