Ah, the Italian Alps — a paradise that's fodder for travel brochures and Instagram feeds the world over. This is where the milky alpine lake of Sorapis hides below the jagged peaks, where the emerald-blue hue of Lago di Braies beckons hikers, and where the breathtaking mountain passes of Val Gardena unfold in dramatic style. While they might be sublime, they certainly aren't a secret — the small highland region of Trentino Alto Adige counted upwards of 34 million visitors in 2022 alone! But what
if Italy offered another mountain range with similarly spiky summits and transcendent views, only without the booming crowds? Cue the Apuan Alps.
This string of chipped and whittled peaks runs in a dash through the northern part of Tuscany. It butts up fantastically to the coast in the northwest and turns inland from there, clocking up heights of roughly 6,500 feet above sea level as it goes. Once upon a time, the great Michealangelo came here to pick out stone for his statues. Today, huge quarries still pockmark the peaks, but there are also quaint mountain lodges, charming hamlets, summit hikes, and even via ferrata to conquer. If you're looking for an alternative to the Dolomites, you may well have found it.
Getting to the region should be a cinch thanks to its proximity to the popular airports of Tuscany. Pisa, for example, is only a 90-minute drive away, while Florence is 2.5 hours to the southeast. Alternatively, the Apuan Alps also make a fantastic next pitstop after the beautiful villages of Cinque Terre, which await only a little over an hour's drive through the mountains on the Ligurian coast.
Read more: Why You Should Think Twice Before Visiting These Dangerous European Destinations
Trails To Take The Breath Away In The Apuan Alps
According to AllTrails, there are a whopping 170 marked hiking paths weaving and winding their way through, up, and around the Apuan range. The place to head toward is the Apuan Alps Regional Park, where both day hikes and full-on treks that last nearly a fortnight link up vistas over the Ligurian Sea, ancient villages, deep karst caves, and panoramic lookout points alike.
Some routes really stand out. The highest-rated on AllTrails is the 6-mile up and down to Monte Forato. It passes through bijou hill villages and scales forest-covered ridges to get you to the fabled ring of Monte Forato, a great stone archway that gapes open 80 feet from top to bottom. There are optional scrambling and technical sections on that path that require harnesses and gear for hikers looking to push their limits.
To see the highest peak in the region, set your sights on Monte Pisanino at about 6,400 feet up. A wonderful route pushes through the oak woods and the ancient marble quarries that flank the mountainside, offering views of the cathedral-like massif of Rifugio Orto di Donna. A more direct and challenging path clutches the edge of Pisanino itself, navigating thick forests before hair-raising traverses along a near-vertical slope.
From The Sea To The Highland Villages Of The Apuan Alps
Spanning from the coast into the heart of northwestern Tuscany, the Apuan Alps are peppered with enthralling little stop-offs. On a perch some 1,500 feet above sea level is the pastel-painted hamlet of little Fornovolasco. Originally a mining center, today its stony streets knit together little churches and caves around an idyllic urban stream.
North of that is Gorfigliano, which rests on the lower slopes of colossal Monte Pisanino, close to the lake of Gramolazzo, where a waterside path offers biking routes that weave beneath the glimmering marble summits. Gallicano, meanwhile, caps off a hill along the Serchio Valley with its seven-century-old fortifications and enchanting medieval chapels.
Something entirely different beckons on the western flanks of the mountains. Here, the E80 highway runs astride the Italian shoreline, linking up some of the most popular seaside resort towns in Tuscany. Marina di Massa is there, offering ice-cream parlors and a long jetty that juts into the Med. So, too, is the chic escape of Forte dei Marmi, a bit of a fashionista hub where boutique malls rub shoulders with umbrella-speckled sands.
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Read the original article on Islands.
