The Apuan Alps
A road trip from Lucca across the mountains to the sea
The book carries the road and the writing. It carries no opening hours, no prices and no train times, because a Kindle cannot be edited once it is on your device and those go stale in a season. This page is where they live instead, and it is rebuilt every morning from the same catalogue that runs the rest of the site.
Pick your length
The same road, three ways. End to end it is 3 h 7 of driving and 143 km, which every one of these covers. The difference is how many times you stop.
A weekend
One base in Lucca, or move up to Barga for the second night.
Day 1 Lucca and the bridges
Morning. In through Porta Santa Maria, up Via Fillungo, round the Anfiteatro, then onto the walls and all the way round them.
Afternoon. North to the Devil's Bridge and the chain bridge at Fornoli, and back inside the walls for dinner.
Sleep: Lucca
Day 2 Up the valley
Morning. Barga, and the Duomo on the Arringo with the mountains behind it.
Afternoon. Castelnuovo for the piazza at six and a board of salami under the Rocca.
Sleep: Barga, or back to Lucca
Five days
Two bases: Lucca first, then Barga, then the far side.
Day 1 Lucca
Morning. The city on foot. There is no other way to see it.
Afternoon. The walls at sunset, then tordelli.
Sleep: Lucca
Day 2 The villas and the bridges
Morning. Villa Mansi at Capannori, ten minutes east.
Afternoon. Borgo a Mozzano, Fornoli and Bagni di Lucca, then on up to Barga for the night.
Sleep: Barga
Day 3 The Garfagnana
Morning. Barga slowly, then up to Castelnuovo.
Afternoon. The salumeria, biroldo by the block, and porcini from the roadside if the season is right.
Sleep: Barga
Day 4 Over the pass
Morning. Castelnuovo to Carpinelli to Equi Terme, which is the hinge of the whole book.
Afternoon. Monzone for lunch, then Marciaso and Fosdinovo along the ridge. Equi again in the evening if it is a Saturday, for the panigacci.
Sleep: Fosdinovo or Carrara
Day 5 The white and the ruins
Morning. Down into Carrara and up to Colonnata for the crostino and the view.
Afternoon. Out to Luni for the amphitheatre in the late light.
Sleep: The coast, or home
Two weeks
Two bases and one crossing: Lucca, then Barga, then the Lunigiana.
Day 1 Land and settle
Morning. Into Lucca and park outside the walls, which is the last driving decision you need to make for four days.
Afternoon. Nothing. Walk.
Sleep: Lucca, for four nights
Day 2 The city
Morning. Via Fillungo, the Anfiteatro, San Michele.
Afternoon. The walls, the whole circuit, on a bicycle if you like.
Sleep: Lucca
Day 3 The villas
Morning. Villa Mansi and Villa Torrigiani at Capannori.
Afternoon. Montecarlo for the wine, if you want a hill and a glass.
Sleep: Lucca
Day 4 The bridges
Morning. Borgo a Mozzano and the Devil's Bridge.
Afternoon. Fornoli, then Bagni di Lucca and the old baths.
Sleep: Lucca
Day 5 Move up the valley
Morning. North to Barga and settle in.
Afternoon. The Duomo, the Arringo, and the town at its own pace.
Sleep: Barga, for five nights
Day 6 Castelnuovo on a market day
Morning. The market, then the Rocca.
Afternoon. The salumeria and the piazza at six.
Sleep: Barga
Day 7 Castiglione
Morning. The walled village above Castelnuovo.
Afternoon. The roads around it, and a chestnut festival if it is October.
Sleep: Barga
Day 8 Over the top and back
Morning. The Cipollaio road: Isola Santa, the tunnel, Levigliani.
Afternoon. Down to Seravezza, lunch at Ulisse in porcini season, and back over.
Sleep: Barga
Day 9 A day off the road
Morning. Nothing planned. This is a walking valley.
Afternoon. Barga in the evening, which is the reason to sleep here.
Sleep: Barga
Day 10 Over Carpinelli
Morning. Piazza al Serchio, the pass, and down into the Lunigiana.
Afternoon. Equi Terme under its hill. Settle.
Sleep: Near Equi or Fosdinovo, for three nights
Day 11 Monzone and Marciaso
Morning. Down the gorge to Monzone.
Afternoon. Marciaso, the village of eighty, and its food truck day if you time it.
Sleep: Equi or Fosdinovo
Day 12 The ridge
Morning. Fosdinovo, the castle, and the whole plain underneath.
Afternoon. Aulla and the valleys, or nothing at all.
Sleep: Equi or Fosdinovo
Day 13 Carrara and Colonnata
Morning. Into the quarry basin and up to Colonnata.
Afternoon. Lardo from a marble tub with the mountain it came from in view.
Sleep: Carrara
Day 14 Luni, and out
Morning. The old coast road past the marble yards.
Afternoon. The amphitheatre in the late afternoon, and Sarzana for dinner, which is the next book.
Sleep: Home
Lucca to Luni
Every drive time here is computed from the same road data the rest of the site runs on, and every distance is the road distance, not the distance across the map. End to end the road is 3 h 7 of driving and 143 km, before you stop for anything.
start
Lucca
from Borgo a Mozzano
On the railway
The gate to the mountains, where the Serchio leaves them. Park outside the walls and walk up onto them. The base for the first nights.
The Capannori villas, Mansi and Torrigiani, are ten minutes east and make an easy morning.
Borgo a Mozzano
from Borgo a Mozzano
The Devil's Bridge, which is the picture on the cover of the book and better in the flesh than in it.
Fornoli and its chain bridge are a few minutes on.
Bagni di Lucca
from Borgo a Mozzano
The old spa town the English filled and then left. Half a day, and the road north starts properly here.
50 min42 km
Barga
from Lucca
On the railway
The night. The Duomo on the Arringo, the Scottish accent in the street, and the best-placed small town in the Serchio valley.
27 min16 km
Castelnuovo di Garfagnana
from Barga
On the railway
The capital of the Garfagnana. The Rocca, the salumeria, and the piazza at six with a board of salami made inside five kilometres.
22 min17 km
Castiglione di Garfagnanaside trip
from Castelnuovo di Garfagnana
The walled village above, twenty minutes up. A side marker rather than a stop.
1 h 144 km
Seravezzaside trip
from Castelnuovo di Garfagnana
On the railway
The crossing over the top: Isola Santa, the Cipollaio tunnel, Levigliani, and down the other side to the sea. A loop, or the way out to the coast.
Sant'Anna di Stazzema is on the same road down.
54 min46 km
Fivizzano
from Castelnuovo di Garfagnana
On the railway
Over the Carpinelli pass and into the Lunigiana, which is the hinge of the book. Its two villages carry the road: Equi Terme under its hill, and Monzone twenty minutes down the gorge.
Piazza al Serchio and the Carpinelli pass are the way over.
Casola in Lunigiana sits on the road down.
Equi Terme and Monzone are villages of this commune, not separate towns.
33 min23 km
Fosdinovo
from Fivizzano
Up the broken road to a village of eighty, then along the ridge with the whole Magra plain underneath.
Aulla is on the way, where the valleys meet.
Marciaso is a village of this commune, and it has a table.
23 min16 km
Carrara
from Fosdinovo
On the railway
Over the shoulder into the quarry basin. The white the whole book has been looking at, close enough to touch.
Colonnata is on the shelf above, about half an hour up, and it has a table.
Luni
from Borgo a Mozzano
The old coast road past the marble yards to a Roman amphitheatre in a field. End of road, best in the late light.
The tables
These are the tables I actually eat at. Everything below this section is somebody else's recommendation, and it is labelled as such.
12 places, in road order, every one of them written up in the book.
Lucca
The bar with three tables on the Piazza dell'Anfiteatro
In the ring itself
For the coffee and the correction. Sit outside if it is not February.
The tordelli place on the Serchio road
Above Ponte a Moriano
Which I have always loved and which was closed the day I brought Daniel. Check before you drive.
The small place outside the walls
Just beyond the gate
Where the waitress refused to serve me a Versilian tordello and brought the Lucchese one instead. I ate every one and did not ask for cheese.
Barga
The café by Porta Reale
At the bottom of the old town, near Porta Reale
It stays open through the siesta, which up here is a public service. Pasta with boar ragù, and whatever else the owner decides you are having.
Castelnuovo di Garfagnana
The bars on the piazza under the Rocca
Piazza Umberto I
The local pale beer and a board of bread and salami made inside five kilometres. Go at six.
Seravezza
Ristorante Ulisse
Via Campana
Late September and October, the mushroom tasting menu, and eat the porcini raw if they are offering them that way. The rest of the year, the regular menu and the same kitchen.
Il Giardino del Mediceo
By the palace
Where we first ate in that town, back when we still lived up the mountain.
Fivizzano
Equi Terme
La Posta
On the main road opposite the car park
The panigacci dinner: three rounds, the fire outside, and the dancing after. A weekend night, arrive at eight, and book by telephone.
Monzone
Da Remo
In the lower town, by the railway
The boar stew, the panzerotti with soft cheese, the wine from a jug, and the bill that embarrasses you. The best table in this book.
Fosdinovo
Marciaso
Da Lino
Marciaso
Bar and trattoria, weekends only, and the small glass at the end that never appears on the bill.
Carrara
The town
The bar on Piazza Gramsci
Carrara
Plastic chairs and a one-euro espresso, with the change handed over without a smile, the way you hand it to a regular. One of the kindest gestures I have had in a long time.
Colonnata
The four-table place above the car park
Colonnata
The one with the man on the slicer and no menu. Penne with lardo, no cheese, and a glass of the local red that is red without being polished.
Luni
There is no table in Luni, and I will not invent one. Eat before you come, in the mountains, or after, in Sarzana, ten minutes up the road, which is the city Luni became.
What the guides pick
Not our picks. Places the guides put their name to, worth a table when you pass through.
Lucca11 places the guides rate
- Antica Locanda di SestoRistoranteMichelinBib GourmandLocali StoriciLocali Storici
- NidaRistoranteMichelinBib Gourmand
- All'OlivoRistoranteMichelinMichelin Selected
- GiglioRistoranteGambero Rosso2 Forchette · 87/100MichelinMichelin Selected
- Il MecenateRistoranteSlow FoodChiocciolaMichelinMichelin Selected
- Buca di Sant'AntonioRistoranteLocali StoriciLocali StoriciMichelinMichelin Selected
- L'ImbutoRistoranteGambero Rosso2 Forchette · 89/100L'EspressoTop 300MichelinMichelin Selected
- MecenateTrattoriaGambero Rosso2 Gamberi
- La DrittaTrattoriaGambero RossoGambero Rosso listed
- Da Giulio in PelleriaTrattoriaGambero RossoGambero Rosso listed
- Ristoro della Fattoria SardiRistoranteGambero Rosso1 Forchetta · 79/100
Castelnuovo di Garfagnana2 places the guides rate
- BoniniTrattoriaGambero RossoGambero Rosso listed
- Il Vecchio MulinoWine BarGambero RossoGambero Rosso listed
Seravezza1 place the guides rate
- Il Pozzo di BugiaTrattoriaGambero RossoGambero Rosso listed
Fosdinovo2 places the guides rate
- Locanda de BanchieriRistoranteMichelin1 StarGambero Rosso2 Forchette · 85/100L'EspressoTop 300
- La BurlandaRistoranteSlow FoodChiocciola
Carrara3 places the guides rate
- ExtraRistoranteGambero RossoGambero Rosso listedMichelinMichelin Selected
- Il NarcisoRistoranteMichelinMichelin Selected
- Enoteca VeliaWine BarGambero Rosso2 Bottiglie
Where to sleep
The book carries no hotels on purpose. These are the beds the guides put their name to. We have not stayed in them.
Lucca1 place the guides rate
- Hotel Albergo Villa MartaHotelMichelinMichelin Guide selection
The year
Months rather than dates, because a date goes stale in a year and a month does not. Most of these move by a week or two between years, so check before you book a flight around one.
- January
The feast of Antonio abate Fivizzano The commune's patron saint
- February
Lucca in February Lucca The month the city is entirely itself, because nobody else is there.
- June
San Ceccardo Carrara Carrara's patron, the sixteenth.
The feast of Ceccardo di Luni Carrara The commune's patron saint
- July
Festa Medievale - Il Trionfo di Gabriello Malaspina 1487 Fosdinovo Religious & traditional
Opera Barga Barga Summer opera in a very small theatre.
Opera Barga Festival Barga Arts & performance
San Cristoforo Barga Barga's patron, the twenty-fifth.
San Paolino Lucca Lucca's patron, the twelfth, with the crossbow tournament.
The feast of Paolino di Lucca Lucca The commune's patron saint
The feast of San Cristoforo Barga The commune's patron saint
- August
Opera Barga Barga Summer opera in a very small theatre.
The feast of San Lorenzo Seravezza The commune's patron saint
The fish-and-chips festival Barga Three weeks of it, and not a joke: half of Barga emigrated to Scotland and came back with the recipe.
The medieval festival Castiglione di Garfagnana Inside the walls, which is the right setting for it.
The Sant'Anna di Stazzema commemoration Stazzema The twelfth. The annual commemoration of the 1944 massacre, at the church on the hill. Not a festival, and not to be treated as one.
- September
Luminara di Santa Croce Lucca Religious & traditional
Porcini Late September to the end of October. Stalls on every minor road, cash only, weighed by the man who picked them at five.
Santa Croce, the luminara Lucca The thirteenth. The city lit by candle along the whole processional route, and the one night to plan a trip around.
- October
Porcini Late September to the end of October. Stalls on every minor road, cash only, weighed by the man who picked them at five.
Lucca Comics Lucca The week to avoid unless you are coming for it. The city is full and the prices know it.
Lucca Comics & Games Lucca Arts & performance
The chestnut festivals Village by village across the Garfagnana and the Lunigiana. Flour, fritters, and a fire in the square.
Practical
Get a car and keep it
The mountain roads are the point of this book, and almost nothing on it works without a car. Marciaso, Fosdinovo, Colonnata, the Cipollaio crossing and every chestnut village are at the end of roads no bus goes up on a schedule you would plan around.
The one railway that matters
The Lucca to Aulla line runs the whole spine of this road and is the exception to the paragraph above. It stops at Borgo a Mozzano, Bagni di Lucca, Barga, Castelnuovo, Piazza al Serchio, Equi Terme and Monzone, which means the valley itself can be done without a car if you are willing to walk up from the stations. What it does not reach is everything on the far side: Marciaso, Fosdinovo, Colonnata and the food truck.
Lucca, and the cameras
Park outside the walls. Always. The historic centre is a limited-traffic zone with cameras at the gates, and the fine reaches your rental company months later with a handling fee on top. A hotel inside can register your plate, but it has to be done before you drive in, not after. The same applies in every walled centre on this road.
What the roads are actually like
Narrow, patched, and unlit. In autumn they carry wet chestnut leaves, which are as slippery as ice on a bend you cannot see round. Do not drive the Lunigiana back roads at night in winter unless you have to, and if you do, assume the road is one lane wherever it matters.
Two things that run on a week, not a month
The panigacci at La Posta in Equi Terme are a Saturday night through autumn and winter, and they are the week's event for that valley: arrive at eight rather than seven, and book by telephone. The food truck at Marciaso parks outside the church once a week for about three hours. Ask at Da Lino which day, because it is not written down anywhere.
When to come
October and November are the season: the mushrooms, the chestnuts, the light on the mountain, and the villages doing the things they do for themselves. Spring is fine and green. August is the month to avoid up here, and February is the month to come to Lucca, which belongs to itself when nobody else is in it.
Keep going
Everything we have written from this road.
- Apuan Roadtrip | A Steak, a Friend, and the Long Way Down to Lucca Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, Castiglione di Garfagnana
- Barga | The Scottish Accent Barga
- Colonnata, Carrara, and the Marble Mines | The White Mountain And The Fat Carrara
- Lucca | The City You Cannot Photograph Lucca
- The Lunigiana | The Real Off the Beaten Path Italy Fivizzano, Fosdinovo
Build a plan around these townsAll 1,000 communesThe letter
The other roads: The ArnoVersiliaAll the books