San Gimignano and the Via Francigena

In 1300, Dante name-checked San Gimignano for its haughty skyline, a forest of towers that once counted more than sixty. Fourteen still rise above the ridge at 334 meters, their stone warmed by centuries of sun. It’s a 45‑minute run from Siena via the SR2 and SP1, past gatehouses like San Giovanni and San Matteo, to the Civic Museum and Torre Grossa. Between Colle di Val d’Elsa and Certaldo, Vernaccia vines and oak copses stitch together slopes that echo the old stones of the Via Francigena, recorded by Archbishop Sigeric in 990.

Your day is fluid by design: hotel pick‑up in Siena, a Mercedes at your disposal, and a dedicated driver handling timing, parking, bookings, and backroads while you tour, taste, and linger. Start with San Gimignano’s Torre Grossa and the Collegiate Church, continue to a Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG cellar, then on to Colle di Val d’Elsa for crystal heritage and the hilltop centro. The return threads via Monteriggioni and accessible stretches of the Via Francigena; across the Sienese countryside, your private chauffeur in Siena fine‑tunes stops for weather, a market day, or that sunset overlook.