Lucca and Garfagnana day tour from Florence
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Lucca and Garfagnana day tour from Florence
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Lucca and Garfagnana day tour from Florence

1 day
About this activity
Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Loc. Grotta del Vento,1, 55020 Fornovolasco Italy

Meeting at 8.30 am at Florence’s main train station, we will travel to the Wind Cave for an hour-long guided tour. During the tour, you will learn about the karst topography of this exceptional Tuscan attraction, a cave system that has been thousands of years in the making. When rain and snow fall, carbon dioxide-rich water penetrates the mountain as it flows towards the valley. This acidic water then eats away at the calcareous rock, creating an abundance of small tunnels that come together to fashion a subterranean river. Across millennia, this river has become deeper, revealing these amazing caves. Today’s tour is therefore an exploration of the caves that formed the original path of the river thousands of years ago when it flowed out the cave entrance.

It has been around 20,000 years since the water from the underground river stopped sitting in the caverns, introducing the first calcite concretions in the Wind Cave. Today, we can see the breath-taking sculptures that the progressive accumulation of calcium carbonate deposits, present as calcite crystals, have produced. Brought by the water that penetrates the calcareous mountain rock and filters through, these deposits accumulate so slowly that one centimeter of growth takes 1,000 years. The fragile sculptures can be destroyed by one touch. We can break them with ease, stop their growth and blight them with the fats released by our skin, which causes black spots to appear on the crystals. As a result, it is very important that we do not touch the cave walls and appreciate this unique grotto with our eyes only.


Duration: 1 hour

Pass By: Ponte della Maddalena (detto Ponte del Diavolo), Strada Statale 12 9, 55023, Borgo a Mozzano Italy

Following our awe-inspiring tour of the Wind Cave, it’s time for lunch. We will dine on traditional regional dishes at a local trattoria, enjoying homemade pasta topped with porcini mushrooms and grilled eel. When we have had our fill, we will next travel to Borgo a Mozzano and its Ponte del Diavolo, or Devil’s Bridge. There are less than 40 so-called devil’s bridges across the world, most in Europe and all dating from the medieval period. Borgo a Mozzano’s Devil’s Bridge is found along the road from Lucca to Abetone and Brennero and straddles the Serchio connecting the two riverbanks near Borgo a Mozzano. This spot was a key crossing on the ancient road to Rome the Via Francigena for travelers from France and was a crucial crossing for medieval pilgrims. The bridge itself is medieval engineering at its best. Believed to have been commission around 1080-1100 by the Countess Matilda di Canossa of Tuscany, the Devil’s Bridge was renovated some 200 years later under the guidance of Castruccio Castracani before being named Ponte della Maddalena in approximately 1500 after an oratory for Mary Magdalene. Indeed, in past years, a statute of Mary Magdalene stood on the eastern bank of the bridge.

Stop At: Le mura di Lucca, 55100, Lucca Italy

Our final stop is the beautifully preserved historic city of Lucca.

Our spell-binding tour of Lucca and the Wind Cave concludes at 4.00 pm when your driver will return you to Florence and the Firenze Santa Maria Novella railway station.


Duration: 1 hour

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Included
  • Lunch - set menu
  • Private transportation
  • Air-conditioned vehicle
  • All Fees and Taxes
  • Pick up and drop off
  • Private local expert driver and guide
  • Entrance tickets to the Wind Cave
  • Entry/Admission - Grotta del Vento
  • Entry/Admission - Le mura di Lucca
Additional
  • Confirmation will be received at time of booking, unless booked within 1 day of travel. In this case confirmation will be received as soon as possible, subject to availability
  • Not wheelchair accessible
  • Not recommended for pregnant travelers
  • No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
  • Most travelers can participate
  • This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund
  • This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
Features
Tourism
95%
Cultural
70%
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