You leave in Montespertoli where you can rent a holiday home (airbnb). You drive south-east to the province of Pisa. Via the open countryside around Certaldo - which we will visit in another ride - the route passes through the forest area of Castelvecchio.
After a few kilometers there is about 8 km strade bianche, the last part of which is very winding. Provided you take the necessary care and adjust your speed, this can still be done well. Strade Bianche or White Roads are dirt gravel roads that cross the Tuscan countryside and wind their way through oak forests, olive groves, vineyards, meadows and wheat fields. The white color that gives these roads their unique character comes from the compacted local limestone gravel they form.

You are not allowed to enter Volterra by motorcycle. Only vehicles with a 'special permit' have access. This also applies to all major cities in Italy.
Volterra is a medieval town situated on a hilltop from where you get a beautiful view of the surrounding landscape. Volterra has a number of beautiful monuments including the cathedral, the baptistery, a fortified castle from the times of the Medici and a Roman amphitheater. Moreover, large pieces of medieval city wall with accompanying city gates are still present, which makes the city worth a visit.
Volterra is also and above all the city of alabaster. It is the only place in all of Italy where alabaster is mined. This soft, limestone type of stone is processed in the various workshops in and around Volterra into beautiful sculptures, utensils, jewelery and souvenirs.
Alabaster is a type of stone that is found underground, in the chalk layers that lie beneath Volterra and its surroundings. This area used to be sea and the presence of salt and other minerals ensures this unique soil type in this part of Tuscany. For the alabaster of Volterra you have to dive about thirty to a hundred meters below the surface. There you will come across four types of alabaster, varying from transparent white to dark brown.

After an extensive visit to Volterra you drive further south-east through an arid hilly landscape. The Valley of Cecina is a region that stretches in the southern part of the province of Pisa along the trail of the river Cecina, from which it gets its name. The valley shows a very varied landscape, made of almost inaccessible forests, erosion channels - the so-called Balze di Volterra - and hills, which become plains near the estuary of the Cecina.

The Holy Mountain of San Vivaldo, also known as the Jerusalem of Tuscany, dates from the period around the year 1300. Then the Franciscan Vivaldo Stricchi from San Gimignano chose a secluded life in this place. He was later found dead in the trunk of a chestnut tree in which he had lived. Later there was a Hermitage on this spot, which the Franciscan brothers converted into a monastery in 1947. The design of the Jerusalem of Tuscany was done between 1500 and 1515 by the Franciscan Brother Tommaso da Firenze. This allowed people to make a pilgrimage without having to travel to Jerusalem, which at that time was under the rule of the Turks. For that reason, the chapels were modeled entirely after Jerusalem of the late 15th century, but on a smaller scale. At that time there were 25 chapels, of which you can still admire 18 of them today.

A little further away is a Roman water depository dating back to the third century BC The structure was discovered during archaeological research in 1960 at the place called "Il Muraccio", so named because of the external features of the water depository, the walls of which have already been visible since ancient times.The structure is 32.5 meters long and 4.5 meters wide and is located partly underground.The water depot was used to store the water of Poggio all'Aglione and had a capacity of 200,000 liters.

This route receives 4.5 stars. The roads are excellent. The 8 km-long strade bianche can also be used with due care. As everywhere in Tuscany, the landscape and nature here is also overwhelmingly beautiful and varied. Volterra gives you a few hours of immersion in culture and history.