Help! Trying to decide between Florencetown 18 mi bike Tour and Artviva 13 mile bike tour for three of us. We are looking for something outside the traditional tours and don't want young kids along. We are pretty fit (work out daily) but don't bike regularly and one of the three is my 16 year old daughter, don't want her to hate this and complain all day the day after! I have no doubt we can do either, but if one or the other is constant hill climbs and we will be sweating profusely, that will not be my daughter's idea of a vacation although my husband and I wouldn't mind.
Thanks for any input, we leave for France 6/14 and will be in Florence for the tour July 2. I want to firm things up in the next couple of days.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16235 posts
The city bike tour will have no hills (just like Sacto). Even if they take you up to Piazzale Michelangelo, it won't be hard, it's easy uphill to the Piazzale using the bike path on Viale Michelangelo. You will be sweating however, because in July in Florence you will be sweating even sitting down on a comfortable couch. Temperatures in Florence in July are about the same as Sacto in July. I travel to Sacto often on business and I must say that although hot during the day, at least Sacto gets cool at night and early morning. No such luck in Florence. You will be sweating already at 6am. If you take a tour of the Chianti, you will likely go thrugh hills. Unless they take you through Ferrone and the Passo dei Pecorai, which is mostly flat (kind of). In that case you'll have some uphill only between Porta Romana and Galluzzo, but it's not too bad. Couldn't find the exact itinerary online.
Posted by
OP
Sacramento, Ca, Usa
80 posts
Thank you Roberto, not too worried about the heat since we do live in sac and are used to being out in 100 degree days. I wanted to get out to the countryside and do something active with my 16 year old, though not so strenuous we will mot enjoy the views. I do see there is a chianti tour that includes a stop at a villa with a pool, maybe we'll consider that. I really would love to hear if anyone has used either of these two companies for biking. They both have loads of reviews on their other tours.
Posted by
Baltimore
49 posts
We went on a Chianti one day bike trip with a different company (Tuscany Bike Tours) last July with our 13 and 15 year olds and it was great, but you will definitely sweat. There were some super fun downhill parts, and some moderately hilly parts, and one killer hill at the end which many of us opted out of and rode up in the van. My husband and 15 year old rode the last hill, and felt great about it. You go through scenic towns and stop for lunch in a restaurant, and the pace was fine -- there was definitely a range of in-shapeness on the tour. No young kids -- I think the youngest age was supposed to be 14, but we asked to include my 13 year old daughter who is very athletic, and that was fine. If it helps persuade your daughter, all the guides (3) on the tour were young and fit and good-looking men.... They do a lot of joking around and encouraging and keep it fun.
Posted by
OP
Sacramento, Ca, Usa
80 posts
Thanks Cathy, that really helps. I just don't want to be with any hardcore Cyclists. We are all very fit, my husband and I work out daily and daughter is a competitive swimmer but by the time we get there it will have been a couple of months since she has worked out as she is taking some time off. How large was the group you rode with? Thanks, Cindy
Posted by
Baltimore
49 posts
Hi Cindy, No hardcore cyclists in our group, which had about 20 people in it. Ours were the only teenagers, there were a couple of groups of 20 somethings, and the rest were in their 40s and 50s. I think it was only about 8 miles total of biking. We looked at longer tours -- there was an 18 mile one that sounded great - but were worried about the heat.