WATCHING THE NATURE AROUND US Immersed in World Heritage Forests

DAY 1

Full Day Activities

From the Arno River to the World Heritage forests

• Meeting at 9.30 am in Pratovecchio Stia
• • Stop for lunch at Camaldoli
  • Return to Pratovecchio Stia at 4.30 pm
  • Difficulty (from 1 easy to 4 very difficult): 2
  • Length: 40 km
  • Height difference +: 1100 mt.

DAY 2

Full Day Activities

Silence and Spirituality

La Verna and Camaldoli

Over the course of a full day experience, with Valley Tour you will get to know millenary monasteries immersed in one of the most beautiful forests in Italy, that of the Foreste Casentinesi National Park. You will visit the famous Sanctuary of La Verna, where St Francis of Assisi received the stigmata in 1224 and where every year thousands of pilgrims admire the Della Robbia glazed terracotta, the Sasso Spicco, the bed of St Francis. On the way down the valley, make a brief stop in Chiusi, where Michelangelo Buonarroti spent his childhood (here, don’t miss taking a picture of Adam’s rock, which inspired the fresco in the Sistine Chapel in Rome).

Alternatively, if you prefer, you will visit the monastery of Camaldoli, one of the most important monasteries in Italy, with the 5 large panels by Giorgio Vasari and the ancient Pharmacy (1543) where you can still buy liqueurs, cosmetics, herbal teas and other preparations made according to the monks’ recipes. You will continue towards the Hermitage, immersed in the silence of the forest: the sacredness that you breathe in this splendid religious place leaves a sensation of peace to anyone who walks around admiring the monks’ cells-caves: here you can visit the Church of the Savior and the cell of S. Romualdo (1023). Finally, Badia Prataglia, with its thousand-year-old Romanesque church and the Park Visitor Centre, with the Forestry Museum.

For lovers of nature and spirituality!

DAY 3

Full Day Activities

“Meat class” and Listening to the sounds of the night

• 10:00 am Experience. Marcello will explain us how meat must be cooked, revealing his many skills and showing us for real how it is done, starting with a whole chicken of which nothing will be wasted…
• 1:00 pm Tasting/light lunch with zero food miles. Lunch all together and free time at the farmhouse
• 6:00 pm Aperitif
• 7:30 pm Dinner based on the farm’s organic products
• 9:00 pm Departure for hiking (simple and suitable for everyone) at night, during which you will listen to the sounds of the forest at night, learning to move in the dark, developing other senses in addition to sight.
• At 11.30 pm return to the farmhouse and overnight stay.

DAY 4

Full Day Activity

Cycling along the Sasso Fratino Integral Reserve

• • 10.00 a.m. meeting at Badia Prataglia
  • 1.00 pm Stop for lunch at “I Tre Baroni” – Camaldoli
  • Return at 4.00 pm to Badia Prataglia
  • Length of route: 30 km
  • Difficulty level: 2

• With our e-bikes we will cycle along one of the seven reserves of the National Park, which has become a World Heritage Site for its authenticity.
• Sasso Fratino is in fact a place of inestimable value, and following a magical route along the ridge trail we will skirt this beautiful forest that has dominated the Tuscan-Romagna Apennines for over five centuries.
• We will have plenty of time to stop, raise our eyes to the sky and admire the huge beeches and silver firs that are the source of life in the forest, breathe in the pure air they produce and relax.
• We will leave in better shape than before to join together at the table to taste local products in a location surrounded by chestnut groves just below.

DAY 5

Half Day Activities

Casentino by Night

Bibbiena – Poppi

This itinerary will allow you to enjoy pleasant after-dinner activities in Casentino in the largest and most picturesque locations of the valley.

The route starts in Bibbiena, whose small historic center offers valuable views, between modernity and tradition, walking through the characteristic villages, perhaps enjoying a good ice cream! In just 4 km we arrive in Poppi, an extraordinary medieval town that has been awarded the title of one of the “Most Beautiful Villages in Italy”, also chosen by Leonardo Pieraccioni as the set for the successful film “Il Ciclone”. In the historic center, with its picturesque arcaded streets, don’t miss the chance to take a picture in front of the Counts Guidi Castle, with a truly breathtaking view of the entire valley.

If you wish, you can enjoy a drink in the company of friends and in complete relaxation at a characteristic bar.

This route is suitable for those who love to “live” in the evening, enjoying extraordinary places and landscapes combined with the refreshing coolness of summer evenings in Casentino. Only available in the period May-September.

DAY 6

Half Day Activities

a walk in the forest, in the Casentino Forests National Park – World Heritage Site

We learn to walk in the forest with attention and silence, to immerse ourselves in it by putting our whole body into play: it is a real bath, relaxing and regenerating, purifying. We enter into a strong connection with nature through simple tactile and olfactory experiences. The smells (leaves, earth, plant essences) lower the production of cortisol and raise that of endorphins.

Price includes:

Full Day e-bike excursion: From the Arno River to the World Heritage Forests, by Casentino E-bike

Full Day Tour with tour leader: Silence and Spirituality by Valley Tour

Full Day “Meat Class activity and Listening to the noises of the night” by Azienda Agricola Lucatello

Full Day excursion by e-bike: Pedaling along the Riserva Integrale Di Sasso Fratino organized by Casentino Escursioni

Half Day Tour with tour leader: Casentino by Night organized by Valley Tour

Half Day Excursion: Bathing in the forest by Azienda Agricola Lucatello

6x Overnight stay with breakfast at Villa dei Mori La Massa

1x Tasting/Light lunch (zero food miles) at Lucatello Farm

1x Aperitif at Azienda Agricola Lucatello

1x Dinner based on the farm’s organic products at Azienda Agricola Lucatello

Insurance

The price does not include:

Transport by own vehicle

Tourist tax

Everything that is not included under ‘The price includes’.

ADDITIONAL DAY A

Casentino Forests

Tuscany is a treasure chest of many delicious foods: His Majesty the Truffle is certainly one of them.

The Valley Tour will give you the chance to take part in a real truffle hunt, with a qualified truffle hunter and his dog, the real protagonist of the search. Immersed in the enchanting forests of the Casentino, you will have the opportunity to enjoy a pleasant walk during which the truffle and its habitat, its biological cycle and vegetation will be explained, and of course you will see our four-legged friend at work, touching the truffle as soon as it is removed from the ground!

It will be a unique experience, rich in scents and flavors!

Only available during truffle-harvesting periods