Francigena Way walking holiday, Lucca to Siena

Environment

This trip follows an ancient pilgrim route, which dates back centuries. Today the Francigena Way trail has been developed to encourage hikers to pass through little-known towns, which would otherwise not see many visitors, bringing valued extra income to these areas and prompting cultural exchange. At the moment the trail remains far less popular than its famous cousin, the “Camino de Santiago”, and it is hoped that the further development of the trail through the small towns will encourage young people to stay in their hometown and open new services to the modern pilgrim, while older people who may have never left the small towns get the chance to interact with new visitors.
We believe that walking trips are the best way to experience a destination; because you have more time to appreciate the changing landscapes and get to know locals in the villages and towns that you pass through. Travelling on foot has minimal impact on your environment, but we encourage clients to stay on the marked trails to avoid erosion.
Our Waste Management Policy encourages our travellers to take their own reusable water bottles, coffee cups and reusable stuff sacks to avoid single-use plastics. We follow this same philosophy in our office as well as on the trail: in our London office we have banned single use coffee cups and water bottles. We use recycled paper in our office and we are working towards reducing the amount of paper we use, as well as recycle all of our paper and plastic waste.
In 2000 we developed the award winning Responsible Travel Guidebook, which presented our Travel Group’s comprehensive policies on sustainable travel. Over the years our Responsible Travel Guidebook has evolved to meet the ever-changing landscape of sustainable travel. In March 2018 The Thoughtful Traveller booklet was launched, which is an easy-to-read document that empowers travellers with suggestions about how they can be part of the solution and collectively make the world a better place when they travel. Everyone is encouraged to read the Thoughtful Traveller ebook before departure.

Community

This tour includes some of the highlights of Tuscany, including San Gimignano and Siena, but as part of the hike you also walk through small villages which don’t get to see large numbers of tourists.

Visiting these small villages gives you the chance to connect with local artisans and farmers who still produce their goods in the most traditional ways and are more than happy to share their knowledge with whoever is interested as they are still not invaded by large tourist numbers. For example, San Miniato is locally famous for the prized white truffle.

You may be able to find these products in bigger cities like Siena, but of course tasting them in their place of production is a totally different experience. We encourage you to visit local cafes, and purchase local food whenever you can, as this helps your tourist spend stay in the local area.
On this tour we stay almost exclusively in locally owned accommodation. These include the Agriturismo Tenuta Sant’Ilario in Gambassi Terme, when available. Here they produce olive oil, wine, and grow vegetables that are then cooked for guests and served at the Agriturismo restaurant. Locally produced food not only tastes great, but reduces your “food miles” and impact on the environment.