DAY 1 - Arrive this afternoon at our hotel in Lucca, where your
tour leaders will greet you and suggest an orientation walk around
town. We'll gather for a glass of wine this evening in the historical
Café De Simo, where Puccini would meet with friends. Dinner
tonight is at one of our favorite Tuscan restaurants.
DAY 2 - After breakfast in our hotel, we'll walk to the top of Lucca's
Guinigi Tower for an introduction to this fascinating city. From
the tower, you can see the grid pattern of this ancient Roman city,
the dominance of its late medieval churches, and the great ring
of its 17th-century wall, still perfectly preserved and encircling
the city. After lunch, we will head to Pisa for an afternoon of
walking and sightseeing near the Leaning Tower and the city's other
historic sights. Dinner is on your own this evening. Today's walk:
2-4 hours.
DAY 3 - We shuttle into the hills north of Lucca today for a walk
through olive orchards and vineyards. We'll take time to visit a
small olive press and taste some of the best oil in Italy. After
lunch together in a local trattoria, we'll visit the 17th-century
Villa Torrigiani, the most spectacular of the Tuscan villas surrounding
Lucca. Dinner is on your own this evening. Today's walk: 2.5 hours
plus our visit to Villa Torrigiani.
DAY 4 - We shuttle today to the Cinque Terre. Our luggage will go
to our hotel in Monterosso al Mare while we go to Levanto and walk
from there. It is a three-hour walk through pine forests to Punta
del Mesco, where we'll enjoy a sweeping view of the Cinque Terre
villages: Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore.
We'll be in Monterosso this evening and enjoy dinner together. Today's
walk: 4 hours.
DAY 5 - We'll take time to explore Monterosso this morning before
heading off for a two-hour walk to Vernazza. (The name Vernazza
comes from the grape vine vernaccia.) After lunch on your own, we
continue on to Corniglia. If you are a photographer or painter,
you'll want to take time to enjoy these scenic coastal villages.
We'll suggest a different route back to our hotel if you want to
walk, but most of the group will plan to catch the train back. We
have a special event planned before dinner - a visit to a local
wine cellar in the heart of town, where we'll sample some of the
region's best wines. Dinner is on your own this evening. Today's
walk: 3.5 hours.
DAY 6 - Explore Monterosso this morning, then we'll catch the train
to Corniglia and walk south to Manarolia. We'll have lunch together
there and continue our walk to the most southern of the Cinque Terre
villages, Riomaggiore. You'll know all of the Cinque Terre towns
by now, so you can choose which you want to explore further this
afternoon. (Maybe some wine tasting in the local wineries?) Your
transit pass allows you to get on and off the train at your leisure.
Today's walk: 3 hours plus any additional you choose.
DAY 7 - We've been working up to this day. We jump the train back
to Riomaggiore, where we'll climb the ridge separating the Cinque
Terre from La Spezia. We wind through terraced vineyards and pass
by churches perched on promontories overlooking the sea. After a
2-hour climb, we reach the ridge; there is a trattoria here for
lunch or great spots for a picnic amid the pine trees. Our trail
heads south from here, with spectacular views over the Gulf of La
Spezia and the Ligurian Sea. By mid-afternoon we'll begin our descent
into the castle of Portovenere, a fascinating town at the entrance
to the Gulf of La Spezia. Take time to enjoy the village before
we catch a boat along the coast back to Monterosso. Tonight, we'll
have a grand final dinner together. Today's walk: 5-6 hours.
DAY 8 - After breakfast this morning, we invite you to keep walking.
We'll offer suggestions if you want to see more of Italy afoot.
And we hope to see you again, perhaps in Greece or some other fascinating
place. You know, sometimes a person just needs to take a walk.
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