Stage 8 · Firenzuola → Vallombrosa
- Distance
- 92 km
- Elevation gain
- 1,650 m D+
- Difficulty
- Challenging
- Surface
- 92% asphalt, 8% gravel · 28% on cycle routes
- Terrain
- Mugello, Pratomagno
- Hospitality
- Guesthouse
GPX 1.1 file with the track, elevation and the abbeys as waypoints. Tracks are calculated on real roads and cycle routes (OpenStreetMap): check them on the ground before you set off.
Stage map
Map of the stage Firenzuola → Vallombrosa: track, start, finish, places to stay and abbeys
Hover the profile to see the spot on the map
Tracks calculated on real roads and cycle paths (OpenStreetMap); elevations from SRTM data — to be checked on the ground
Main climb: 12.4 km at 6.9% (up to 960 m)
Other climb: 7.8 km at 5.6% (up to 891 m)
This stage on Komoot
The same track is on the project's Komoot profile: save it in the app and ride it with voice navigation.
Overview
A sustained mountain experience through the heart of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, climbing from Firenzuola through the Mugello and the woods of the Pratomagno towards Vallombrosa, one of Italy's most celebrated monastic sanctuaries.
Notes from the road
After Firenzuola you climb into the Mugello, then the Pratomagno closes the horizon with dense woods. The final kilometres are a real climb, narrow and continuous, better to keep low gears ready. The wood around Vallombrosa turns quiet and cool. It is a sharp change from the plains of days before. The abbey arrives like a refuge more than a stage, the right place to truly stop.
What to see
Upper Santerno valley, Mugello hills, woods and ridges of the Pratomagno, Abbey of Vallombrosa deep in the forest, centuries-old beech woods
Where to sleep
Foresteria Abbazia di Vallombrosa (donation/by arrangement with the monks, monastic hospitality, book ahead); Valdarno B&Bs (55-85€); Pratomagno refuges (50-70€)
Where to eat
Guesthouse meals (if staying), mushroom soups, potato tortelli, chestnuts, mountain vegetables, Vallombrosa honey
Tips
Steepest climbing so far (800m gain). You ride here the way you'd walk a pilgrimage, unhurried. The access road is narrow, steep and unrelenting: low gears essential.
Water & supplies
Bars and fountains in Borgo San Lorenzo at mid-stage, then in Dicomano and Rufina. The final 12 km of climbing to Vallombrosa run through forest with no services; at 1,000 metres it is cool even in summer. Fill your bottles before the foot of the climb.
Places to stay on this stage
- Foresteria dell'Abbazia di Vallombrosaguesthouse
Vallombrosa, Reggello (FI)- Price:
- donation or rate to be agreed with the monks
- Open:
- year-round, booking required (055 862251)
- Facilities:
- simple rooms in the monks' old dormitory, Benedictine hospitality for individuals and groups, refectory
- Source:
- monaci.org (Monaci Benedettini Vallombrosani, sito ufficiale)
A night in the thousand-year-old abbey deep in the Pratomagno forest: stage finish and monastic experience in one.
Abbeys on this stage
- Finish abbey: Abbazia di Vallombrosa
An amateur, non-profit project. The tracks are indicative: everyone rides independently, at their own risk.