Product Description

Selected hikes in the Apuane Alps, the Cinque Terre, and Portofino. It is the first book in English devoted to the Apuane Alps and:

- classifies all the hikes and helps the visitor plan hiking holidays in Tuscany and Liguria
- illustrated with 34 detailed maps 38 original drawings
- leads the hiker to the summit of 20 of the most spectacular peaks in the Apuane Alps
- describes local food and restaurants at the end of each hike
- includes a section on the flora and its historical evolution
- hints and tips about how to make the best of your stay in Italy

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1008260 in Books
• Published on: 1998-11-28
• Binding: Paperback
• 260 pages

Review
This graceful and useful guide to one of the most interesting and beautiful hiking and climbing areas of Europe should accompany any active person to Italy.

Not only is Mr. Greco is an avid hiker, a well organized and experienced trip leader, but he is also a man of civilized interests. His book provides a guide to the food and wine of the region as well as to the trails of the Apuane Alps. This reliable and comprehensive hiking and climbing guide includes detailed trip descriptions, as well as sections on driving in Italy, the flora and fauna of the region, local specialties in food and drink, and a discussion of the refugio system of huts.

The heart of the book contains trip descriptions with associated logistical information designed to aid the foreign traveler. The descriptions are clear, accurate and detailed. Mr. Greco's eye for the offbeat features of the terrain, its human use, and the beauty of the countryside enhance the visitor's enjoyment. (For example: one sees the difficulty today in removing blocks of Carrara marble from steep hillside quarries. Such a task would seem nearly impossible in Michelangelo's time.) Readers can get where they want to go and will arrived equipped to appreciate the hikes, huts and restaurants along the way. Maps and illustrations prepared by Francesco Greco's son, Giuseppe, accompany the trip descriptions. The graphics are extremely helpful, and they convey enough information that the hiker can choose among alternate routes based on difficulty and objectives.

A special advantage of the book is that it is written by an Italian. The author's intimacy with the Tuscany and Liguria shines through in the way that he draws attention to regional dining specialties available in refugios accessible during the hikes. He also outlines historical and architectural aspects of interest.

One test of a guidebook's utility is to read it after returning from a trip to the region. We hiked in the Apuane Alps and Cinque Terre with our son, Colin, July, 1998. If Mr.Greco's book had been available then, we would have had less trouble finding our way, understood more of what we saw, and eaten with distinction.

The marble trails of the Tuscan Alps and the hikes along the fairy tale Ligurian coast are among the most compelling trips in Europe. This excellent guide will enhance their exploration and enjoyment by the English-speaking visitor. -- Sean Sheehan for The Mountaineer, June 1999

About the Author
Francesco Greco is a member of the Pisa Section of the Club Alpino Italiano (the Italian Alpine Club) and the Mountaineers in Washington state. An avid worldwide traveler, he has hiked in the Apuane Alps for more than thirty years. His interests in natural history and local culture complement his enthusiasm for the outdoors. Mr. Greco divides his time between Milan and Seattle.

Guiseppe Greco, a graduate of the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, drew all the maps and illustrations. The younger Mr. Greco lives in Pisa.

Customer Reviews

Hikers Strike Gold!
If you are planning a trip to northern Tuscany (Florence, Pisa, etc.) and want to do some hiking, you must check out this book! It is a goldmine of information on hikes in the Tuscan Alps -- all carefully described and ranked by difficulty, scenic beauty, elevation gain and duration, etc.-- as well as recommendations for places to eat and sleep at the end of your tiring day. I will update this review after putting the book to the test in May 2000.

A guide for fit, healthy hikers
This guide gives detailed information about 31 hikes in Italy's Liguria region and the Apuane Alps of Tuscany. As an example of its useful detail, it rates the difficulty of each hike as Easy (up to 8 km, up to 500 m elevation gain) Moderate (up to 10 km, up to 800 m elevation gain) Strenuous (up to 14 km, up to 1200 m elevation gain) and Very Strenuous (over 14 km, over 1200 m elevation gain).

Five of the hikes are more strenuous than the climb from Phantom Ranch, at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, to Grand Canyon Village, at the South Rim. And there are just two easy hikes.

Mountains of Tuscany , Best Available Guidebook
The level of detail in this guidebook is astonishing. I have walked and climbed this area for 23 years but still found new ideas. I can confirm the accuracy of the descriptions from my experience of many of the routes followed in whole or in part. In this area it is essential to use detailed maps to supplement the route description if only to find starting and finishing points. The maps recommended within this guide are not wholly adequate for the purpose, and maps of the series "Edizioni Multigraphic, 1:25 000" are really indispensable.