Val d'Orcia Drives

San Quirico sits at the heart of the Val d'Orcia, the UNESCO World Heritage landscape of rolling hills, wheat fields, and cypress trees that represents Tuscany's most iconic scenery. The countryside around the town can be explored by car or bicycle on the white gravel roads (strade bianche) that wind through the farmland.

The most famous views are south of town toward the Podere Belvedere and the cypress avenue at San Biagio Vignoni — this is the postcard landscape that most people have in mind when they think of Tuscany. The road from San Quirico south toward Bagno Vignoni and then west toward Rocca d'Orcia passes through continuously beautiful scenery.

Spring (April to early June) is the best time for the drives: the hills are green, the wildflowers are out, and the wheat hasn't been harvested. Autumn (October to November) is a good second choice. Summer is dry and brown; the beauty is still there but the palette is more muted.

things to do sight
A story
The famous image of a narrow road lined with cypress trees curving over a hill in Tuscany — the one that appears on a million calendars and screensavers — is almost always the Podere Belvedere road, a few kilometres south of San Quirico on the strada bianca toward Castiglione d'Orcia. The best light is at sunrise or in the golden hour before sunset. In summer the road sees a steady stream of photographers; in spring it is bordered by wildflowers.