A journey among the Medici villas of the Empolese Valdelsa area

Villa, villages and castles: the magic of Medici family history among hills and cypresses.

This itinerary starts from Montelupo Fiorentino, the city of ceramics, continuing toward Montalbano to arrive in Vinci, crossing Cerreto and from there to Fucecchio, San Miniato and the Valdelsa. 

We start from the central square in the historic town center of Montelupo Fiorentino, and after a few kilometers we reach the town of Limite sull'Arno, where at a roundabout we make a right-end turn to start climbing towards the top of Montalbano first passing through the pretty hamlet of Castra.

We continue with a beautiful and pleasant descent towards Vitolini and past it we turn right, at an intersection called "of the four Madonnas" for a tabernacle that features precisely four faces with as many Madonnas, in the direction of Vinci.

We go through the historic town center of Vinci passing by the Museo Leonardiano.

We climb up to a new slope of Montalbano in the direction of San Baronto, a famous climb known by all cyclists in the area and beyond, where Vincenzo Nibali used to train in the early years of his career.

In Fornello we go back down towards Lamporecchio, but in the direction of Cerreto Guidi. Here we pass through the historic town center and by the Medici Villa.

Through back roads and little traffic we reach Fucecchio, where wer cross the Arno and then head for San Miniato through a short climb.

With a very short detour we can reach the rocca di San Miniato with its Torre di Federico II (Tower of Frederick II).

The route continues reaching Castelfiorentino then heads for Montespertoli along Provincial Road 4, but with little traffic.

From Montespertoli we proceed towards Pulica along the beautiful ridge between the Pesa valley and the Empolese area to return to Montelupo passing by the Medici Villa of the Ambrogiana.