Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
GET ORGANISED: HIKING, BIKING & EATING
Tuscany Walking
(
www.tuscanywalking.com
) Family-run, English-speaking set-up in Barga offering
guided and self-guided hikes.
Eco Guide
(
www.eco-guide.it
) Guided nature tours (on foot and by bicycle) by this creative Lucca-
based set-up, including magical night walks in the Garfagnana, kids' walks and a 'Spectacular Apuane
Alps' day hike.
Garfagnana Bikers
(
www.garfagnanabikers.it
) The Garfagnana is made for biking and these motor-
cyclists are the people to help you craft your route.
Sapori e Saperi Gastronomic Adventures
(
www.sapori-e-saperi.com
)
Embark on a culinary tour of
the Garfagnana with passionate foodie Heather Jarman: learn how bread is traditionally baked, saus-
ages made,
pecorino
cheese produced as it's been done for generations; visit olive farms, harvest
chestnuts, meet local cheesemakers and savour age-old recipes in locally endorsed restaurants.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Bagni di Lucca
POP 6560
Small-town Bagni di Lucca is 28km south of Castelnuovo di Garfagnana on the banks of
the Lima river. Famed in the early 19th century for its thermal waters enjoyed by the
gentry of Lucca and an international set (Byron, Shelley, Heinrich Heine and Giacomo
Puccini were among the celebrity guests to take the waters), the spa town today is a pale
shadow of its former splendid neoclassical self. In past years it had its own beautiful neo-
classical
casino
(1837) with music room where Strauss, Puccini and Liszt all performed, as
well as a theatre and atypically ornate Anglican church, now the municipal library (look
for the stucco lion and unicorn motif above each window on the vivid burnt-red facade).
In the small British cemetery baroque tombs speak volumes.
There are two distinct areas: the smaller casino-clad
Ponte a Serraglio
, clustered around a
bridge that crosses the Lima river; and the main town, 2km north, where most shops, res-
taurants and hotels are.
