The Tuscan-Emilian Apennines and their empty villages

Everyone rushes to Florence and Bologna; very few climb the Apennines that separate them. And yet it is right here, along the crest ridge that in places brushes two thousand metres, that one of the most genuine Italies hides: that of the side valleys, the beech and chestnut woods, the stone villages where life still flows to the measure of the seasons. A mountain chain that has served as a boundary not only administrative, but also climatic and cultural, between continental and Mediterranean Europe.

The protected park

Much of this territory falls within the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines National Park, recognised by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve under the "Man and the Biosphere" (MaB) programme. It is a guarantee of protected landscapes: high pastures, glacial lakes, ancient beech woods where it is not rare to sense the presence of the wolf. Yet, unlike the big names of Italian tourism, here nature is not a backdrop to be photographed in a hurry, but a place to be crossed slowly.

The villages and the table

Stone villages are not lacking: from the Lucchese Garfagnana to the Lunigiana of the Malaspina, to the perched villages of the Emilian side, you find postcard views but almost always with no one around. You walk along a well-marked network of trails, you visit castles and parish churches, and you stop at the table before dishes that tell of a poor, ingenious mountain world: testaroli with pesto, panigacci, the spelt of the Garfagnana and the honey of these valleys. Often you sleep in farm stays at prices from another era.

Getting there

Reaching it is simple but takes patience: the train reaches the valley stations and the historic passes such as the Cisa, then you need a car and the willingness to lose yourself among the secondary roads. It is exactly this inconvenience that keeps overtourism away. To avoid even the few summer flows, choose spring, when the meadows explode, or autumn, with its golden chestnut groves and deserted trails.

It is the simplest proof that the alternative to overtourism is often an hour away from where everyone crowds together. Just change direction, lift your gaze toward the ridge and accept going slow.

Related guides: Emilia-Romagna by train: a slow itinerary along the Via Emilia without a car.

Practical guides for Como

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• How to get to Como