Grade: Easy / Moderate

Tuscany is a beautiful region of Italy, with spectacular scenery, historical cities and art treasures in almost every village. We will be based at Albiano, near Barga in the Garfagna (enchanted wood) area of Northern Tuscany situated between the Appennines and the Alpi Apuan. Barga is small but is crammed with antiques shop, artists studios and exhibitions and even has an Opera House, cathedral and a music school. There are pretty cafes in the narrow streets inside the own town walls. Our hotel is in Albiano, a small hillside village, a few kilometres from Barga with views across the valley below to the mountains beyond.

The way of life here has changed little over the centuries and farming is small scale and labour -intensive. The privately-run 2 star hotel in which we stay is also the local bar and village shop. Each evening we will meet the local people as they spill out into the square to chat. The hotel has a lovely swimming pool with terrace bar and stunning views of the mountains.

The area offers great opportunities for short walks from the hotel as well as more energetic walks in the surrounding hills and mountains. The landscape offers treasures, such as medieval villages, marble quarries and spectacular views over the green surrounding countryside. Flora and fauna abound and ancient forests remain. We travel in July when it is warm but not too hot for walking. The average maximum daily temperature is 27 in September. It is a little cooler in the mountains. It is generally sunny, with an average of 7 hours sunshine per day in September. There is good tree cover on all our walks and so we are not exposed to the sunshine for long periods.

The holiday will be accompanied by Jackie and Steve. They will be there to ensure that your holiday is as enjoyable as possible. When the holiday is a combined walking and photography holiday, Jackie will offer a guided walk on 5 days and Steve will be on hand to offer advice on photography, whether you have a digital or manual SLR or compact camera. The area offers numerous photographic opportunities. Steve will be on hand to offer help and advice in the form of in-the-field talks, one-to-ones, demonstrations, review sessions and discussions.

We walk on good tracks, often mule tracks or forest tracks. We will walk on 5 days, walking time per day is between 5-7 hours. We walk in the Orecchiella Natural Park on one day. All walks involve up-hill climbs with a maximum of 2,800 ft of ascent (equivalent to climbing Snowdon). And on this the toughest day, you have the option to visit the famous windcaves (Grotto del Vento) or do a shorter walk. We take a day out and arrange for you to visit Florence (Firenze) or if you prefer, Lucca, a beautiful walled medieval city just over an hour away. You can always take another day out of the walking programme if you would like visit both Florence and Lucca or if you want to have a day just to relax or laze by the pool.