San Quirico d'Orcia
The next day, after beautiful Sienna we decided to simply get in the car after breakfast and head to the opposite side of the Sienna and visit the cities one by one.
Our winding eastern road first led to San Quirico d'Orcia, hilltop town in Val d’Orcia, Tuscany. Val d’Orcia was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 2004 and this area includes San Quirico d'Orcia, Pienza, Montalcino and Radicofani.
San Quirico d'Orcia is literally on a hill and upon entering the fortress we were delighted with the panoramic view.
And that's not all, once you get in the town, you can visit the fortress inside. We entered a small winery shop within the fortress and bought tickets to climb to take even more beautiful photos from the top of the fortress. The road up followed two floors that presented a beautiful decoration of Italian culture.
Leaving the fortress, we walked through the streets lined with so many small shops, cafes, restaurants and churches.
Continuing our walk through the city center, the road also led to a huge park called Horti Leonini. This Italian Garden contains numerous statues, including a statue of Cosimo III de’Medici.
Climbing on the steps on the far end of the garden we looked out over the garden and rooftops of San Quirico d’Orcia and over the rolling hills of Val d’Orcia.
PIENZA
Driving further, we arrived at Pienza. This place charmed us with its appearance due to its small houses and narrow streets where the terraces are decorated with flowers and the facades are decorated with creepers. This is the most picturesque town in Tuscany with a beautiful panoramic view.
Pienza is well known as a home of the Pecorino cheese.
It took just 5min to pass along the main street as the town is very small. Around the main one, roaming through the small, tiny streets you will come across walkway called Via del Casello, and there are numerous viewpoints over Val d’Orcia and the buildings of Pienza.
In addition, in a nearby town we walked down 10min to the viewpoint of Agriturismo Terrapille and visited a place known as the Gladiator Viewpoint, where this famous movie was filmed.
After taking a short break for the lunch, we continued driving down the road capturing a lot of nice landscape fields and Tuscany villas.
Terme Di Bagni San Filippo
Traveling through Tuscany, we could see many signs to the thermal baths, so we came across these Bagni San Filippo. When we arrived, we noticed that cars were parked down the narrow street and in a huge queue. You could say that at this moment it was the highest time for visitors. We parked, then walked through a small part of the settlement where we noticed mostly locals who also had advertisements for renting rooms.
Walking further, a sign led us through the forest and along a well-marked path we reached a spring that looked divine. Crystal blue water gushing from the spring and over rocks that looked like clay. Of course, I couldn’t resist trying it. Since there is no changing room, we didn’t have the chance to try the water properly, but I definitely wanted to take off my sandals and just get in the water. The water is quite warm, around 30 degrees, and I was amazed by the amount of clay that was everywhere, especially at the bottom. As someone who uses clay as a regular face mask, this was the perfect opportunity for my vacation treatment.
The people who were there at the time seemed to know this place well and visit this spring very often, so we chatted with them for a bit, and they explained to us that this spring is great for almost all conditions, such as skin diseases, rheumatic diseases and general health of the body. They always look forward to come here.