Full day-tours - We organize one-day trips weekly to Tuscany’s Well known Treasures, for example:
Pisa, Florence, Lucca and Siena (San Galgano, San Gimignano and Montepulciano) and Le Cinque Terre
Half day cultural tours - We organize afternoon or evening cultural tours to nearby sites, for example,
Barga, Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, Bagni di Lucca, Borgo a Mozzano, Vetriano, Via Francigena, Lago di Vagli, Celle di Puccini
Barga is a beautiful hilltop town famous for its Duomo, for the museum-home dedicated to poet Giovanni Pascoli, for the opera house “Teatro dei Differenti” now celebrating its 40th year, and for its jazz festival (19-25 August 2007). Barga is proud of being “the most Scottish place in Italy”, with a “fish and chips festival” in August and “Scottish Week” in September. It is also a “Cittàslow”, in that it is an Italian town adhering to the Slow Food Movement, an Italian organization that emphasizes traditional ways of eating.
Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, the largest town in the region, is a bustling market town with a long history. In 1316 Castruccio Castracani made a bridge connecting the town to the castle, which is named for the famous poet Ludovico Ariosto, who lived there when he served as the town’s governor under the Este regime from 1522 to 1525. Ariosto romanticized the Garfagnana wilderness in his epic Orlando Furioso. Inside the cathedral (1500) is a wonderful terracotta altarpiece by Andrea della Robbia. Recently, Teatro Alfieri, a theatre dating to Garibaldi’s times, has been re-opened with new management. Castelnuovo is also important as the gateway to the Apuane Park. The visitors center in Piazza delle Erbe is open from 1 October to 31 May.
Borgo a Mozzano, alongside the Serchio River, is most notable for Ponte della Maddalena – better known as “Ponte del Diavolo”, Devil’s Bridge (commissioned by Contessa Matilda of Tuscany in the 12th century). This town becomes especially lively and invaded by witches and goblins at Halloween, a foreign cultural innovation much loved by Italian adolescents.
Just past the Devil’s Bridge is Bagni di Lucca, a spa town internationally famous thanks to guests such as Byron, Shelley, Browning, Strauss, Listz, Paganini, Puccini and Mascagni. Heine said it was a “true and proper sylvan paradise”. The chain bridge built by Nottolini in 1842 was one of Europe’s first suspension bridges. The town has fine hotels, a casino, theatre (Teatro Accademico, built in 1790, seats 300), and thermal baths (with spa facilities at the Villa Demidoff). The town was famous even in Ligurian, Lombard, Roman and Etruscan times.
At Lago di Vagli, an artificial lake covers Fabbriche di Careggine. This factory town was covered by water when a dam was built in 1953. It is only exposed every ten years, when the water is drained so that the dam’s mechanisms can be checked over and cleaned. At other times, the town is like a ghostly shadow under the water. The setting at the foot of the spectacular Tambura, Sumbra and Roccandagia peaks should not be missed.
The Via Francigena, connecting Canterbury to Rome, was first described by Sigeric, Archbishop of Canterbury, who traveled this route in 990 and wrote down his 79 stops along the way. Medieval pilgrims carefully planned their trek to Rome, which took months, even years, to accomplish. In Tuscany, the major route went from Pontremoli towards the coast (in the area of Luni), then from Camaiore it led to Lucca and on to Altopascio, which was a major stop. Minor routes also wound through the mountains, through villages like Fosciandora, Gallicano and Giuncugnano, where stone paths wind between stone buildings that have changed very little since the Middle Ages.
Near the town of Pescaglia, which is about 12 km west of Borgo a Mozzano, we come to Vetriano, the site of the world’s smallest opera house. It seats 100 people. The opera house can be visited upon request, with a donation of 4 euros to the FAI, the Italian environmental association that supervised the restoration. Nearby is a museum and mill dedicated to the humble chestnut, which shows how the fruit is processed and prepared in various foods, demonstrating the importance this simple forest product has had for Italians during harsh times in history. Further on is Celle dei Puccini, home of Giacomo Puccini’s parents and grandparents. This museum, purchased by Lucchese nel Mondo in 1976, contains the piano on which Puccini composed Madame Butterfly. In the summer concerts are performed in the piazza. There is also a pleasant restaurant for dining al fresco.
