I based my riding route on a pair of roads that bisect the Chianti region, following the recommendations of motorcycling friends. Both were said to offer the best in curving climbs, bella vistas and access to attractive hill towns.
I left Florence headed south on SR 222, which twists and turns as it climbs into the foothills. Along the way, the narrow two-lane road slows for the hill towns of Strada and Pieve di Panzano.
The traffic was light and the going was good, and road reviews proved accurate. As the day warmed, I skimmed past fields of wheat and corn, groves of olive trees, and farms growing sunflowers and lavender. Oh, and vineyards _ this was Chianti. The highway passed hundreds of acres of vineyards, the knotty grapevines dotting the rolling hills like stitches on a tapestry.
Entranced and happily humming along, I rode the Ducati Multistrada 1200 south to the walled hill town of Castellina in Chianti, where I met my car-bound traveling companions for lunch.
We ate a delightful meal at Le Tre Porte on a pine-shaded patio overlooking terraced vineyards. Then I left them to their rented Fiat Panda and continued south, riding the 222 all the way into Siena, where I turned around and repeated the route past Castellina and east on SR 429. This equally twisting two-lane road led me to Radda in Chianti, another walled hill town dominated by the massive San Niccolo church.
Fortified by a strong macchiato, I rode the 429 back toward Castellina, then on past Poggibonsi to an agriturismo (farm stay), Podere La Lucciolaia, near San Gimignano, where I'd booked a room for the night.
