Calvana Ridge Private Tour: Wild Horses above Prato
Book a private guided hike on the Calvana ridge above Prato: wild horses, hawthorn meadows and open views. Close to Florence and Pistoia.
All gallery images are original photographs taken on location by me.
A day on quiet ground
The Calvana is the long grassy ridge that rises right behind Prato, and a herd of wild horses lives on top of it. On this private guided hike we climb from the hills above Vaiano to the crest, follow it over Monte Maggiore (916 m), the highest point of the ridge, and come back the same way. It’s an out-and-back walk, not a loop.
The wild horses
The horses roam free on the upper meadows. Nobody fences them in and nobody feeds them. I can’t promise you a wild animal, but in my experience it’s very unlikely to walk this ridge and not meet them. We move calmly, keep our distance and let them carry on grazing.
Hawthorn meadows and an open ridge
Once we’re up, the trees fall away and we stay in the open for most of the day, with views over Prato, Florence and the valleys on either side of the ridge.
The vegetation is unusual too. Hawthorn bushes (biancospino in Italian) are scattered all over the high pastures, and in spring they flower white. I know almost nowhere else in Tuscany that looks like this.
Five people at most
This hike takes a maximum of five people, children included. There’s very little room to park at the trailhead, so your group comes up in one car, and one full car is five. It suits the place as well: I wouldn’t walk a big group through a herd of wild horses.
Medium
No technical difficulties: the paths are wide and nothing is exposed.
The effort is the climb, about 560 m, almost all of it at the start. Once we’re on the ridge the walking is easy.
The ridge has no shade, so in summer we start early.
Children are welcome with a parent, and they count towards the five.
Where we meet
The hike starts in a small village in the hills above Prato, not far from Vaiano.
Parking at the trailhead is very limited, so please plan to arrive with your whole group in one car.
There’s no practical public transport to the trailhead. If you don’t have a car, tell me when you book and I’ll help you find a solution.
Approximate Driving Distances
- Prato: 15 km
- Pistoia: 33 km
- Firenze (Florence): 37 km
- Montecatini Terme: 44 km
- Pescia: 56 km
- Lucca: 71 km
The precise meeting location and coordinates are shared with all participants 24 hours before the hike.
Just your group
- Fully privateJust your group, never mixed with other guests.
- Fully customizableRoute, pace and focus shaped around you.
- Photography add-onEdited images of your day, delivered after.
What to bring
- Hiking bootsBroken-in, with ankle support.
- WaterAt least 1.5 L per person.
- BackpackA comfortable daypack.
- Layered clothingWeather turns fast on the ridge.
- WindbreakerA light shell jacket.
- Trail snacksHigh-energy food for the day.
Stefano Gabryel
I lead small private groups at an unhurried, mindful pace, and as a nature photographer I won't just walk you across this landscape; I'll help you see it: the light, the detail, the species others pass by. GAE-certified guide and AGAE member.
| Nationality | Italian |
|---|---|
| Languages | English · Italian |
| Certification | GAE |
| Member of | AGAE |
| @stefano.gabryel |
Frequently asked
- Professional guiding services
- Route planning and safety management
- Nature interpretation (landscape, flora, fauna, fungi identification)
- Basic photography guidance
No VAT or other tax is added on top.
- Transportation to/from the trailhead
- Food and drinks
- Personal equipment
- Optional photography session (available as add-on)
- Accommodation
If you cancel
- more than 7 days before: full refund, minus a €25 processing fee
- within 7 days: 50% of the total is retained
- within 3 days: the full amount is retained
- no-show, meaning you’re more than 30 minutes past the agreed start with no word from you: treated as a cancellation, no refund
I’ll wait that half hour and I’ll try to call you. If you’re running late and you tell me, we just work with what’s left of the day.
If you’d rather not walk in the rain
Tell me at least 48 hours before. If I have another day open while you’re still in the area, I’ll move you to it at no extra cost. That depends on what’s left in my diary, so it’s something I do when I can rather than a promise, and it’s one move. If I have nothing free, or you tell me inside 48 hours, the cancellation terms apply as normal: by then I’ve held the date and turned other work down.
If I cancel
I call a day off for safety, when weather or ground conditions make the route dangerous, or when something beyond my control gets in the way. Then we look for another date that works for both of us. If there isn’t one, I refund the full amount you paid, with no processing fee taken off, within 10 working days. If we haven’t agreed a new date within two weeks of the day I called off, the refund goes out on its own and neither of us has to chase it.
That refund is the limit of what I can cover. It doesn’t extend to travel, hotels or anything else you booked around the day, which is one more reason to have travel insurance.
If we turn back early
If we turn back part-way, for any reason, the day counts as delivered and no refund is due. Getting you safely off a mountain is the job as much as getting you up it. If we’ve barely started when I call it, I’ll do what I can to find you another date while you’re still here.
We walk in light rain
Rain on its own never cancels a walk. We go in drizzle, in passing showers, in fog and on grey damp days, so bring the jacket and come anyway. Wet weather gives you cloud drifting through the woods, colour in the rock and paths with nobody else on them.
I may change the route or the start time
If storms are forecast over the ridges in the afternoon, we start early and are off the high ground before they arrive. When a washed-out morning clears by midday, we go later. Wind on an exposed ridge, a hot day or short winter daylight can also send us onto a different route. So on a full-day hike, keep the whole day free. A half day, the mushroom walk included, needs less: just leave some room before and after. If you’ve already got something else that day, tell me when you book and I’ll work around it, weather permitting.
I cancel only for a real danger
That means one of these:
- thunderstorms I can’t plan around or outrun
- strong wind on an exposed ridge
- ice or hard snow on a route that would need an axe and crampons
- a red-level heat warning in the national heatwave bulletin
- an orange or red alert from the Regione Toscana covering the ground we’d actually be walking on
The Region issues those alerts for broad zones, so I read the bulletin against our route. An alert over a wide area doesn’t make every valley in it unsafe, and some days the answer is a lower route rather than no walk at all.
When I do call a day off, we look for another date, and if none works for both of us you get a full refund.
No message means we’re on
I watch the forecast from about three days out. The regional bulletin for the next day comes out in the early afternoon, so by the evening I know what I’m dealing with. If anything has to change (a new start time, a different route, or calling the day off), I message you by 20:00 the evening before. No message means we walk exactly as booked, same time, same meeting point. If conditions turn overnight, you’ll hear from me first thing.