Panzano to Greve to Lamole

bjanise

New member
Dear ladies and gentlemen,

I am traveling with a couple of friends without a car in the Panzano, Greve, Montefiorealle and Lamole area of Tuscany. For the most part we will be hiking and taking the bus.

I have tried to understand how the bus schedule works and am confused. I believe the bus goes from
Greve to Panzano, but I can't see quite how to read. I am looking to come during week later part of September first part of October, staying in Panzano. We will be hiking Panzano to Montefiorealle (have a wonderful lady in Montefiorealle that is showing us this hike); want to explore Lamole, so would need to have bus info to Greve leaving Panzano early in the morning.

Lamole looks beautiful and we were thinking of exploring Volpaia, but can't quite see how we get from Greve to Radda (have the hiking and eating book for Tuscany).

Thank you so much for any help and assistance you can provide.

Grazi and thank you so very much,

Janise
 
Ciao Janise,

You and your friends are quite the adventurers! ;-) I am sure you will enjoy your time in Tuscany, particularly at that time of the year - less crowds and less heat as well.

I have the "Walking and Eating in Tuscany and Umbria" book by James Lasdun and Pia Davis, is it the same one you have? That one breaks up Greve to Radda into two days, with a stop and night in San Michele.
If you're based in Panzano, I would do Panzano - Radda and not try to get there in a day from Greve.
Also note that the book was revides over 10 years ago (in 2004). We used it in 2012 to hike from Radda to Volpaia and the route indicated could not be done... in the meantime, wine estates had put up electric fences to keep wild boar and deer out of the vineyards -- it also kept us out the road they indicated in that route. So take the routes suggested in there with that knowledge in mind, that things likely have changed a bit since it was written and remain flexible.

Do USE google maps to "map" directions between the towns. It gives you the "bus" option and so will show you the route that can be taken, when it exists.

The main bus you will be using is 365 which connects Greve to Panzano:
http://www.acvbus.it/orari/365.pdf
The first 7 pages are for schedules from Chianti toward Florence, then from page 8 you have schedules from Florence down into Chianti.
The towns are listed in order of stops.
The LUN-VEN at the top means it runs MON-Fri
SAB = Saturday
Festivo = Sundays and holidays
The numbers at the top of the columns are footnotes ---- for example, #28 means that that particular bus only runs from 15/09 through 10/06 meaning it should run while you are here, the #40 indicates one that only runs between 27/07 and 30/08 (so an extra bus in summer) while #80 indicates the opposite - Sospesa means it us "suspended" during those same dates.

As you go down the column, if there is a time, it means it stops there, if there is a dash, it doesn't.
So you can see some buses don't make all the stops, many end in Greve, a few continue on to Panzano and a few to Radda. A few from Panzano to Radda.

Radda is particularly difficult.... there is a bus from Panzano in the morning at 8.10am but none in the evening.... So you might consider organizing your walking schedule in the opposite direction: head by bus to Radda in the morning, visit, start walking back and maybe have lunch in Castelvecchi http://www.castelvecchi.com/en/services/restaurant if you're there at the right time (or buy food for a picnic lunch in Radda to eat somewhere along the way ** with the incredible views of wine country) and enjoy your walk back to Panzano.
You'll have to see how the temps are when you are here, early October I think it is doable to hike during the day without a problem.

Same goes for Lamole - check the bus schedules and plan accordingly ;-)

You don't say how many days you have - I also recommend Badia di Passignano, Volpaia is very cute and charming but quite small, Montefioralle a must. Haven't been to Lamole but now you write about it I'll have to see when we get the chance to go explore that area ;)
 
Additional Question regarding Panzano to Lamole

Ciao Lourdes,

Your information on the bus schedule is very helpful. Can you tell me if Bus 80 will run during our stay
September 29 - October 3rd?

We're trying to get from Panzano to Lamole without a car. Thanks for your help. If you know of a walk from Panzano to Lamole that would be great as well.

Grazie,

Janise
:):)

Dear ladies and gentlemen,

I am traveling with a couple of friends without a car in the Panzano, Greve, Montefiorealle and Lamole area of Tuscany. For the most part we will be hiking and taking the bus.

I have tried to understand how the bus schedule works and am confused. I believe the bus goes from
Greve to Panzano, but I can't see quite how to read. I am looking to come during week later part of September first part of October, staying in Panzano. We will be hiking Panzano to Montefiorealle (have a wonderful lady in Montefiorealle that is showing us this hike); want to explore Lamole, so would need to have bus info to Greve leaving Panzano early in the morning.

Lamole looks beautiful and we were thinking of exploring Volpaia, but can't quite see how we get from Greve to Radda (have the hiking and eating book for Tuscany).

Thank you so much for any help and assistance you can provide.

Grazi and thank you so very much,

Janise
 
As I wrote above, bus connections are not great in Chianti, a car would be better... but walking is even a better alternative to the car!

Bus 80? I wasn't able to find it, where did you find that number as a possible bus to take?
I only found bus 365 and that it runs 1 time a day at 1.47pm from Panzano to Lamole.

I really do think in the end a walk will be better! And if you're thinking of doing any walking in Tuscany, you need to get the trail maps by Edizioni Multigraphic on a scale of 1:25,000 or even 1:10,000 (these are harder to find for all areas). For the Chianti area, you want the one I've photographed and linked below. I went ahead and photographed the area of the map you want from Panzano to Chianti, to give you an idea. The route takes you along a road at first, then follow a road toward "Casa al Monte", from there you pick up a trail in the woods to the right -- you can use it to cut and shorten toward "La Villa" and then up to Lamole. Otherwise, you could continue on the road but it takes you further south and is longer. I am estimating total time might be from 1.5 to 2 hours one way. If you depart early in the morning, you can take your time and enjoy lunch out the Aia dei Canti, the restaurant at the Lamole castle. Otherwise, pack a lunch from Panzano and enjoy a picnic along the way ;-)

http://www.discovertuscany.com/attachments/carta-sentieri-chianti.jpg
http://www.discovertuscany.com/attachments/panzano-lamole.jpg - I've highlighted the route you should take ;)
 
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