Arrive at Montevarchi. The train comes into platform 1 and Jenny will be there to welcome you. It takes just ten minutes to drive up to her 400-year-old typically Tuscan home near the tiny village of Rendola. Settle in and then enjoy a chat over a glass of Chianti Classico wine. Local wine is served at all main meals.

Breakfast and morning ride (about two and a half hours) with your English-speaking guide Eraldo through vineyards, olive-groves and woodland, passing near an 18th-century villa and a 14th-century church. On your return go to a local hostelry for your Sunday lunch. Walk home for a cup of tea and then join your host for a hilarious lesson in Italian pronunciation which will prove useful over the following days. Choose your pizza pronouncing all the ingredients correctly and enjoy it for dinner, followed by cantuccini, a Tuscan almond-flavoured biscuit, dipped in vinsanto, a delicious dessert wine.

Breakfast and morning ride in the valley east of Rendola, scattered with charming hamlets and traditional farmhouses. After lunch go on a short journey by train to the ancient city of Arezzo for a guided visit to the main sites of the city and the fascinating, world-famous frescoes of Piero della Francesca of which your host has made a special study. Then enjoy a relaxed coffee or an aperitif in the picturesque main square made familiar by the film “Life is Beautiful”. There is a chance to do some shopping, too! Dinner at Jenny’s home.

Day ride and picnic in the Chianti hills south of Rendola. During your ride you will pass the medieval tower of Galatrona, a lake and the castles of Cennina and Lupinari. When you come back have either some wine-tasting at a local farm producing biodynamic wine or a cooking lesson with Isabella, which includes learning to make pasta fresca and tiramisù.

Breakfast and then a ten-minute journey to Montevarchi station to meet the train back to Florence. Own arrangements for your onward journey from Florence. For those going to Rome there is a direct and inexpensive train from Montevarchi and you can buy your ticket at the station.