Ballooning Vacation in Montisi
To celebrate 17 years of Ballooning in Tuscany, we are offering a spectacular new 8-day programme running Saturday to Saturday, based in Montisi. It is aimed at small groups from couples upwards. As well as ballooning over one of the most sensuous and best-loved landscapes in the world, this action-packed itinerary is a treasure hunt of great meals, fine wines, medieval villages, castles, and Renaissance palaces. Interspersed with visits to magical gardens, gentle country walks, spectacular views, plus live introductions to Tuscan cookery, to basic water colour techniques, to the art and architecture of local towns, to the great wines of Montalcino, entranced by the range and scope of our programme. Our guides will enthuse you with their knowledge and easy rapport with their own special subjects.
Itinerary
The itinerary is designed to fit comfortably into the aspirations and abilities of most visitors. A basic level of fitness is required, particularly for the ballooning, and short walks of a mile or two form an integral part of the programme to help you experience the real Tuscany. You will stay at the superb little country agriturismo, La Grancia di Montisi, in your own apartment located beside the castle, with its own swimming pool and an excellent little restaurant just across the road.
A balloon ride is part of each person's itinerary. Every morning the balloon will gently float its pasunknown destination before they rejoin the group for breakfast, or later in the morning itinerary.
The first full day is focussed on the Renaissance jewel of Pienza, the second day on the wine town of Montalcino, the third day on Tuscan cooking at a grand house, the fourth on local medieval fortresses and their history, the fifth on the fabled Val d'Orcia, and the last day on Vino Nobile at Montepulciano. On the side, there are a number of subsidiary engagementspaint brush in your hand.
Food And Drink
At the heart of the programme is our insistence on wonderful food. The principles of the Slow Food movement have guided our choice of restaurants and hospitality, and nowhere will you find canned or pre-packaged food. All our meals are produced by dedicated chefs using local organically-produced primary materials.
The same dedication goes for the wines. There is a vast range of Brunello di Montalcino to try (about 180 producers at the last count!) and each year is different. And the excellent Rosso is not to be sniffed at. Then there are the several wineries that have ventured into Super Tuscans which allows them to blend grapes of their own choice to produce truly exceptional wines made from grapes other than Sangiovese Grosso. In the other direction, towards the southeast, is the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, a gorgeous wine with roots in the town's Etruscan past. In addition, the Val d'Orcia has recently been awarded its own DOC designation (Vino a Denominazione di Origine Controllata), and good local wines are available at more accessible prices, including the organically produced Rosso d'Orcia from your host's "La Grancia".
You will be welcomed and entertained in the private houses of some of the grandest old families in the area. You will eat in a castle, a medieval convent, a local organic farmer's barbecue, and a vineyard, as well as the local pizzeria and your adjacent excellent restaurant. You will travel by air-conditioned van to locations not further than 30 minutes away, ensuring that you do not waste your precious time locked up in a vehicle, but get out and about and do what you caTuscany! And you will take away with you, hopefully, a deeper understanding of what it is that keeps visitors coming back to Tuscany.
Your Guides
Robert Etherington has lived in this area for many years, having set up Ballooning in Tuscany in the nearby Castello di Gargonza in 1989. Oxford-educated, he fled England to escape the climate and the politics. The pace of life in Tuscany and its earth-bound focus suits his lifestyle, and he and his wife Liz live at the bottom of a steep valley nearby where they are starting to bring back into production a small holding that has been abandoned for 50 years.
Liz Graham-Yooll is a painter, and a writer and illustrator of numerous children's books. She has an idyllic studio in nearby Montisi from which she works. She studied painting in Florence after a career in London as a graphic artist, and the Tuscan light convinced her that this was where she needed to be. She has augmented her income over the years, explaining in her own inimitable way, the lighter side of Renaissance art to visitors, and by teaching painting basics to numbers of aspiring artists.
Ilaria Bicchi has lived all her life in Tuscany, in the Crete Senesi between Pienza, Montepulciano, and Siena. Her family runs an agriturismo in a quiet corner of the Val d'Orcia. She studied art history in order to better understand the secrets of this legendary landscape, so inspiring to Giotto, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and so many others. As a passionate tour guide, she enjoys welcoming people to her own timeless landscape, but also listens to their own stories about distant lands which one day she might visit.
Price
The cost of the fully inclusive tour (including balloon flight and all accommodations, meals, house wine, transfers, demonstrations, tastings, and entrance fees) is € 2400/person, in double rooms. Single supplement (where available) is € 500. We offer a pick up from Siena on Saturday evening and transfer to Sinalunga station at the end of the tour.
The cost of the fully inclusive tour (including balloon flight and all accommodations, meals, house wine, transfers, demonstrations, tastings, and entrance fees) is available on application, based on double occupany. We offer a pick up from Siena on Saturday evening and transfer to Sinalunga station at the end of the tour.
There is a deposit of € 1000/person with your reservation, and the balance is due 45 days before tour departure. There are penalties for late cancellation. In cases where the balloon flight is cancelled by bad weather, the cost of the balloon flight will be refunded.
If you have your own vehicle and prefer to travel by yourself, we can offer taccompanied by one of our guides. Please enquire here for further details.
Depatrures
All tours start on Saturday and end on the next Saturday, and you may reserve whichever departure date suits you best (subject to availability) throughout the period May to October.