The area of “Garfagnana”, with its mountains and its woods, is a fruitful dale, rich of history and tradition. It is crossed by the river “Serchio” and its flows and divides The Apuan Alps from the “Tosco-Emiliano” Appenine. Infact, Garfagnana reveals to be an unusual and charming landscape, geographically but also culturally speaking. It is in the neighbourhood of the most important cities of art of Tuscany, as Pisa, Lucca, Florence and at the same time, it offers an untouched natural enviroment of exceptional beauty.

A charming landscape, which can be discovered through bike or horse-tours or simply on foot, walking through the ancient mule tracks, crossing the typical small towns, the tradition and the history of the land. The first town we meet is “Borgo a Mozzano”, which is particularly famous for the asymmetric“Ponte della Maddalena”, better known as “Ponte del Diavolo” (Devil’s bridge). Crossing the “Serchio” river, we reach “Bagni di Lucca”, an ancient bathing resort: it was particularly famous in the eighteenth/nineteenth century, when Charles The First decided to create the first Casino of the entire Europe, hosting very important people as Byron, Shelley, Dumas, Rossini and Puccini. In the direction of “Barga” we meet “Coreglia Anteminelli”, historical feud, which dues its fame to the “Museo della figurina di gesso dell'emigrazione” (Museum of the plaster casts on immigration) hosted in the “Palazzo Vanni”. Barga is the most important centre of the Serchio’s dale. Today it is an industrial and trade town and it is famous as it was in the XII century for its production of prestigious cloths. Its medieval historical centre lies on a grass cliff above the modern part of the town, called “Barga Giardino”. An Ancient Dome lies in the centre of this part of the town, on a grass square from which it is possible to see a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains.

“Castelnuovo Garfagnana”, the most famous town of this area, has medieval origins and is, today, a productive industrial centre.Spelt growing is an importan economical resource of Garfagnana, where it has been cultivated since the roman age. This simple, almost rough, food has been rediscovered and now it is served, hot, cold, in salad…,in the most famous italian restaurants. In Garfagnana, it is possible to taste a typical spelt soup and a traditional dish, made of rice, spelt (cooked separatedly), lemon, cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Particularly tasty are the Garfagnana’s vegetables as the “erbi”, which grow spontaneously in the fields: they can be eaten in various ways, even raw (but remenber to try the “erbi”pie!).