On an overcast morning, we set off to explore the walking trails around the Villa Boccella estate. The Old Tramonte walk follows part of the old road from Ponte a Moriano to the village of Tramonte.

We passed the main villa

and as we continued up the hill, the views would have been spectacular on a clear day.

I don’t know what was in the cute stone shed but it looked as though the firewood was well seasoned.

We stayed on the main path with an Acacia forest to our right

and pine walk to our left.

Sporadic wildflowers added colour to the verdant setting.

The last thing we expected to find in the Tuscan countryside was bamboo.

We followed Bamboo Walk until, eventually, the woodland changed as we descended along Valley Walk.

Beautiful irises bloomed sporadically in the sheltered lowland.

The track led to the road, Via Tramonte, at the edge of the estate

and we could see the main villa

and Limonaia Piccola through the gates.

We followed the stone walled boundary of the grounds,

past a patch of magnificent wild poppies,

to the entrance that would return us to the limonaie.

There was another walk that would have taken us across the river

but lunch time was approaching, it would have to wait for another day.