Welcome to Tuscany, globetrotters! Today you’ll make your way to your hosts’ property, arriving between 3 and 4pm. Your hosts, Patrick and Gio, will be there to greet you and show you to your apartment, where you can freshen up before heading to the Selleria (tack room). Here you’ll have a welcome drink, chat about the week’s program and, of course, meet the herd! If there’s time, you’ll saddle up for a short ride around the property to get acquainted with your steed.

Dinner will be shared at the Farmhouse, with its stunning interiors alluding to your hosts’ past lives running a prosperous antiques store. The whole property oozes quality, elegance and timelessness. The table will be groaning with fresh Tuscan produce: think wild boar ragu, charcuterie, local cheeses, olives from the property, salads galore and the rustic Tuscan pasta, pici, which hugs its rich sauce like a doting nonna. Delicious local wines complete the welcome.

Finally, you’ll retire to your plush apartment to catch some Zs.

Waking up to the realisation that this incredible holiday is actually your reality, not a dream, you’ll tuck into a lavish breakfast (let’s be honest: everything about this trip is lavish!), pack your saddlebags, don your riding gear and mount up. Today’s ride is a varied and exhilarating 25 kilometre journey to Tenuto Fontina, a winery near the stunningly beautiful Lago dell’Accessa. There will be plenty of trots and canters, and the route can be tailored to the group’s ability and desires.

Halfway along, you’ll pause to devour a splendid picnic lunch and loll around in hammocks sipping something refreshing. You’ll then ride on to Tenuto Fontina, where the horses will spend the night, in time for a sunset aperitivo. Finally, you’ll be driven back to the ranch for another feast in the dining room and some me-time in your apartment.

This morning you’ll be driven back to the horses via a local bar (the centre of Italian social life!) where you’ll sample the typical Tuscan breakfast: a capuccino or espresso and a cornetto (Italy’s answer to the croissant). Don’t forget your swimsuit – today you’re in for a beautiful mini-holiday at Lago dell’Accesa, Maremma’s answer to the Maldives. This small lake surrounded by oak trees and vineyards is fed by underground springs, resulting in crystalline waters that are a steady 20°C (68°F) year-round. With no particular destination and all day to explore, you’ll wander along the lake shore and surrounds, where significant Etruscan ruins await your discovery, before jumping into the inviting waters – maybe even with your horse!

Lunch will be waiting at a nearby farm with an amazing view over the countryside, and can extend all afternoon while you doze, read, or splash about. The only goal today is a feeling of bliss and peace, and perhaps an appreciation of the grace and power of a swimming horse.

Evening brings a cracking dinner party in the dining room, or out on the terrace if the mood takes you. Cocktails, twinkling lights, the scent of oranges, and a wonderful day to reflect upon.

Federico is your host this morning – a true buttero, one of the Maremma region’s very own cowboys. Famed for their horsemanship and skills with the long-horned Maremmana cattle, the butteri are a well-known and greatly respected symbol of Maremma. Federico backs and starts all the horses at the ranch, and will offer you a demonstration, answer your questions and tell some wonderful stories while you sip your morning coffee and munch cornetti.

When you’ve filled up on Federico’s wisdom, you’ll be driven to the coast, where Gio and Patrick keep a second string of horses. Here you’ll have a memorable lunch made by Mamma Doriana, who welcomes guests into her kitchen as she produces reams and reams of stellar pasta, and some beautiful homespun wisdom, too. Then it’s time to mount up and hit the beach (or, from June, to September, the gorgeous national park just up the hill – don’t worry, you’ll still be able to swim in the sea!). Pine forests, sandy canters, lookouts, siestas… the day is yours to enjoy as you please.

Avanti, Globetrotters, avanti! Onwards to another day in paradise! This morning you’ll be driven back to Tenuto Fontina to ride the horses home from Lago dell’Accessa along a totally different route, covering around 25 to 30 kilometres. This can be a fast-paced and thrilling ride of 5 to 6 hours, or a more leisurely ride of 7 to 8 hours, with another hilltop viewpoint, hammock siesta, and gluttonous picnic to break the day up. There’s a wonderful mix of open country, dense pine forest, technical riding, and freedom to pick up the pace and fly.

For dinner, a guest chef will drop in to dazzle you with her take on Tuscany’s magnificent cuisine.

Your last riding day (sigh) brings the novel experience of riding the horses into town! Into a stunning medieval citadel, in fact. The hills around the ranch are littered with these honey-toned gems of history and architecture, including Vetalonia, a former Etruscan capital where you can see ancient ruins and even ride on a street paved 2,500 years ago; Tirli, with its stunning views over the Tuscan archipelago; and Caldana, home to Maremma’s oldest and most important medieval church. You’ll ride through dense and fragrant forests, over significant Etruscan ruins, through fields of wildflowers and olive groves, and clip-clop along ancient cobbled streets, stone staircases and narrow alleyways with flags and laundry fluttering in the breeze. You’ll feel like you’re in a costume drama: ‘Lower the drawbridge and sound the horns, the globetrotters have arrived!’

After a long table lunch in your chosen village, you’ll wind your way home via any number of scenic trails, taking as long as you please to return to the ranch.

Though dinner can be enjoyed in your apartment tonight, we recommend rallying the troops for a drive to a restaurant in town (dinner is included in the ride price, rest assured), for a taste of the nightlife in this gorgeous region.

After one final delicious breakfast, you’ll check out of your room by 10am. If you have time, you can slip in a quick ride around the estate, including some wonderful canters, before saying a fond farewell to this heavenly place and its delightful custodians.

Welcome to Tuscany, globetrotters! Today you’ll make your way to your hosts’ ranch, arriving between 3 and 4pm. Your hosts Patrick and Gio will be there to greet you and show you to your apartment, where you can freshen up before heading to the Selleria (tack room). Here you’ll have a welcome drink, chat about the week’s program and, of course, meet the herd! If there’s time, you’ll saddle up for a short ride around the property to get acquainted with your steed.

Dinner will be shared at the Farmhouse, with its stunning interiors alluding to your hosts’ past lives running a prosperous antiques store. The whole property oozes quality, elegance and timelessness. The table will be groaning with fresh Tuscan produce: think wild boar ragu, charcuterie, local cheeses, olives from the property, salads galore and the rustic Tuscan pasta, pici, which hugs its rich sauce like a doting nonna. Delicious local wines complete the welcome.

Finally, you’ll retire to your plush apartment to catch some Zs.

Waking up to the realisation that this incredible getaway is actually your reality, not a dream, you’ll tuck into a lavish breakfast (let’s be honest: everything about this trip is lavish!), then head to the stables and mount up for a ride to a film set-worthy medieval hilltop town. Your hosts have hand-cut their own trails through the forests surrounding the ranch, and there are routes to suit everyone from beginners to speed demons. By the time the horses’ hooves strike the cobblestones, you’ll have worked up an appetite for the huge lunch that awaits you in the town square.

Bellies full of pasta, wine and gelato, you’ll ride back to the ranch via totally different trails, the horses’ surefootedness coming to the fore on the steep descent. There’ll be ample opportunity for some me-time in your apartment before sitting down to another exquisite evening meal.

Today you can spend as little or as much time as you please riding through the olive fields, meadows, pine forests and vineyards around the glorious estate and beyond. Perhaps you’ll want to stay in the saddle until dusk, or perhaps just an hour or two, with the rest of the day devoted solely to relaxation (or heading out to see some of the countless local attractions). Either way, the highlight is a seriously next-level hilltop picnic complete with hammocks, hot drinks, iced drinks, silverware, porcelain, sumptuous snacking, and of course a view to die for.

Come evening, you’ll sit back and watch the sunset, aperitivo in hand, before glamming up for a fabulous dinner party at the farmhouse.

After one final delicious breakfast, you’ll check out of your room by 10am. If you have time, you can slip in a morning ride around the estate – perhaps through the vineyards, with their wonderful cantering tracks and stunning views. If you’re yet to get photographic evidence of you and your horse in the Tuscan hills, staring majestically into the distance, here’s your chance. Splash through streams, wade through waist-high wildflowers, salute the sunflowers rotating regally along the tracks, and finally, say a wistful farewell to your horse, your hosts and this patch of paradise.

For those coming from Europe or the UK, we recommend flying into Pisa, a 1.5-hour drive from your hosts’ ranch. For those coming from further afield, we recommend flying into Rome Fiumicino Airport, a 2.5-hour drive from the ranch.

Transfers to and from the ranch are not included in the ride price. We strongly recommend hiring a car and self-driving so that you can explore more of Tuscany in your free time, and access the nearest towns (20-25 minutes’ drive) should you need any supplies.

Alternatively, your hosts can arrange transfers to and from Pisa or Florence with a local provider (subject to availability – please contact us for a quote). Please note that even if you opt for transfers, for the reasons outlined in the previous paragraph, we still recommend hiring a car. There is a local company who can bring your car to the ranch, and collect it at the end of your stay (please contact us to organise this).

The ride begins between 3-4pm on day 1, so if flying in that day, please ensure your flight arrives early enough to give yourself time to collect your luggage, clear customs and make your way to the ranch.

On the final morning, you’ll need to check out of your rooms by 10am, but you can sneak in one last ride ride or spend a leisurely morning at the ranch until 12 midday, should you wish.

Globetrotting is happy to provide a competitive quote on international flights, travel insurance and hotels before and after your ride.