Lunigiana is in the Northern corner of Tuscany. It is a land of incredible beauty, offering rushing streams, pools suitable for bathing, thermal waters, medieval castles and rugged peaks as the Apuane Alps look down on valleys worked by families for centuries. Vineyards and olive trees compete with hill-top villages, bell towers proudly soaring to the blue sky above. Even when it rains, there is a beauty in the land which breathes tranquillity .
There are some excellent
local restaurants offering traditional fare, and the sea-food nearer the
coast is second to none. The gateway to Lunigiana is Aulla, and once through
this somewhat unremarkable town the area blossoms into unspoilt beauty. At
every turn, views reveal themselves and the chestnut clothed foothills of
the Apuane Alps add colours of every kind, softening the landscape and
lending itself to many photo opportunities.
Within this area one can visit the
Cinque Terre, an outstandingly beautiful area on the Ligurian coast, or
drive up into the mountains to the Apuane National Park and into the
Garfagna region. Pisa with its famous leaning tower and breathtaking
baptistery is an hour and a quarter away, or in the other direction lies
Parma, home of parmesan cheese and Parma ham.
Artists, photographers and lovers of
fine architecture as well as music lovers will delight in the pleasures of a
day in Lucca, birthplace of Puccini. Or how about Carrerra, with its marble
quarries, still worked today, and from which Michael Angelo insisted that
his marble should come.
Once you have visited Lunigiana you
will want to return again and again to enjoy the feeling of peace and well
being with which it leaves you.
Come soon, to see what we mean!