Over those mountains to the west, only about fifteen miles as the crow flies, is the Italian Riviera on the Mediterranean Sea. Florence and Pisa are to the south, just beyond the mountains there. Frankly, there is very little in Sommocolonia for those who like noisy beaches, or cities crammed with tourists, or high-priced restaurants, catering to those tourists. Of course, the Italian Riviera is little more than an hour away. The birthplace of the Renaissance, Florence or Firenze (It.), with its trove of priceless artistic treasures, is only slightly further. Pisa, whose fabled tower leans farther than you have ever imagined, is even closer. And restaurants – charming ristoranti with fine Tuscan cuisine, which the locals demand – are readily found throughout this area, but with reasonable prices that you haven't experienced before.
There are beautiful swimming pools and tennis courts set amidst wooded hillsides both in Barga and at IL CIOCCO, the International five-star resort on the next ridge to the north. The world famous spas of Bagni di Lucca and Montecatini Terme are not far away, either, if you are so inclined.
For those who enjoy hiking and exploring, Sommocolonia looks across the valley at the center of one of Italy’s finer national parks: "Parco Naturale delle Alpi Apuane," and is just down the valley from another well-known national park to the North: "Parco dell’ Orecchiella." Hiking trails, marked with the red and white numbered signs of the Italian Alpine Society, are on both sides of the valley. One of the more popular hiking trails passes right through Sommocolonia.
And lovely Lucca (approximately 100,000 residents), an ancient walled city that has been a shopping center for bargain-hunting, but quality conscious, Italians for centuries, is only a 50-minute car, bus or train ride away. Lucca, which was Etruscan before it was laid out again in Roman style as a retirement colony for legionnaires and their families, has the largest (and most beautifully) intact city walls in all of Europe (over 2.5 miles). It is one of our very favorite European cities.
For lunch, you could travel by train to the Cinque Terre, those five jeweled fishing villages joined by one of the most spectacular and unique hiking trails in Europe, for fresh seafood.
Or, you could drive down the valley, passing a DOC wine zone on your right (Colline Lucchesi) and entering a DOC wine zone on your left (Montecarlo), traveling to the Medici’s wine village of Montecarlo. Be sure to have lunch or dinner at La Nina while there.
Or, instead, you could drive up to the ancient hermitage, set in the face of a cliff high in the mountains across the valley, for a meal of fresh mountain stream trout. Afterward you could continue on into Tuscany's equivalent of Yosemite Valley to visit Europe's largest cave or hike to the dramatic Pro Cinto, a 600 foot high granite "cylinder," mentioned in Dante’s "Inferno," which is to be found just over the far ridge.
Or visit the beautiful hidden village of Isola Santa for a wood-roasted lunch on your way to see the marble quarries.
Or simply open a bottle of wine, grab a large wine glass and a hunk of cheese, and go sit out under our stone paved Pergola (grape arbor) to contemplate how wonderful the world looks from there -- and just how fortunate you are to have journeyed to this place.
Yes, for those who are romantic and young at heart, there are new treats for the senses around every corner, and blessed contentment everywhere. Your visit to this place will truly alter your life forever.