What to do in Garfagnana
HIKING
Garfagnana will surprise you for its real mountains, which perhaps you do not expect to find in Tuscany. Our routes among the peaks of the Apuan Alps or on the ridges of the mountains of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennine National Park, will surprise you with the beauty of the landscapes and the richness of the biodiversity and endemic species present. Our itineraries will be loops, to be able to discover as much of the territory as possible in each single excursion. We can suggest the most suitable route, based on the desired length and altitude difference. Here are a couple of more interesting proposals.
e-MTB
A magical land for who is looking for MTB routes and thanks to the introduction of e-MTB has become accessible even to those who do not have specific training. Electric MTB excursions are a funny way to explore the territory and its landscapes. Fortresses, small historic villages, mule tracks, paths and roads that cross centuries-old forests, will be the ideal terrain for your excursion, which can also include a lunch stop in small restaurant, where you can enjoy typical menus in every season. You can choose between a 4-hours or full-day loop itineraries.
CANYONING
The shape of our mountains and the abundance of water, have created deep canyons, true natural wonders, where water has shaped, over millions of years, extraordinary and inaccessible environments. This is where canyoning finds an ideal terrain, to discover otherwise inaccessible places. Our professional guides transform the adventure of descending along these gorges, into real fun, with slides, dives and rappelling. Among the possible excursions, the Rio Selvano canyoning excursion is certainly the most popular: 3 hours of fun with slides and dives up to a height of 6/8 meters.Watch the video and book your excursion.
WET CAVE EXPERIENCE
Water is able to penetrate the limestone mountains of the Apuan Alps, generating enormous karst complexes, among the most important being the Antro del Corchia with approximately 64 km of caves and the Monte Tambura complex, where approximately 72 km of caves have been explored, with 4 of the deepest abysses in the world, over 1000 meters from the entry point. You will be able to have a speleological experience in an easier, but equally interesting environment. Together with expert speleological guides, you will be able to try the experience of exploring a natural cave with speleological technique. We will provide you with a headlamp and a 5 mm wetsuit, to go up the stream and the underground lake, which created the Tana che Urla, 3 hours in a spectacular environment, where enormous concretions have formed over millions of years. It will be a unique experience.
THE MORO'S PATHS
The little village of Sillico is located along medieval communication routes, used by pilgrims and wayfarers to cross the Apennines. Today 35 km of well-marked and maintained trails offer to visitors the opportunity to walk along those ancient paths. Rediscover the hermitages, chestnut groves, mills, villages and the enchanted landscapes that surround this spur of the Apennines. This could be a self guided activity, paths can be easily followed with the marks and also with App.
THE MORO’S PATHS DOWNLOAD THE PDF
SUNSET ON THE SUMMIT
The Apennine ridges are the ideal terrain for easy excursions, within everyone’s reach, where you can enjoy the nature of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennine National Park and the breathtaking landscapes, which, at the sunset light, appear even more beautiful. On the horizon the silhouette of the mountains, the Apuan Alps, in your hand, a good glass of wine, salami or pecorino cheese. It will be an exclusive aperitif on the top of the mountain, while the sun sets in the West. A scenario that you will enjoy together with your family or friends, before turning on the headlamps and starting the downhill path while the light gives way to the stars that begin to appear in the sky. Another memorable experience to bring home.
DISCOVER GARFAGNANA VALLEY
Garfagnana: literally Great Forest, this is how this valley appeared to its first visitors. Even today, visitors are amazed by the lush extension of its woods. Planted by man, cultivated, the chestnut one, up to 1000 meters above sea level, wild, intricate, infinite, the beech one, which push beyond 1700 meters and year after year, try to reconquer the bare peaks of the mountains. In this immense green mass, almost suddenly, perched on a hill, nestled on the plateaus that slope down towards the river, overhanging dizzying rock faces, appear the numerous, small inhabited centers that characterize the valley.
Among the narrow carriage roads, inside the medieval defensive walls, time passes slowly; the rhythms are those of other times, the children’s games the same for centuries, the “shops” have an ancient scent.
Garfagnana, where Tuscany meets the sky – “watch the video”
“Garfagnana is a contracted universe, there is no road, path or trail that does not lead to an unexpected vision, to something unexpectedly extraordinary. It could be a rock, a hermitage, a
forest, a river, a castle, but it could also be a man. I know that what calls me to Garfagnana is not simply its geography, but the humans who inhabit it, how they inhabit it.
Garfagnana is of a heartbreaking beauty, a wild and loving beauty; and what moves me is how its landscape has been shaped, worked, softened even in the most arduous hardships by those who live there”.
Maurizio Maggiani
