8 Days Intriguing Horse Riding Holiday Tuscany, Italy

The Cornacchino is nestled in a secluded valley in the natural park of Monte Penna. The pasture is surrounded by vast forests of chestnut, oak, beech, and pine trees where you can meet roe, wild boar, porcupines, badgers, and sometimes even deer. On the surrounding hills are grazing sheep, Chianina cows, and a herd of wild horses. On clear days, you can see the sea, the Giglio Island, the Apennines Mountain, Lake Bolsena, and sometimes the Montecristo island.

The Cornacchino farm lies three kilometers from the town of Castell'Azzara and partially inside the Monte Penna Natural Reserve, at an altitude of 825 meters above the sea level. Situated at the intersection of the provinces of Grosseto, Siena, and Viterbo, the farm is in a strategic zone winrespect to natural, archaeological, thermal, and landscape interests.

In the heart of the Monte Penna Reserve, Castell'Azzara dominates a vast horizon; at its feet stands Villa Sforzesca by the architect del Fontana. In the deep valley of the Fiora river, on the other side of the mountain, rises the Rocca Silvana, a powerful and complex medieval war machine which is recommended to be visited. A group of mounds on the Southeast foothills of Amiata makes up the reserve. The main ones are Poggio della Vecchia (1,086 meters) and Mount Civitella (107 meters). This protected area makes the northern border with the Pigelleto Reserve of the county of Piancastagnaio (Siena). The protected territory is over 1,000 hectares. From a geological standpoint, it is an area rich with caves (populated by bats) near the volcanic mountain of Mount Amiata. In the watersheds, there are woods of ash, beech, oak, and chestnut.

For a nature enthusiast, there’s the Font wood on the Poggio Vecchia, made up of various species of maple trees. The reserve is almost completely woodsy with the exception of small areas that surround small farmhouses. Near Selvena, you can find chestnut trees of extraordinary sizes. In the reserve, there are bird populations of falcons and owls. The wildlife also includes mammals such as the fox, the porcupine, the wild boar, the roe deer, the deer, the weasel, the skunk, and the marten.

Close by, you find gorgeous Etruscan villages (Sorano, Sovana, and Pitigliano) telling their tales of forgotten times and medieval settlements with castles and ruins. To be seen is the town of Abbadia S. Salvatore with its nice historical town center and its famous abbey. Worth a visit is also its mining museum where you will discover the mine's world that was very important for this region. Driving towards Viterbo, you will find Bolsena and Bolsena's lake, a nice small village where you may eat great fishes. Not far from Bolsena, there is Civita di Bagnoregio, called "the dying town".

Driving up north, you will reach the Val d' Orcia with its extensive arid areas, rolling hills and fields, famous clay outcrops known locally as "calanche", and avenues of cypress trees and ancient hamlets. You surely have heard from Pienza, Montepulciano, and Montalcino and you will find them all here in this area. The nearest citieare Grosseto (1 hour and a half), Siena (1 hour and aalf), Orvieto (1 and 15 minutes hour), and Viterbo (1 hour and 15 minutes).

Nearby places

• Abbadia San Salvatore, 24 kilometers
• Arcidosso, 21 kilometers
• Bagni San Filippo Thermal Bath, 30 kilometers - 35 minutes
• Bagno Vignoni Thermal Bath, 43 kilometers - 50 minutes
• Beach of Gradoli, 41 kilometers - 50 minutes
• Bolsena Lake, 41 kilometers - 50 minutes
• Bolsena, 46 kilometers
• Capodimonte, 48 kilometers
• Castel del Piano, 24 kilometers
• Castiglione d'Orcia, 37 kilometers
• Gradoli, 34 kilometers
• Manciano, 45 kilometers
• Montemerano, 38 kilometers
• Piancastagnaio, 20 kilometers
• Pitigliano, 27 kilometers
• Radicofani, 29 kilometers
• Roccalbegna, 25 kilometers
• Rocchette di Fazio, 20 kilometers
• San Casciano dei Bagni Thermal Bath, 27 kilometers - 35 minutes
• Santa Fiora, 19 kilometers
• Saturnia Thermal Bath, 36 kilometers - 55 minutes
• Saturnia, 33 kilometers
• Seggiano, 32 kilometers
• Semproniano, 18 kilometers
• Sorano Thermal Bath, 30 kilometers - 30 minutes
• Sorano, 18 kilometers
• Sovana, 22 kilometers
• Triana, 20 kilometers
• Vivo d'Orcia, 25 kilometers

Il Cornacchino is an organic farm born in respect of the environment and for love of the region or land. Il Cornacchino philosophy tells the chefs to use vegetables directly from the farm’s garden and high-quality Tuscan products produced in the region. The chefs are also encouraged to use “KM 0 products” as many as possible.

The restaurant perfectly represents Il Cornacchino philosophy of life: good, natural, and for everyone. For breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the tables are prepared for guests. People stopping in and you will have lunch together with Cornacchino’s staff, sharing experiences and memories of the day. Using the natural ingredients combined with the passion for traditional cooking, Il Cornacchino's chefs bring to the table a healthy and delicious meal.

The flavors of rural traditions of Tuscany, Umbria, and Latsio are melded with the personal tastes of the cooks. There is no fix daily menu. Every day, you will eat based on seasonal availability or following the guests‘ taste. This is where passion integrates with the chef’s cuisine. The menu is composed by a series of hors d'oeuvre, two first courses, one-second course and three side dishes, fruit, and dessert. Thus, it's easy to fulfill your special wishes - vegetarians or not. The only ingredients are enthusiasm and the loving care of the cooks in every dish.

The summer lunch menu includes crostone with onions, crostone with pork sausage, pennette with a cream of capsicum, orecchiette-pasta with broccoli and potatoes, meatballs with a sauce of tomato and leek, lentils, green beans with basil, and spinach with parmesan cheese.

The autumn dinner menu includes dressed ricotta-cheese with apples, figs with raw ham, grated gnocchi of semolina, soup of legume, lamb in white-wine, zucchini grated with cheese, grated potato with mushrooms, mixed salad, and ricotta cake.

Dinner with polenta includes sheep cheese with pears, mixed crostini, polenta of sweetcorn (traditionally served on a wooden board), mushroom soup, wild boar with sauce, sausages with sauce, meat sauce, fresh ricotta cheese, pecorino cheese, fresh tomato sauce, salad with white beans, and crostata cake.

Summer buffet menu includes primo sale (fresh sheep cheese) with cucumber and bruschetta dressed white cabbage with hot salami, pici-pasta with tomato-garlic sauce, ribbon-macaroni with artichokes and ricotta-cheese, Ribollita (soup of vegetables and bread), roast pork with mushrooms, rissole of spinach and parmesan, salad of potato and capsicum, grilled eggplant, green salad, grilled beet, tomato with oregano, and watermelon.

Wine is genuine, always present in flasks. It is included in the price and it comes from Montepulciano’s vines. Special menus for vegetarians, vegans, celiac, and different intolerances are available.

• Daily 2 hours of riding (6 sessions)
• Daily meals on a full board basis
• Montepulciano wines
• 7 nights' accommodation