Hiking Wild Tuscany

Northern Tuscany’s Apennine and rugged limestone Apuan ranges are a world away from the gently rolling hills and vineyards and the madd(en)ing crowds one usually associates with this region. Strangely, until this past month I had never been hiking in Tuscany, confining my brief visits to the tourist meccas of Florence, Siena, and Pisa.

Once again, I booked this one week hiking trip with KE Adventures. We stayed at the lovely Argiturismo Col di Lavacchio for the duration, traveling a few minutes each day to experience some of the best hikes in the area. Join me on this journey, with a surprise bonus at the end.

Col di Lavacchio

The British husband and wife proprietors of this working farm offer guided hiking weeks in the spring and fall, as well as great food and wine in a renovated farmhouse accommodation. As a base for hiking surrounded by nature, it would be difficult to beat. As I was recovering from yet another flare-up of my old nemesis, gout, I enjoyed my first full day here relaxing by the pool, swimming, and strolling some of the many paths at the Agriturismo, rather that participating in the group hike.

Bees on Lamb’s-ear (*Stachys byzantina*)

Pania di Corfino loop (11.5km and 650m elevation gain)

Monday’s hike in Parco Naturale dell’Orecchiella featured a loop to the summit of Pania di Corfino (Pania means peak in the local vernacular).

Our objective. This photo was taken on our descent.

Canterbury bells (*Campanula medium*), popular in English cottage gardens since the 16th century

Rock thyme (*Clinopodium alpinum*) on the summit

Carthusian pink (*Dianthus carthusianorum*)

Monte Forato loop from Fornovolasco (12km, 875m elevation gain)

Tuesday’s loop hike from the charming riverside village of Fornovolasco took in an amazing natural arch on the way to the summit with its spectacular views.

Wooded mountain view with rock formations during our ascent

On the summit with *Pania della Croce* behind, our final objective for the week

The holoparasitic Thyme broomrape (*Orobanche alba*)

Our KE group on summit ridge. I’m at the back, closest to the edge.

The broad descent gully we took back to Fornovolasco

Monte Maiore loop from Abetone (7km, 275m gain)

As I had kept the rental car from my sojourn near Lago di Garda, I chose to do an alternative hike after our rest/cultural day on Wednesday (which I will explain later in this post). It was only a leisurely morning walk, as can be seen from the stats above, followed by lunch and a stroll around the lovely town of Barga, not far from the Agriturismo.

View towards *Monte Lagoni* (l) on my wooded *Monte Maiore* loop hike

Heath spotted-orchid (*Dactylorhiza maculata*). We saw these on other hikes, but on *Monte Maiore* there were fields of them.

Knotted crane’s-bill (*Geranium nodosum*), a species I may not have shown before

Pania della Croce traverse from Piglionico (13 km and 950 m elevation gain)

This fantastic – but difficult – hike to the summit of the “Queen of the Alpi Apuane” provided a fitting culmination of the week. The Apuan Alps are known predominantly for their Carrara marble quarries which disfigure the landscape and pollute the streams. We began with a low-level traverse from the east to the west side of the mountain before the climbing proper began.

View south towards *Pania della Croce* from Barga’s *Duomo di San Cristoforo*. (Photo taken two days prior).

PeakFinder view north from the initial low-level traverse of *Pania della Croce*. I really like this free app, where one can download maps ahead of time, obviating the need for a mobile connection.

Our west-side ascent route, mostly exposed to the sun

Apennine globularia (*Globularia incanescens*), the favorite flower of our local guide, Manuel, is endemic to northern Tuscany

Distant Mouflon (high zoom photo) Manuel and I saw on our ascent. These are now considered to be a feral subspecies of primitive domestic sheep.

Three on the *Pania della Croce* summit ridge

*Pania della Croce* summit. Our leader, Jamie, is on the left here.

The Vagabond Hiker in a reflective mood at the summit marker

Summit view northwest. The Ligurian Sea may be seen in the left background.

View towards the Dead Man feature (that green hump) and our descent route. Can you spot the bright green roof of Rifugio Enrico Rossi? Sadly, it was not open for the season until the following day.

Some of our group descending along the summit ridge (zoom)

Our boulder-infested descent gully. Many found it slow going. ^{_{(photo from another client)}}

Almost back! Spot some of our group, circled in red.

That’s it for the hiking portion of the week, but for me there was another attraction during my short time in Tuscany. . .

The 2026 Mille Miglia

The auto enthusiast in me could not resist a (likely) once in a lifetime opportunity to see some of the 400+ historic Mille Miglia (literally, “1000 miles”) cars from 1927 to 1957 in action. Our mid-week rest day coincided with Day 2 of the 5-day historic road rally, which fortuitously went from Padova to Montecatini Termi, with the afternoon hill climb over the Abetone Pass (roughly on the border between Emilia Romagna and Tuscany). A last minute decision to procure a hotel room with terrace overlooking the action in Abetone (about 90 minutes’ spirited drive from our Agriturismo) proved to be brilliant.

Hotel Regina balcony view at dusk, after most of the action had wound down.

As this blog is posted, my three-week stay in Abruzzo is nearly over. Tomorrow I fly to Madagascar for an Explore Worldwide group trip to that amazing island delayed since 2020 when Covid shut down the world. Unfortunately, it is not the trekking trip I had originally booked, but rather more of a walking nature safari. Nevertheless, I certainly hope to capture some interesting photos for another blog later this summer.

The Vagabond Hiker