The vie cave are one of the great unexpected wonders of southern Tuscany. These ancient sunken roads, carved deep into the soft tuff by the Etruscans, radiate out from Pitigliano toward Sovana and Sorano, connecting the hilltop towns through a network of shadowed corridors that feel entirely separate from the world above. The walls, sometimes ten or twenty metres high, are green with moss and fern; the floor is often damp and worn smooth by millennia of feet.
The most accessible vie cave from Pitigliano begin at the edge of town — a signed footpath leads down from near the main gate through olive groves and into the tuff. The walk to Sovana via the vie cave takes around three hours one way and is excellent; you can return by road or arrange for a taxi. Wear walking shoes — the paths are uneven and slippery in rain. The atmosphere in these passages is unlike anything in mainstream Tuscany, and they are rarely crowded.