The Garfagnana is a beautiful area south of the Lunigiana and north of what my neighbors classify as the “real” Tuscany. The hilly landscape between the Apuan Alps and the Tuscany-Emilia Appennines is filled with churches, hermitages, castles and fortresses. What’s strange is that the town of Barga is rated highly as one of the most evocative hilltowns in all of Italy—and yet Barga lost out badly to Lunigiana’s borgo of Veruccola in the Europe for Visitors Best Tuscan Hilltown Poll. There are plenty of places that will wow you in rural Italy, you can be sure of that.
VisitTuscany has a fine introduction to Hiking in Garfagnana: Tuscan trails. The Garfagnana area is described ably by WelcomeTuscany.
This will be an area I’ll probably be exploring more of in my November excursion to the Lunigiana.
