Italy
Tuscany: Chianti to the Coast
Ancient hill towns, world-class Sangiovese, and winding white roads through the Crete Senesi. The tour that made Velora famous.
10 days
From $8,900 pp Explore →
Our Story
“We didn’t set out to build a company.
We set out to share roads that changed our lives.”
In the summer of 1974, Jean-Paul Mercer loaded a pair of panniers, pointed his bicycle south from Lyon, and disappeared into Provence. Fourteen days later he emerged, sun-darkened and transformed, having discovered that the world traveled at 12 miles per hour is an entirely different world.
He spent the next two years convincing friends to come with him. By 1976, those friends were paying for the privilege. By 1980, Velora was born — not from a business plan, but from a conviction: that cycling is the perfect medium for truly knowing a place.
Fifty years on, we lead intimate groups of 8 to 16 through the roads, vineyards, and hill towns that no coach tour could reach. Our guides don’t just know these routes — they’ve ridden them for decades. They know where the baker opens at 5 a.m. and which winemaker will open the cellar for a good conversation.
Every dinner is exceptional. Every hotel is chosen for character, not stars. Every day is planned with the precision of a conductor and the freedom of an improviser.
What We Stand For
- Intimate groups of 8–16 — never a crowd
- Fully all-inclusive: hotels, meals, wine, guiding, transfers
- Guides who have ridden these roads for 10, 20, 30 years
- Michelin-starred dinners alongside the hidden trattoria only locals know
- E-bikes available on every tour, no judgment