Discover Garfagnana in four days

The first stop of our stay will be the medieval centre of Castiglione di Garfagnana, which has preserved completely intact walls, medieval castle and the two churches of San Michele and San Pietro. Here we will visit the city walls and the fortress.

On the second day, in Castelnuovo di Garfagnana we visit the Fortress of Monte Alfonso and the Rocca Ariostesca, which dominates the centre of the village. In the 16th century the fortress was home for three years to the poet Ludovico Ariosto, who had been appointed governor of the province of Garfagnana at the time of the rule of the Este family. 

In the afternoon we will discover the underground world of the Grotta del Vento and stop in Castelvecchio Pascoli, on the Colle di Caprona, where the poet Giovanni Pascoli lived and was buried.

The next day we will visit Lake Vagli, one of the main attractions of the area: when it is drained for maintenance work, the ghostly ruins of a ghost town, Fabbriche di Careggine, re-emerge as if by magic. 

On the fourth day of the tour we will take a walk in a protected natural area of the Orecchiella Park, walking along the Sentiero degli Orsi (Bear Trail), which occasionally allows us to get close to the plantigrades. Then we head to the Verrucole Fortress, one of the most beautiful examples of a medieval Tuscan castle.

During the four days we will also visit a cheese factory and enjoy an unmissable typical "Garfagnina" dinner, with the best dishes of the local cuisine.

See the program linked below for all the details of the itinerary!