Apuane Alps - Mountain Walking In Tuscany with Sherpa Expeditions. This remote area of northern Tuscany has an old world charm of its own. It is a world away from the towns and rolling hills of the south. The Apuane Alps are covered by a web of trails providing routes from hamlet to hilltop and beyond. You will experience superb scenery, mountain wilderness and tranquillity.
This trek has many attractive ingredients, from wide mountain vistas, to remote hamlets surrounded by forest and mountain scenery. There are few other walkers and the villagers make you feel truly welcome. From the small unassuming town of Fornaci di Barga we enter the Apuane forests, climbing up through chestnut woods and dropping down through vineyards to the ancient village of Verni. Here we enter an impressive series of limestone massifs that rise up to 2000m within a few kms of the sea, the Apuanes are famous for their scenery of white marble towers, abysses and the largest cave system in Italy.
En route to Trassilico (732m) we stumble across remote chapels, and abandoned farms. We climb Monte Forato (1223m) visit the ‘Grotta del Vento’ with its subterranean lakes and ‘living’ stalagmites and stalactites. From Fornovolasco there is a long day to make the optional ascent of Pania della Croce (1860m), the view from the summit is quite magnificent. Before dropping down to the old hermitage at Calomini and back to Fornaci.
Visit the Sherpa Expeditions Website for more details
Inn to Inn 8 days
Duration: 8 days
Tour Code: JAA
Grade: Moderate - Challenging
Day Stages: Minimum 10km, max 27km.
Click here for latest SELF-GUIDED prices
Start any day April to October
Your Accommodation
Accommodation in the Apuane Alps is generally of a more simple standard than one might expect in the more popular parts of Tuscany. It is however clean and comfortable. We spend our first and last night in Fornaci di Barga at a centrally located modern 3* hotel. Then a small, pension in the village of Verni which was once a Roman colony. The pension has a terrace with a wonderful view of Trassilico.
Our next three nights are spent in Fornovolasco at a typical small unclassified hotel, the rooms are simply furnished and share a bathroom. The penultimate night is spent in a small apartment with its own private bathroom just 100m from the Monastery at the Eremo di Calomini, an ancient hermitage site carved into rock walls, and a superb restaurant.
Sherpa Notes
Accommodation & Meals
Good small hotels (ensuite rooms are not always available) and pensions with dinner, bed and breakfast throughout.
Way Marks
The route is well-waymarked by the Club Alpin Italiane with red signs. The trail is very remote, so map reading skills are recommended.
Travel via Air: British Airways (BA) services Gatwick to Pisa. Train, Pisa to Fornaci di Barga with one change in Lucca. Journey time 2hrs. (Not included). After breakfast on the final day, train from Fornaci to Pisa. Journey time 2hrs. (Not included)
For those who wish to spend more time in Tuscan cities, we recommend spending an extra day in the medieval city of Lucca at the end of the tour.
£10,000 holiday giveaway
Book any Travelsphere Holiday before 16th February 2009 and you could be one of five lucky winners of a £2,000 Travelsphere holiday voucher! Terms & conditions apply.
Visit the Sherpa Expeditions Website for more details
No comments:
Post a Comment