TOUR APRILE 2017LUCCA DEI ROMANI E CASTRUCCIO CASTRACANI, FIRENZE DEI MEDICI E PORTOVENERE.

Flight Choice still to be confirmed depending on which week is requested more. Ryanair Glasgow Wednesday 29th March 13:10

Pisa Wednesday 05th April 11:00

Ryanair Glasgow Sunday 26th March 09:25Pisa Sunday 02nd April 07:15

The cost of flight is separate from the cost of tour and flights have to be booked by you.Airport pick up and return are included in final price.

Sunday 26th March or Wednesday 29th MarchArrival at Galileo Galilei Pisa airportCoach to Hotel Torretta, www.hoteltorretta.it light buffet then time to relax. Montecatini is a beautiful Spa town situated halfway between Lucca and Firenze, it is well known as a great shopping centre and indeed is well stocked with shops to suit everyone. Montecatini has many restaurants, Bars, Wine Bars and Pizzerie, It has a lovely market every day, where you can purchase silk, shirts, leather goods and much more.Five minutes’ walk from the hotel there is a spectacular funicular railway that takes you up to Montecatini Alto, a picturesque little historic town with fine restaurants, bars and stunning views over the Pistoia valley.Dinner at 20:30 at hotel Torretta.

Hotel Torretta swimming pool and Jacuzzi seen from a hotel bedroom.

View from one of the hotel bedrooms Hotel Torretta.

Monday 27th March or Thursday 30th MarchLUCCATrain in morning to Lucca, here we will be met by the guide and given a morning, walking, guided tour of the famous battlements (Baluardi ) the guide will take us below these massive walls into Roman Lucca.Lunch at one of these restaurants Buca di Sant Antonio www.bucadisantantonio.com / Baralla www.osteriabaralla.it / Il Giglio www.ristorantegiglio.com / Ubaldo. Restaurant still to be finalised, so the actual restaurant could still change at this early stage. It will be a good, typical restaurant that I have tried many times, serving Lucca, regional cooking.Lucca is a wonderful City you can never get tired with, there are Museums, Cathedrals and Art Galleries to keep you busy for a lifetime. For the shoppers its pure heaven. All the little criss crossing streets are full of shops of all types.

I would recommend that you try and buy shoes, bags, leather and Silk here as you will surely spend a lot less than in Firenze.Due to the fact that we are using the train, return time to Montecatini is your choice. You can choose to stay and enjoy dinner in Lucca or leave as early as you wish.The evening is free to do as you wish. The Torretta has a fine restaurant with great food, they are happy to serve you a single dish like a pasta or a main course or indeed just some cold meat, cheese and wine if you are not very hungry.

Lucca, pretty little street.

Tuesday 28th March or Friday 31 MarchCASTELLO DELLA PANERETTA Coach to Castello Della Paneretta, Val D’Elsa www.castellodellapaneretta.com For a vineyard tour, Cellar tour and visit to this amazing Castle. The tasting will take place along with lunch.Free time to enjoy the grounds of Paneretta.If time permitting we will stop at Vinci on our way back to visit the Leonardo Da Vinci museum and birthplace. Vinci is a beautiful town, the castle that tops the town is the Leonardo museum, here you will find original his drawings of war machines, flying machines and much much more.After the visit you will have some time to stroll around the streets of Vinci and pop into a wine bar for some excellent vino of the region. www.museoleonardiano.it Back to hotel for a leasurly afternoon and evening. Dinner is not included, La Torretta has a fine menu and Montecatini has a vast amount of Ristoranti and Pizzerie. A list of recommendations will be supplied.

Wednesday 29th March or Saturday 1st AprilTERME DI MONTECATINI Dante Simoncini our host and the owner of the Hotel Torretta has kindly offered to be our guide round the famous Terme di Montecatini, Tettuccio, the most beautiful of the Spa’s, this magnificent Art Deco, structure has been used by Kings, Tsars and Princes from all over the world. A full explanation of the treatments and waters will be given and we will round off the morning with an Aperitivo at the magnificent Terme Bar.On to “ Il Castello della Scuola Alberghiera di Montecatini”, for our lunch freshly prepared and served by the students of the hotel school. Montecatini has a famous “Hotel School” people who have studied here have gone on to open some of the finest hotels and restaurants in the world.Here you will get the opportunity to meet the Professors and students of the School.

After lunch we will make our way to Funiculare and Montecatini Alto where Dante will give us a guided walking tour and history of Montecatini Alto while walking down to Dante’s country house I Cipressini.Aperitivo at Cipressini, here you can relax and enjoy the country house feeling, stroll through the Cherry, pear, plum and fig trees, wander round the olive grove.Choice of stroll down to hotel, funicolare or transport can be provided.Afternoon free time to enjoy Montecatini.

Beautiful Art Deco Terme Tettuccio

The gardens at the Terme, Spa.

Thursday 30th March or Sunday 2nd AprilFIRENZE DEI MEDICITrain at morning to Firenze. Train will take us to Santa Maria Novella Station, I suggest we keep together at this point. We will walk past the Baglioni Hotel and through the bustling market of San Lorenzo, a visit to the Gastronomic, food market of San Lorenzo, then past the Tombs of the Medici on to Piazza Del Duomo.Walk with the Medici, tour begins at the Duomo with a visit to the new Medici Museum, after this tour we will continue on past the Uffizi Gallery, over the Ponte Vecchio on to The Pitti Palace, and the Giardini Boboli and then a visit to the Villa Bardini and its magnificent Giardini www.bardinipeyron.it . This will be a fully guided tour.After the tour you will be free to go for lunch and walk round Firenze, this day you can stay in Firenze for as long as you choose, it will be an open return ticket and you can enjoy dinner in Firenze if you wish. Approx time (depending on train) back to Montecatini is 45 mins.All train times will be supplied to you well before the trip.This is a good day to learn a bit more about Firenze and its history for those of us who have been before, for the first time visitors it’s a toe in the water for future visits to this magnificent, great city. To get to know Firenze well, some say it would take more than a lifetime.No lunch has been organised for this day as I thought it better to you let you do your own thing, some of you may wish to shop, others sightseeing , museums and Gallerie D’Arte. Firenze is not short of eating places and in the past, when in great cities it has been suggested by past friends that long lunch can eat its way into the time we have to explore.

Piazza Della Signoria.

Ghetto 1880

Il Ponte Vecchio

Friday 31st March or Monday 3rd AprilCASTELLO MALASPINA DI FOSDINOVO www.castellodifosdinovo.it Coach, Early start this morning, coach to Fosdinovo in the vicinity of Massa Carrara. This magical region has a history all of its own, it’s known as the Lunigiana the land of the Lunatici (worshipers of the moon). They were agains theRoman Empire and indeed sided with Hannibal when he marched over the Alps.We will have an English speaking guide to show us round this magnificent but spooky castle.Legend has it that the Conte di Fosdinovo (nickname Malaspina, evil thorn) as he murdered his predecessor with a large thorn hidden in a bunch of flowers, as no weapons were allowed near the old Conte.Malaspina’s daughter fell in love with a poor villager, the Conte absolutely banned the relationship, as happens the daughter became pregnant to the young man. The Conte had the young man publicly executed, in the most terrible way, in the town square. He then proceeded to brick up his pregnant daughter along with a dog for faithfulness and a wild boar for treachery. All this was said to be legend, but a few years ago part of the prison wall was demolished and the skeletons of a woman, a baby, a dog and a wild boar were found in a cavity behind the wall.Malaspina was cursed and his wife and future children were a horrible lot, murderers, torturers, sadists etc. As you can expect this castle is full of torture chambers, prisons and plenty of ghosts.Even the bed that Malaspina died in, poised by arsenic, still breathes to this day. If anyone would like to stay here Castello fi Fosdinovo has rooms to let.

After visit a short walk to restaurant Nigo Pezigo for a light lunch.If time permitting we can continue along the Autostrada and a short visit to Portovenere, one of the many magical Castle towns of the Ligurian Riviera, further north from Portovenere the famous Cinque Terre begin.

Malaspina Castello

Malaspina Views over the Apuan Alps

Portovenere Views

Saturday 1st April or Tuesday 4th AprilFree day to relax and enjoy Montecatini and its fine shops, restaurants and bars, go back to Lucca, Firenze or the Versila Riviera, Viareggio, Forte dei Marmi etc. All these places are within an hour train ride from Montecatini Centrale.Dante at the Torretta can organize treatments at one of the Spa’s at Montecatini or you can go to the fabulous Grotta Giusti at Monsulmmano www.grottagiustispa.com to relax in the spa grotto, where Giulius Caesar, Pompeii and Crassus planned their invasion of Gaul.

Dinner has been organised at 20:30 at the Hotel Torretta.

Montecatini Alto

Sunday 2nd April or Wednesday 5th AprilCIAO Coach, Early start Coach to Galileo Galilei Airport at Pisa for flight home.