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After starting with a night in Florence, two medieval villages serve as our base for a week of hikes in Italy. From Etruscan tombs to Renaissance masterpieces, the Italian countryside offers new sights daily.

Walk through verdant forests and orchards, then enjoy Italy's famous cuisine.

Our hiking week in Italy begins with a night in Florence, complete with dinner and an informal walking tour of the city, then four nights in the fairy-tale village of San Gimignano, a perfectly preserved Renaissance town perched on a hill here in Tuscany. You'll want to spend some time right in town, exploring the 12th century cathedral and the Devil's Tower. Then we head out for walks and day hikes. Trek through a patchwork of orchards, vineyards, and woodland, keeping your eyes open for porcupines, pheasants, and wild boar.

The last three nights of our trip are in the Italian hilltown of Radda. Despite its location in the heart of "Chianti Classico" wine country, the rugged terrain around Radda is surprisingly wooded. Our daily hikes take us to ancient stone villages, churches, and farms, as well as Etruscan bridges, arches and burial mounds built in 700 B.C. Follow quiet tracks and roads over rolling hills, through forests, fields of wildflowers, and fragrant vineyards, working up an appetite for a hearty Tuscan meal.

As on our bike trips, this hiking and walking week is designed to allow you to find a comfortable blend of group activity and independent hiking. Our coordinator will go out with a group each day; you're invited to walk with this group, or to hike independently with one or two new friends.

Highlights:

• Start your exploration of Tuscany with one night in Florence, including dinner and an informal walking tour of the city's monuments the next morning;
  
• Lose yourself in the narrow, ancient streets of San Gimignano, with its turreted, 12th-century skyline;
  
• Walk through Etruscan burial mounds dating to 700 B.C.;
  
• Visit a working Tuscan farm and a Chianti winery;
  
• Climb through the isolated ruins of Castelvecchio, once a thriving castle and community, now reduced to a sprawl of overgrown walls and crumbling towers;
  
• Sample gelato at the ancient hilltop town of Volterra;
  
• At the end of the day, discover the foods of Tuscany: thick vegetable soups; tangy cheeses; hearty dishes of wild boar; and delicate varieties of truffles and mushrooms.
  

Dates and Price:
Sept. 5 to 13, 2008: $2,295: A trip for gay men & lesbians.

Prices are per-person, based on double occupancy. Tours often fill up months before departure. We regularly update our travel schedule to show the status of this and other trips.

Travelling Alone?
So are most of the people who travel with us. You do not need to pay extra to travel by yourself. Prices are per-person, and the single supplement applies only if you'd like a room by yourself.

Location: Begins in Florence, Italy; ends in Radda-in-Chianti

Price includes: 1 night in Florence and 7 nights lodging in two smaller towns; Breakfast every day, dinner on 6 days, and lunch on 3 days; Professional Alyson Adventures guide; Welcome packet with map; A wine tasting, highlighting a variety of Italian vintages; A olive oil tasting, highlighting a variety of Italian oils; Transfers via private bus or public transportation from Florence to San Gimignano on Day 2; from San Gimignano to Radda on Day 6; and to the Florence train station at the end of the trip, arriving by noon.

Not included: Transportation to and from Italy; Transfer to hotel in Florence at start of trip; Transportation from Florence to your next destination at end of trip; 2 dinners, 4 lunches; Snacks and souvenirs; Gratuities for guides; Please note that it is difficult to make early flights on the last official day of the tour, so it is most convenient if you plan one more night in Italy, closer to your airport for your flight home.

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