For sightseeing and days out why not try:
Castelnuovo di Garfagnana
Local market town with Thursday morning market, regular festivals both cultural and musical and a bit of life.
Travel Time: 25 mins
Barga
Beautiful mediaeval and arty little town with Cathedral, great architecture, and renowned restaurants. Cobbled streets and little piazzas, often graced with live music, jazz parades, or markets under the stars.
Travel time: 40 mins
The Buffardello
Climbing and zip wire park with courses suitable for both small children and the most adventurous of adults
Travel time: 15 mins
Fortress of Verrucole
Amazing views from this mediaeval fortress, and there is also an interactive museum which youngsters tend to like as they can try their hand at a little archery too.
Travel time: 15 mins
Lucca
At Lucca, one can hire bicycles and hire around the still intact City walls, meander through the cobbled streets, visit beautiful churches, climb towers, and shop til you drop, stopping off of course at wonderful restaurants and gelaterias… One can also listen to Puccini performances every night of the year, in one of the local churches
Travel time: Just over 1 hour
Grotta del Vento
The amazing wind caves – well worth a visit – fantastic tour. Why not stop off a the old monastery for a wild trout lunch on the way back?
Travel time: 1 hr
Pisa
The square of the Duomo of Pisa – dominated by the Cathedral, the Baptistery, the Bell Tower and Graveyard (the Campo Santo) – represents an architectural whole characterized by a really surprising stylistic accordance, to the point of having been compared by Le Corbousier to the acropolis of Athens.
Travel time: 90 mins
Florence
With a single day at your disposal you will want to see the chief monuments and walk around the “heart” of the city centre. You start with Piazza del Duomo, facing the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, begun by Arnolfo di Cambio in 1296 but only in 1436 crowned with the masterpiece of Filippo Brunelleschi.
Travel time: 2 hrs
The Cinque Terre
The five small towns, from south to north, are: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare have been categorized as a “living landscape” where the location and its history play an active role in promoting the traditional lifestyles and products
Travel time: 2 hours
Equiterme
Thermal mud baths set amongst caves and a thermal swimming pool.
Travel time: one stop on train
Parco Levegliese-
Outdoor adventure park with waterfall jumping, rock climbing etc
Travel time: 1 hr
