The best traffic-free bike rides around Luni

Montemarcello is a splendid hamlet in the municipality of Ameglia, located in the province of La Spezia. This ancient medieval village stands at an altitude of 266 meters on the summit of Monte Caprione, a strategic position that offers a spectacular panoramic view of both the Gulf of Poets (La Spezia) and the mouth of the Magra river and the Apuan Alps. Since 2006 it has been officially listed among the Most Beautiful Villages in Italy.

Tellaro is a charming and picturesque seaside village located in Liguria, in the province of La Spezia, and is a fraction of the municipality of Lerici. Perched on a cliff at the eastern end of the Gulf of Poets, it is officially included in the circuit of the most beautiful villages in Italy. This ancient fortified village, characterized by narrow medieval streets (caruggi) and pastel-colored houses huddled by the sea, has always been a refuge for artists, poets, and writers such as Eugenio Montale and Mario Soldati. Compared to the nearby Cinque Terre, it retains an authentic atmosphere, protected from mass tourism.

The lake of Gramolazzo is a lake in the Apuan Alps located near the homonymous village in the municipality of Minucciano. Of artificial origin, it was created in the second half of the 1900s, together with the lake of Vagli by SELT Valdarno for the hydroelectric use of the Serchio river and its tributaries. The lake, which has a surface area of one square kilometer and a volume of 3.8 million cubic meters, has both the Serchio di Gramolazzo as its inflow and outflow, one of the two branches that, joining near Piazza al Serchio, form the Tuscan river. Another important stream that flows into the lake is the Acqua Bianca stream, which coming from Mount Pisanino crosses the village of Gorfigliano. A large part of the water, however, is fed through a channel on the left bank, near the dam, which with a maximum flow rate of 20 cubic meters per second discharges the waters captured from the Serchio into the Sillano valley. The waters of the lake of Gramolazzo feed the Fabbriche power plant which in turn discharges them into the lake of Vagli.

The Oasis of Campocatino is a mountain locality in the Apuan Alps, in the municipality of Vagli di Sotto, located at 1000 m above sea level, beneath the imposing wall of Monte Roccandagia. It includes a large basin of glacial origin, a testament to the extent of Quaternary glaciation in the Apennine area. Inside, we find the typical pastoral buildings called "caselli," which have been preserved with their ancient construction characteristics. Since 1991, it has become a "LIPU Natural Oasis." The coexistence of different environments and the natural integrity of the area have allowed the acclimatization of various bird species that reproduce there. Along the rocky walls, the Alpine chough and the Wallcreeper nest; in the high-altitude meadows and pastures, the Skylark, the Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush, the Wheatear, and the Greater Short-toed Lark are observed, while the woods below are populated by the Blackcap, the Goldfinch, the Chaffinch, the Brambling, the Firecrest, the Dartford Warbler, the Robin, the Eurasian Nuthatch, the Song Thrush, the Mistle Thrush, the Wren, and four species of tits: Great Tit, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, and Marsh Tit. Biodiversity is also present among the birds of prey that inhabit the area: the Tawny Owl, the Kestrel, the Eagle Owl, the Common Buzzard, the Sparrowhawk, and sometimes the Eagle soars over the area in search of prey. A little curiosity: in 1998 Campocatino was the film set for the movie "il mio west" directed by Giovanni Veronesi, starring Leonardo Pieraccioni, Harvey Keitel, David Bowie, and Alessia Marcuzzi. In memory of David Bowie's presence, a statue has been placed near the stone houses to commemorate his time there.

Carrara and its coastal district Marina di Carrara represent a unique binomial in Tuscany, combining the extraordinary mountain scenery of the Apuan Alps and the white marble quarries with a lively seaside resort overlooking the Ligurian Sea.

The Magra River is an important watercourse in central Italy, 62 kilometers long, flowing between Tuscany and Liguria. It represents the main watercourse of Liguria in terms of average discharge at its mouth. It originates at an altitude of 1,401 meters from Monte Borgognone, crosses the fertile Val di Magra, and flows into the Ligurian Sea at Bocca di Magra.

Bocca di Magra is a charming coastal hamlet in the municipality of Ameglia, located in the province of La Spezia at the mouth of the river of the same name, Magra. An ancient fishing village, the locality lies on the border between Liguria and Tuscany, immersed in the greenery of the Montemarcello-Magra-Vara Regional Natural Park.

La Spiaggia di Barcola: It is a picturesque natural cove of black stones and gravel located along the coast of the gulf. It is known for its clear waters suitable for snorkeling, but it is accessible only via steep staircases or by sea.