For those coming from the north, the Val d’Orcia begins at Torrenieri, a hamlet in the municipality of Montalcino.
The Cassia is the main road; it is the one you must follow to reach the Val d’Orcia coming from Siena. There are only two lanes, one in each direction, to be travelled at a strictly moderate speed to start filling your eyes with the beauty of the places. Little harm if some lorry or bus slows you down: do not be anxious in your search for a suitable spot to overtake, but relax and enjoy the journey.
Once you have left the beautiful village of Buonconvento and travelled a few kilometres south towards Rome, Torrenieri welcomes you to the Val d’Orcia.
In the midst of fields and vineyards, with an industrial past (yes, industrial) and a railway station that today only sees the steam trains of the Nature Train passing through – and soon the Orient Express… – Torrenieri is sweet and silent, gentle and hard-working. It is essential and not mundane, it is a place to rest and recharge after a long walk or a challenging bike ride and to prepare for the next outing. It is the rough gem you do not expect to find, the well-hidden secret, the perfect place to use as a base camp for your excursions in the Val d’Orcia.
The Via Francigena passes through Torrenieri, whose route coincides for a long stretch with the old Cassia: a route so beautiful as to seem unreal or even fake, the creation of Hollywood’s greatest set designers. As far as San Quirico d’Orcia, it is an endless riot of hills and trees, valleys and tidy farms, rows of cypress trees and steep paths leading to remote and silent places that seem to belong to six or seven centuries ago.
The road is a sinuous balcony sometimes with the curtains closed, when the trees are dense and hide the horizon, others wide open on panoramas painted in a thousand shades of green, brown, and yellow, depending on the season. Then the eye flies for kilometres and glimpses Montalcino and San Quirico in the distance.
Montalcino, only a few kilometres to the east, is a siren perched on a high, flat rock, from which it dominates the valley below. Beautiful and imperious, Montalcino, home of Brunello and Rosso, two wines that have converted more than one teetotaler and given healthy cheer to those who have not denied themselves one or two or five sips of that ruby-coloured nectar.
San Quirico d’Orcia, to the south, is where the old Cassia road will lead you, if you do not deprive yourself of the pleasure of following it for 6.5 kilometres. Six thousand five hundred metres in which you will be overwhelmed by the beauty of the landscape, you will lose yourself in the absolute silence broken only by the singing of birds and the chirping of cicadas, you will be inebriated by the scents of the earth and grass, of wheat and poppies.
You will see very few cars, fortunately. Cyclists, however, you will see lots. From March to October, wayfarers and pilgrims are also numerous along the Francigena, and it is nice to exchange a greeting and a few words with people from all corners of the globe.
The Via Francigena that takes you to San Quirico d’Orcia is just one of the many routes through nature that start from Torrenieri: you can go towards Pienza, Chiusure, Montalcino, or perhaps venture – by bike, on foot, or motorbike – along the white roads of the Eroica.
Those who love nature will certainly not be bored here.
Welcome to the northern gateway to the Val d’Orcia.
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