Staying in Pitigliano for a whole week will allow you to fully discover the secrets and peculiarities of the city of tuff, to fully experience the three souls that characterize it (history, nature, food and wine) and to enjoy a vast and for sure still unexplored verses.
Third day
If you can stay in the village for the first two-three days (please read what to see and what to do in Pitigliano in a weekend), you can dedicate the third day to the discovery of the città del tufo: we are talking about the two towns that make up this triptych together with Pitigliano and which are located a few minutes from the town, i.e. Sorano and its hamlet Sovana.
Sorano is known as “the Matera of Tuscany” and this already suggests the beauty and uniqueness of this town. The Fortezza Orsini, the Masso Leopoldino, the Vie Cave, the spa, are just some of the beauties a few minutes by car from Pitigliano.
Sovana, as said hamlet of the Municipality of Sorano, is instead a real gem of medieval origin that has kept its appearance and atmosphere intact. Here you will find numerous monuments to be discovered but the advice I give you is to visit the Parco Archeologico della Città del Tufo, that is the museum network of the Municipality of Sorano which includes, among other places, the Etruscan necropolis of Sovana, an historical route of rare importance and beauty worldwide thanks to its tombs. Worth mentioning, still part of the Sorano museum network, is the Città di Vitozza which is located in another hamlet of the Municipality called San Quirico. Sovana, for trekking enthusiasts, can also be reached on foot via the ancient Via Cava and Pian de’ Conati road.
Fourth day
This area of Tuscany is rich in thermal waters. The closest thermal baths to Pitigliano are those of Sorano, a very nice establishment located about five kilometers from the town halfway between the two città del tufo By paying a ticket you can access the structure made up of three swimming pools, two of which are natural plus various services. If the spa of Sorano are the closest, the most famous are certainly the thermal baths of Saturnia about twenty minutes by car from Pitigliano. Surrounded by greenery, they can be used in two ways: the first, completely free, allows you to reach the Cascate del Mulino, the famous terraced basins famous all over the world. A few hundred meters away is the actual spa facility, the Terme di Saturnia, a five-star natural spa and golf resort where you can access by paying a ticket and enjoy, among the many services and comforts, a swim in the historic natural pools already famous in ancient Rome.
In addition to the thermal part, this area (we are in the Municipality of Manciano, at the gates of the Maremma) offers the possibility of visiting some villages of rare beauty such as Saturnia to the north of the thermal structure and, about three kilometers away, Montemerano. Both are definitely worth a visit.
Fifth day
Changing sides of the province of Grosseto and encroaching on Lazio, you can dedicate an entire day to visiting Lago di Bolsena and the towns of the Tuscia area. We are about half an hour from Pitigliano in an area that is very rich from a historical, environmental, landscape and food and wine point of view. Around Lago di Bolsena, a bathing lake of volcanic origin, there are numerous villages such as Bolsena, Capodimonte, Marta, Montefiascone. Here, during the summer season, you can spend a beautiful day relaxing and sunbathing as if you were at the seaside. All these villages are also appreciable in the winter season when the lake offers glimpses and landscapes of rare beauty.
Another town not far from Lake Bolsena is Acquapendente, also very interesting for history and nature; if you want to move towards Umbria (we are always less than an hour from Pitigliano) you cannot fail to stop in two famous places connected in some ways to Pitigliano: Orvieto in Umbria and the now very famous Civita di Bagnoregio, the dying city (we are again in the province of Viterbo). These two localities are often associated with Pitigliano for their appearance and for the conduit thread given by the tuff. Many tourists choose them together as unmissable stops in central Italy. Not far from these places there is also the historic city of Viterbo, which is also very beautiful and worthy of a visit.
Sixth day
The time has come to climb to high altitudes. Moving towards the province of Siena we find Monte Amiata with all its towns rich in history. On the Grosseto side Santa Fiora, Arcidosso, and Castel del Piano, on the Sienese side Abbaddia San Salvatore and Piancastagnaio, among the closest to Pitigliano. We are one hour from our town and these stages are very interesting both in winter for the ski season and in summer for a cool day in the mountains. Furthermore, if we look at the Sienese side we are not far from the Val d’Orcia and the famous towns of Pienza, Montalcino and Montepulciano.
Seventh day
Before the end of the week, we go down to the coast to visit its beauties. If we are in the summer, one or more days on the beaches of the Monte Argentario area are a must; but even in winter they are worth a visit thanks to wonderful places such as the Parco dell’Uccellina, Capalbio with the famous Giardino dei Tarocchi and Orbetello.
In the evening, when you return to Pitigliano, never forget to take a walk in the village and perhaps enjoy a last aperitif in some bar or wine bar and dine in one of the numerous restaurants in the village. The week has ended. As you will have seen from our suggestions, the particular position of Pitigliano will allow you to reach many and various attractions, all less than an hour’s drive from the citttà del tufo.
