Summer, still hellishly hot, are the longed-for holidays over or have they yet to begin? Are the swimming pools in the city crowded? here’s how to find some refreshment.
We give you three excellent solutions to spend a nice day in the Tuscan countryside and have a nice swim in the beautiful fresh waters.
In addition to the most famous and large rivers, such as the Arno and the Ombrone, there are many small streams that can give us what we are looking for and they are scattered throughout Tuscany.
It must be said that both the Arno and the Ombrone, if they go back towards their mouth, are suitable for swimming and can give us what we are looking for, but here we will see three other fantastic places which are not only suitable for swimming, they are truly a real destination for discovering landscapes fantastic Tuscany.

The straits of Giaredo

The Straits of Girando are on the border between the Municipality of Pontremoli and that of Zeri in the province of Massa Carrara.
The Straits of Girando are beautiful canyons dug into the rock by the waters of the Gordana torrent.
The swirling water that descends has dug the rock, creating this unique and evocative landscape.
A place still far from mass tourism, where we can still find ourselves alone exploring parts of pristine rivers.
We can go up the rivers by walking or swimming, the difficulty of the route depends on the season in relation to the flow of water present in the stream, usually the excursion of this stream is recommended if you are in good health and in any case for people who know how to swim and of course in the summer season.
For this excursion we recommend also looking for expert guides in the area, as it is still a place that is not yet equipped, which make it not only beautiful but also dangerous.
The ascent route is about one km long with a series of narrow and deep gorges even 20-30 meters deep, which alternate with waterfalls and small lakes.
How to get?
From Pontremoli, in the direction of Zeri, after a few bends, take the left fork that leads to Cavezzana Gordana, pass a group of houses, and a dirt road will begin on the right, continue up to the chain that prevents cars from passing, leave the car and continue walk for a few minutes and you will arrive at the straits.

River Merse and the nature reserve

The Merse river originates from the metalliferous hills in the province of Grosseto, to be exact between the hills of Prata and that of Montieri, flows through the province of Grosseto first, crosses the province of Siena and flows into the Ombrone, near the Bagni di Petriolo, another place mythical to spend a beautiful day.
The Merse is approximately 70 km long and is almost entirely within wooded land, it crosses the Maremma and the Val d’Orcia, and meets famous monuments along its route, one above all the Gothic Abbey of San Galgano.
But not only that, in the upper part of the river, it also meets the historic “Mulino Bianco” famous for advertising and for having given its name to the famous brand of biscuits. Its real name is Mulino delle Pile, a building built in the early 1200s by the monks of the nearby Abbazia Serena.
Along the whole course, especially in the Brenna area, you can find large pools that form real small basins, also used by the ancients as a meeting place and refreshment.
It is possible to run into natural or artificial waterfalls, the most important is certainly the one found in Orgia, in the province of Siena, which we can only reach after traveling at least 5-6 km inside the wood.
We must mention the Farma, an important tributary of the Merse, where a few kilometers before meeting on the left side the Petriolo spas, famous for their sulphurous water, spring forth.
How to get?
For the gullies of Farma: take the SS73, or the Siena-Grosseto highway, reach the village of Monticiano, from here continue towards Torniella, before the bridge over the Farma River, on the left there is a dirt road where you can park the by car, from here it’s about 2 km on foot.
For the Merse river: to get to the San Lorenzo bridge of the Merse river, take the SS73 (both from Siena and from Roselle (Grosseto) on the road you meet Locanda il Ponte, right there is the famous bridge a few tens of meters , and from there there are also trekking routes that you can do.

The Maidens’ Rock

The Masso delle Fanciulle in Pomarance is in the province of Pisa, also a small jewel of beauty in the Tuscany region.
It is located in the Berignone Reserve in the bathing area of the Cecina river, between the municipalities of Pomarance and that of Volterra.
The legend of the Masso delle Fanciulle narrates that 3 girls, to escape from the morbid attentions of a rich local lord, threw themselves into the waters of the river from this very boulder and unfortunately drowned.
A lighter version of the history of the name has it that, in this magnificent place, the girls of the area came to take a bath trying to cool off in a secluded and hidden place.
The Masso delle Fanciulle is a real corner of unspoilt nature, wedged between the green vegetation and the blue of the water.
After having parked the car, it is necessary to ford the river which is low in this section and then follow it along a path which also leads us to overlook the river, seeing it from above.
After a few hundred meters we begin to find pools and natural widenings of the river, it is from here that we can begin to find our place to lay out a towel and relax.

How to get to the Fanciulle boulder:
Follow the SS439 towards Volterra and then Pomarance. After crossing the bridge over the Cecina river, continue in the direction of Berignone – Lanciaia, after crossing the bridge over the Possera river, turn left and get to the ford of the Berignone mill. Here we can park the car.
Tuscany offers many places to discover uncontaminated and remote nature, we only ask you to follow the basic rules of good use of these territories, keeping them clean and respecting them.
We have seen three places to cool off, but within these routes to get to these places you will come across other places and spaces to visit and discover that will leave you speechless.