Three days. No need to rush.
Arrive before the village fills. The Ciclofficina has been open since Thursday if the bike needs looking at. The vintage market is setting up in the centre — the best pieces go before Saturday morning. Eat in the village tonight; tomorrow every table is a rider's.
The long routes leave in the dark — 209 km for the ones who mean it. If you're not riding, this is the morning for the market and a slow coffee watching the start. The centre is closed to cars all day. Lunch outside the village, then back for the finishers.
The shorter routes — 46 km is the one to try if you've been talked into it. Check the kitchen list below before you plan lunch: not every one opens on Sunday. Two of the best cellars in the comune are shut today; the others aren't.
A suggested weekend, not the programme. The official timings are the organisers' — check them the week before.
Before you set off.
Do I have to ride to enjoy the weekend?
No, and most people there aren't riding. The vintage market in the centre is one of the best of its kind in Europe, the village is on foot for two days, and the start on Saturday morning is worth getting up for. The story we wrote about exactly this is the longer answer.
Where do I sleep if Gaiole is full?
It will be. Radda and Castellina are both under twenty minutes by car and neither closes its roads. Ask the Gaiole places below about cancellations first — riders drop out in the last fortnight and rooms come back quietly.
Can I drive into the village?
Not on Saturday, and not for most of Sunday. Gaiole has no ZTL cameras the rest of the year; for the event the centre is closed by the organisers for the start, the finish and the market. Park on the approach roads and walk five minutes — it's faster than the alternative.
Which kitchens are open on the Sunday?
That's the list directly below, with the weekly closing day marked for both event days from our database. Ring anyway; open on paper and a free table are different things that weekend.
Nine kitchens in Gaiole. Not all of them open on the Sunday.
This is the thing to check before anything else. Weekly closing days from our database, marked for both event days. Ring ahead regardless — every table in the comune is spoken for that weekend, and a kitchen open on paper can still be full.
Open or shut here means the weekly closing day. It doesn't know about a private party or a kitchen that closed for the season last week. When it matters, one phone call beats one website.
The beds are gone by July. These are still worth asking.
Seven places to stay in the comune we'd send you to. Ask about cancellations — riders drop out, rooms come back, and the places below don't always relist them on the big sites.
If Gaiole is full, Radda and Castellina are both under twenty minutes by car and neither closes its roads for the event.
The centre closes to cars. Plan for the edge of the village, not the middle.
Gaiole has no ZTL cameras the rest of the year — but for L'Eroica the centre is closed to traffic for the start, the finish and the vintage market. Park on the approach roads and walk the last five minutes; you'll be quicker than anyone who tried to drive in.
Road closures and timings are set by the organisers and change year to year. Check the official programme the week before, not this page.
Twelve wineries within the comune. Four of them are why people move here.
You don't have to ride to have the weekend. The vintage market in the village is worth a morning on its own. Then the cellars — with the weekly closing day marked, because two of the best are shut on Sundays.