The way of the Tuscan coast by bike

The following itinerary in stages takes us to discover the Tuscan coast through the coastal pine forests and the hills in the hinterland, with wonderful sea views.

From the railway station in Avenza we take the waterfront, which almost always has bike lanes, toward Viareggio. Here we cross the coastal pine forest to arrive at the mouth of the Serchio river, where we are forced to return and ride a short stretch of Aurelia, which we leave to cross the wonderful San Rossore Reserve. 

We cross downtown Pisa, passing by piazza dei Miracoli and the legendary leaning tower, we cross the Arno and take the pleasant bike lane of the Trammino, built on the site of an old disused railway.

We move forward along the coast as far as Livorno, where we need to be extremely careful about traffic when riding through the large industrial area north of the city. Once we arrive downtown, we cross the New Venice neighborhood and head to the beautiful waterfront, where the view from the Mascagni terrazza deserves a detour. South of the city we take the Aurelia, and admire some beautiful views of the rocky coastline until we reach Quercianella, where we leave the busy road and continue along back roads and bike paths toward Marina di Cecina.

We cross the lovely pine forest as far as Marina di Bibbona and continue toward Bolgheri, where we ride along a stretch of the famous cypress avenue. We then climb to Castagneto Carducci to tackle the most challenging part of the journey: in fact, to avoid some very dangerous stretches on the Aurelia, we preferred to map out a hilly route that reaches Suvereto and returns to the coast beyond Piombino.

We then descend as far as Puntone di Scarlino and tackle an up-and-down stretch that takes us to Castiglione della Pescaia. A beautiful bike lane through holm oaks and pines leads us to Marina di Grosseto, where we must bend inland to cross the Ombrone river. When we arrive in Grosseto, we have to tackle another busy stretch on the way out of town, to the bridge over the Ombrone, and then continue toward Montiano, along a pleasant road through the hills.

Arriving in the vicinity of Montiano, we take a number of privately-owned roads back toward Orbetello, with beautiful views of the Parco dell’Uccellina (Park of the Uccellina) and the Argentario. To arrive in Orbetello Scalo we need to cross the Aurelia that we ride along for a few hundred meters: we need to be very careful about car traffic, which is rather dangerous along this stretch.

We then move forward toward Ansedonia returning to the coast, and we end our journey at the station in Capalbio, where we can take the train to head back north. 

Technical notes: we recommend you ride along this itinerary in 5 to 6 days to have the time to visit the numerous natural and cultural attractions along the way and enjoy the beautiful sea of Tuscany.

The route is not particularly difficult from a technical point of view, but in some short stretches it crosses roads with high traffic. It is therefore suitable for adult cyclo-travelers with a good command of the bicycle even in city traffic.