Appennino Tosco-Emiliano (the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines)

Often, when people talk about Italian mountains, their thoughts fly to the ranges of the far North, but important peaks are also found in many other parts of the "boot". Just think of the Ligurian and Tuscan-Emilian Apennines and the Alpi Apuane, mountain ranges in the centre-north of our country.

The Apennines, called Tuscan-Emilian east of the Passo della Cisa and Ligurian west of it, are a vast territory, varied in character and shaped by the many twists of history, and they offer plenty of reasons for interest: they are in fact an ideal destination both for lovers of art and for lovers of nature and of walks through woods and mountain paths, for those who practise winter sports and for those who would rather relax among spa towns and welcoming holiday resorts. Lying in a border land, they have dozens of passes and cols that have always encouraged exchanges and influences between Emilia, Liguria, Tuscany and regions further north such as Lombardy and Piedmont. Besides the Apennines, Tuscany is also home to the Alpi Apuane, which take up a large part of the land behind Massa-Carrara and stand out for their pinnacles, spires and vertical faces. Marked by the nearness of the sea, they are made unmistakable by the white seams of the marble quarries and bear the traces of two thousand years of digging for the white marble with which the Roman architects of the Augustan age renewed the face of Rome, and which Pisan architecture and sculpture and, centuries later, Michelangelo drew on.

More than 100 routes covering trekking, mountaineering, outdoor and food and wine; over 30 huts, each with its information sheet; 11 detailed maps, the parks, the places of greatest tourist interest, historical notes on mountaineering and geology, to experience and discover:

• The Piacenza, La Spezia and Parma Apennines
• The Reggio Emilia Apennines
• The Modena and Bologna Apennines
• The Faenza and Cesena Apennines
• Alpi Apuane