San Gimignano and San Vivaldo tour  with wine tasting

San Gimignano and San Vivaldo tour with wine tasting

San Gimignano and San Vivaldo tour with wine tasting starts at your lodging where a minivan with private driver will pick you up.

The first stop will be at the medieval town of San Gimignano. 

San Gimignano stands 334 metres above sea level on the site of a small Etruscan settlement, but it takes its name from the Bishop of Modena who saved the town from Barbarians in the 6th century.

It developed considerably during the Middle Ages thanks to the Via Francigena which runs straight through the town.

The Via Francigena is an ancient road and pilgrim route running from the Cathedral city of Canterbury in England, through France to Rome and Apulia, where there were the seaports to embark for Holy Land.

The Elsa Valley around this famous Tuscan town is everyone's image of a wine producing region in Italy.

Cypress trees, vines and olive orchards form an impressive landscape.

The vines cultivated around San Gimignano produce the "Vernaccia", a dry, pale, white.

It is a wine so gentle you could be drinking a refined mineral water and its character hasn't changed for centuries.

This the reason why our wine tasting  will be right  in a fabulous wine estate situated in San Gimignano, The lovely family who runs it with care and commitment,  love sharing their passion for the land, the wine and the olive oil with their guests.

The location is unique. You will be overwhelmed by the beauty around you. It is possible to arrange for cooking class too, using the products of their land.

Afterwards we will head to the "Living Jerusalem" at San Vivaldo.

San Vivaldo, a hidden gem  that really few people know. It is a special place, a unique site in which history, art, spirituality and nature blend together perfectly. It hosts the “Jerusalem” of San Vivaldo - one of the most significant examples of Western reproduction of the Holy Land - built at the beginning of the 16th century by order of the local community of Franciscan friars and conceived like a “real” Jerusalem for pilgrimages.  For centuries going on pilgrimage to Jerusalem was not possible  due to the Ottoman Occupation. The Franciscan friars built several Chapels that  represent the important sights of the city in order to allow pilgrims to do a symbolic pilgrimage.

After touring it,  we will head back to your lodging.

Tour length: 6/7 hours

Transportation: minivan with private driver