The Banfi Road Guide

Rome to the Castello and back again
by Bill Marsano

From Fiumicino/Leonardo da Vinci Airport to Castello Banfi

Editors note: the driver's best bet is to read through these notes before you hit the road, and to have 3.40 Euros, ideally in exact change of 1.70 Euros each for two tolls; alternatively, the tolls marked with the blue "Carte" sign conveniently accept all major US credit cards..

Visitors bound for Castello Banfi have an easy time of it if they start from Rome's Leonardo da Vinci (a.k.a. Fiumicino) airport. It's well away from the city proper which makes it more or less free of traffic jams, and it's near the coast roads that run north into Tuscany. The roads are good and well marked; following them should present no difficulties. The distance is just under 135 miles.The airport itself is somewhat more of a trial, however. Like all major airports, it was designed with planes, trains and automobiles in mind, not people. Therefore be prepared: from the time you land, you'll do plenty of walking. Through passport control, through the baggage area, through customs, and then through a covered passageway into the subsidiary terminal that provides rental-car and railroad access.

Overhead signs will direct you through a series of corridors (most with "people-movers" or "moving sidewalks," but don't give up hope: all rental-car counters are concentrated in a single, large office, usually with plenty of clerks available to get you through the paperwork relatively quickly.

Once you've found your car in the garage, check the odometer. Just beneath it should be a trip meter (most Europeans cars have them). Reset it to zero for ease in following the route marks below. Then drive off, following the white arrows painted on the pavement to the exit gate. Punch the button on the gate machine, extract the ticket and hold onto it--you'll need it for a second gate at the exit. Outside, look for green-and-white rectangular Autostrada signs saying "A12" or "Roma."

You'll be heading west toward the flat and almost featureless coast of Lazio, the region of which Rome is capital. Keep your eyes peeled for signs.

Six kilometers from your start, you'll see your first route indication, a sign telling you to exit right for CIVITAVECCHIA – A12. Follow that sign, which leads you onto another four-lane highway.

Km 15: On your right is an "area servizio" or service area marked by a large AGIP gas sign. There's also a bar, which is a traditional "first coffee" stop for many Banfi-bound travelers. After injecting the seemingly life-giving caffeine, proceed straight along the same road and you will soon arrive at a . . .

TOLL GATE--1.70 Euros. The cash booths are on the right; pay and continue straight ahead.

Km 46: You'll pass a very large service area with a prominent Auto Grill. This chain of largish highway eateries is reliably clean and well-maintained, and the food puts to shame anything available along an American Interstate.

Km 59: Second and last toll gate on this route (1.70 Euros); cash booth on right. Exit and go straight on. Note signs announcing that you will soon be on Via Aurelia, which follows that ancient Roman route of the same name. This is not a change of direction, just a change of status, from Autostrada to state highway, from tolls to free, from two lanes in each direction to one.

Km 72: The road narrows here; slow down. You will be passing a turn-off on the left for Civitavecchia, and traffic may be backed up slightly. Follow signs for GROSSETO, straight ahead.

Km. 79: The appearance of a large Esso station assure you that you're on the right road.Km. 81: Don't be confused by exit signs here--stay on the main road, bearing left here, following signs for GROSSETO.

Km. 98: Again, continue bearing left again and stay on the Aurelia for GROSSETO.

Km. 113: Signs indicate that you are leaving Lazio and entering Tuscany.

Km. 166: IGNORE the turn-off for Grosseto. Go straight ahead, following signs for LIVORNO and SIENA. Very soon you will drive onto a long, curved section of elevated highway, from which you can see the skyline of the small city of Grosseto ahead on the left.

Km. 175: IGNORE the Grosseto/Siena exit here, too. Instead, bear left under the sign marked SIENA/FIRENZE. Follow the two-lane highway moving away from the coast, as the scenery becomes more countrified.

Km. 195: Shortly after you pass the Park Hotel Steccaia on your right and a stand of umbrella pine trees, here's your exit--a right turn marked PAGANICO/ARCIDOSSO. This is a secondary road (No. 223), in excellent condition but narrow: adjust speed accordingly.

Within seconds, you bear right for PAGANICO, a tiny, walled town of quiet charm. Ignore the truck detour left around the walls; instead, drive through. But slowly, please. The ancient gates are too narrow for cars to pass abreast, so the rule is to let the other fellow out before you enter (signs will show two passing arrows; the white one indicates that vehicles coming in this direction have the right of way over vehicles coming in the direction that the red arrow is pointing in). At the piazza on your right (just a few yards inside the gate) is a convenient bar for a coffee stop.

Drive slowly through the town (it takes less than a minute), pass through another narrow gate and go straight ahead down the tree-lined narrow road and across the river Ombrone.

Km 205: Your first view of Castello Banfi, ahead in the hills to the left. Very soon thereafter you pass (slowly) through the small town of borgo Santa Rita, known to locals as a radar-controlled speed trap.

Km. 210. The sign says MONTALCINO--turn left here. Coming down the hill you'll pass over the river Orcia and then a small railroad crossing as you enter the tiny hamlet of Sant'Angelo Scalo.Km. 212: Pass by the first left turn, which leads to the winery. Yours is the second left, on a crest as the road begins to rise out of town. This left, which leads to the Castello, Enoteca and Glass Museum, first runs between young vineyards sloping downhill on the left (you can see the winery in the valley) and olive groves sloping uphill on the right, and then takes you to the crest of a hill and through a small huddle of buildings where tractors and vineyard equipment is stored. It rolls down hill again, and at the bottom you bear to a sharp right and pass over a small bridge. You now begin your final climb to the castello on the horizon. The road becomes a winding, cypress lined drive through vineyards and woods that leads to a T intersection. Turn left; in a few yards you'll see signs directing you to the Castello's parking area on the left. You've arrived, and your own question is what to visit first--the Castello itself or the temptations of the Enoteca.
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From Castello Banfi to Fiumicino/Leonardo da Vinci AirportLeaving the Castello's parking area you turn right and then take the next right again, down between the cypress trees until you come to the intersection at Sant'Angelo Scalo. Here you turn right, and pass out of town, past the winery, over the railroad tracks, across the river, to a T intersection;Km 1.5: Turn right at the sign marked PAGANICO and proceed on No. 223.Km 5: Slow down through Borgo Santa Rita.Km 8: Cross the Ombrone River.Km 15: Drive very slowly through Paganico. Less than 1 km from the far gate, just after the Hotel La Pace on the right and a line of umbrella pine trees on either side of the road, there's a STOP sign; turn left, careful of fast traffic coming in both directions.Km 34.8: Take the exit for ROSELLE but very slowly, giving yourself time to note that it forks. You bear left for ROMA on Via Aurelia.NOTE: Now that you're on the main route with little in the way of navigation to worry about, you may want to stop for a bite, especially if you've left early to catch a morning flight--or just your last cup of Italian coffee. (At da Vinci/Fiumicino they serve only airport coffee, capisce?) You're in luck; there are plenty of places to stop ahead.But avoid any place with a tour bus parked out front. It will be mobbed; the counter will be overwhelmed by tourists, and you may lose valuable time waiting in a line of fifty people.Km 140: Via Aurelia feeds into A12 ROMA.Km 153: Toll gate, 1.70 Euros. You remembered to bring exact change, right?Km 193: Last toll gate, 1.70 Euros.Km 196. The IP gas station here is your last chance for gas on this route. If you have to return your rental car with a full tank, tell the attendant to fill your tank "al massimo." That way you avoid the rental agency's inflated gas price and the hefty penalty that comes with it.Km 204: Be alert; the airport exit is just 1 km away.Km 205: Airport exit. Remember that even though you are departing, the entrance to rental parking will be on the ground or arrivals level. Drive slowly: signs for rental parking are small and often obscured by shrubbery.Enter the parking building, getting your gate ticket at the entrance and keeping it handy for use again at the rental-car level. Now all you have to do is return the keys and get your bags to your departure gate. Buon viaggio!


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