Yoga and Walking in Tuscany
Beneath the Tuscan sun… the authentic Italian experience.

Ancient medieval towns, lush fields of gold, and majestic olive painted landscapes combine with hiking, yoga, and wellbeing to achieve true balance on this unmissable journey into the heart of Renaissance Italy. The ethos of this trip and our general philosiphy is to offer pure, unique journeys.

Key information
BOOKING NOW FOR 2020/21

Available for private departure

Duration: 6 days

Grading: Easy

Nearest Airport: Florence / Pisa

Accommodated in a countryside villa with swimming pool

Private vehicle support

At A Glance
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Days 1 - 2

The Villa Palagione, close to the village of Volterra on the slopes of Mount Voltraio, is your home for the duration and offers fantastic facilities, mesmerising gardens and beautiful cuisine. The first day offers time to arrive, settle into your room and enjoy a restorative yoga session after your journey.

The first full day begins with breakfast, an energising yoga session, and a gentle hike through the magnificent countryside to the village of Volterra. A former trading center and one of the oldest towns in ancient Italy, Volterra’s narrow streets, open piazzas, and Roman architecture offer a taste of authentic Italy, as does dinner in one of the local restaurants.

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Days 3 - 4

Day three offers a circular hike through golden fields and lush vineyards, to the hilltop village of Casole d’Elsa. With lunch (and perhaps a glass of locally produced wine) in the village, you return to the Villa taking time to unwind with a yoga class and relax over dinner.

Day four, we embark on a pre-breakfast hike to the summit of Monte Voltraio, where you enjoy yoga in the crisp air, as the sun rises. With the day to yourself, you can relax or explore at your leisure, before enjoying an informative wine tasting session and dinner at a favored restaurant in Volterra.

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Days 5 - 6

A hike to the medieval walled town of San Gimignano is the highlight of day five as you take time to explore the one time seat of regional power and influence, complete with its ancient homesteads, artisan shops and 12th century church.The countryside trail ideally suited to lovers of the lush Tuscan landscapes which inspired Leonardo da Vinci when painting the Mona Lisa. You end the day with a beautiful farewell dinner, the perfect opportunity to relive the week’s highlights and adventures.

The final day affords time for breakfast and to prepare for departure before heading to the airport and your onwards destination.

Take a look

Need To Know

 
Accommodation
This is a residential trip meaning we stay in the same location throughout. The exquisitely renovated Villa Palagione, near the old Etruscan town of Volterra is our home during this stay. The villa is over 400 yrs old and has been painstakingly renovated with a lifetime of dedication from a small group of friends. With delightful gardens and a magnificent open air swimming pool we take full opportunity to enjoy this wonderful space. Many of our Yoga classes will be held outside in the gardens with views over the Tuscan countryside. More details of the villa can be found here LINK with a short video of the house and gardens here LINK.
What’s included
 

  • All accommodations with private baths
  • All breakfasts
  • Lunches except two (one on our rest day and one in Sienna)
  • All dinners
  • Wine tasting and dinner in Volterra
  • Dinner in San Gimignano
  • Daily yoga sessions – yoga equipment including mats etc will be provided
  • All group transfers as per the itinerary
  • Guided walking tour of Volterra
  • Group transfer from the Florence Airport to the Villa Palagione on Day 1 and group transfer back to the Florence Airport on Day 8
  • Great walking and lasting memories!
Guides
Our guides are exceptionally experienced with a passion for sharing the culture, flora and fauna with you. All qualified and licensed International Mountain Leaders they will bring the trip alive. In addition our Yoga teachers have all completed their 200hrs TTC training certification and hold professional membership. This trip is aimed at beginners, however, should you have practiced Yoga previously, our teachers are more than capable of offering advanced Asanas where appropriate.

We adopt an excellent guiding ratio meaning we can cater for differing levels within the group:

One Guide – 1 – 7 clients

Two Guides – 8 – 14 clients

 

Booking and Price
Cost: €2500 pp

Single Supplement available

We manage every booking independently to ensure attention to detail and provide a personalised service.

Book Now              Enquire  

 

 

 

Terms & Conditions
Terms and Conditions (updated Jan 2019)All trips are sold subject to these Terms and Conditions (hereinafter T&Cs). 

1. Insurance

All clients need to be adequately insured for all activities they are taking part in. Insurance must include repatriation and details should be provided at the beginning of each trip.

All European clients should obtain a European Health insurance card (EHIC), however, this is not a substitute for travel insurance.

2. Health and fitness

Trip members have the responsibility to select a trip appropriate to their abilities and interests. In order to assist with this, all trips are graded and we welcome the opportunity to discuss trip details/answer questions in advance of your reservation. Trip members must be in sufficiently good health to undertake the trip, and if unsure seek medical advice in advance. For your own safety, you need to inform us of any medical conditions in advance or at the start of the trip. Trip members are also required to bring adequate clothing/equipment as advised in the pre-departure information.

3. Dietary Requirements

We endeavor to work with clients and accommodate their dietary requirements. However such is the nature of adventure travel we may be limited to specific menus e.g remote Mountain Huts, Tea Houses in the Himalaya’s etc. We fully encourage you to contact us in advance to discuss your requirements then we have every opportunity to explore options thereafter.

4. Cancellations and Fee Schedule Per Person

91 days or more prior to departure – €250 cancellation fee

61 – 90 days before departure – 25% of the trip cost

46 – 60 days before departure – 50% of the trip cost

45 days or less: 100% of trip cost

Fees are calculated from the date we receive written cancellation notice which can be via email. If clients are unable to access email and cancel over the phone we will confirm in writing the cancellation.

If you cancel 91 days or more prior to departure, it may be possible to transfer to another trip without occurring any fees. Please discuss this with us in the first instance.

With specific departures, there may be an increase in cancellation fee if the accommodation provider T & Cs mean we are liable for payment.

5. Complaints

If you have a complaint, please contact us as soon as possible, in the first instance your leader is often your obvious point of contact. This ensures we have every opportunity to explores solutions to the problem(s) arising and we will do all we reasonably can to resolve the complaint. You must tell us within 4 weeks after your holiday of any complaints that you feel have not been dealt with properly.

6. Alterations By Us

We will tell you as soon as reasonably possible if we must make any alteration to your holiday. Most alterations are minor, but very occasionally we might have to make a major alteration. A major alteration is a change of location or to a lower standard of accommodation for a substantial part of your holiday, a change in start/finish dates or necessary price rise in your holiday caused by rises in costs (e.g. exchange rates, internal transport etc). You may then choose as follows:

  • To accept these alterations
  • To withdraw from the holiday, in which case we will repay all monies paid to us including your deposit and this is the sum of our liability to you
  • To accept an alternative holiday that we may propose to you, in which case if the proposed holiday is a lower price we will pay you the difference and if it is a higher price we may ask for the difference.

You must inform us of your choice as soon as possible after we contact you.

7. Group Leadership

On a guided holiday your leader is responsible for the safety and enjoyment of the whole group and has sole discretion, on behalf of Live Breathe Hike, to exclude temporarily a participant from the group. They may also choose to terminate the participants holiday without the possibility of a refund if the leader thinks the participant is likely to endanger the group safety or spoil its enjoyment.

8. Your Responsibility

Mountain holidays by their very nature are adventurous, with a certain level of risk is undertaken. Individuals need to conduct themselves in a safe and responsible manner at all times; responding to advice, guidance, and instruction that may be given by the group leader / experienced professional and take all reasonable actions to eliminate accidents or injury.

9. Our Responsibilities

We will take all reasonable care to ensure that the information we give to you is accurate, including on our website, in your schedule and information pack. We will do all that we can to provide the service as described in the information we give to you. We are not liable if any failure is:

  • Attributable to anyone other than us
  • Attributable to a third party unconnected to us, and unforeseeable or unavoidable
  • Due to unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control and could not have been avoided even if all due care had been taken
  • Due to an event which even with all due care we could not foresee or forestall

10. Cancellation By Us

Live Breathe Hike reserves the right to cancel any trip prior to departure for any reason whatsoever, including insufficient signup or logistics problems that may impede trip operations. The refund of all land payments received shall relate Live Breathe Hike from any further liability.

Live Breathe Hike must normally make substantial payments to its suppliers far in advance of the scheduled trip departure date. If a trip is canceled due to force majeure; (acts of God, war, strikes, earthquake, flooding etc), Live Breathe Hike will promptly refund the portion of the trip cost not already advanced to suppliers and use its best efforts to recover and refund the balance as promptly as possible. However, Live Breathe Hike does not guarantee recovery of any or all of the advance payments made.

11. Additional Costs

Live Breathe Hike shall not be liable for (a) expenses such as additional nights and meals not specified in the individual trip itineraries, but which may required to get to from a trip start or end; expenses due to the delay of a trip for any reason (e.g. bad weather, trails conditions, land slides, flooding, sickness etc); (c) expenses occurred in recovering lost luggage by airlines, belongings left behind on a trip or in shipping purchases or other goods home from abroad; (d) visa and other incidental costs.

Live Breathe Hike reserves the right to take photographic or film records of any trips, and may use any such records for promotional and/or commercial purposes without payment.

 

Truly the highlight...

this experience was truly the highlight of my year!

Molly.

amazing!

what an amazing trip this has turned out to be!

Kate