A trip to the beautiful Val d’Orcia, Tuscany

I wanted to visit Tuscany for a few years now. I always try to combine cycling with breathtaking views of landscape and Tuscany is perfect for that, especially The Val d‘Orcia region. Endless photo opportunities are found in these villages and rolling hills.

The Val d’Orcia, or Valdorcia, is a region of Tuscany, central Italy, which extends from the hills south of Siena to Monte Amiata. It is characterised by gentle, carefully cultivated hills occasionally broken by gullies and by picturesque towns and villages such as Pienza (rebuilt as an “ideal town” in the 15th century under the patronage of Pope Pius II), Radicofani (home to the notorious brigand-hero Ghino di Tacco) and Montalcino (the Brunello di Montalcino is counted among the most prestigious of Italian wines). It is a landscape which has become familiar through its depiction in works of art from the Renaissance painting to the modern photograph.

Since I bought Nikon D800 last year I became more and more obsessed with photography and it goes along with my cycling trips very well. With a friend we made reservations at Cerrecchio Country House in a small town of San Quirico dʼOrcia. The medieval town of Pienza is only a few kilometres away and the famous Cappella della Madonna di Vitaleta is in the immediate vicinity. I was very impressed by our home for the week as it is a typical tuscan villa settled on a small hill with a cypress road leading to it. The sunset from the porch looked quite spectacular.

Sunrises are my favorite motifs and I couldn’t wait for the morning to arrive. I took this image directly from our residence.

After the long and tiresome cycling trip it was time to go scouting the area with my car, seeking a nice spot for some lovely sunset shots. The medieval atmosphere in the image below really got my attention. It was like traveling back to 1500’s.

The next morning I wanted to find a typical tuscan villa with a cypress line and I was pretty lucky to find it right away.

If you ever visit Tuscany, do wander from main roads and walk over the hills and into the meadows. The landscape will amaze you. This was my 3rd day in Tuscany and the sunrise that happened in the next few minutes was really eye catching.

The plans for the evening were to visit Cappella della Madonna di Vitaleta and try to catch sunrays playing with the chapel. Playing with the morning and evening light is one of my favorites “games” when it comes to photography. I love the intensity of those images.

I really caught the sunrays perfectly going through the cypress, near the chapel. In the last image I should have moved a bit, so the sun would fall into the fountain :).

For my last day at Val d’Orcia valley I was searching for a perfect location to shoot a sunset over the Tuscan grassland with farms and cypresses scattered on it. I was driving around for a couple of hours until I spotted the perfect location. I climbed on a small hill just under the medieval town of Pienza. The view (as can be seen from the images below) was absolutely perfect.

Notice the farm on the left with a lovely cypress line just above it? Here’s a closeup 🙂

And finally the last sunrays of the day.

I only had one morning left at my lovely villa and I decided I wasn’t going to drive anywhere, instead I would take my last shots from the meadow below the property.

I hope you enjoyed reading about our latest photoshooting trip as much as I enjoyed all the spectacular scenes that nature can offer in Tuscany. My next destination? The mighty mountain range of the Dolomites.