“Photography has been an important part of my life for almost as long as I can remember. And walking? For even longer!”

Nigel Fawcett, 2019

Walking and photography make excellent bedfellows

One of the many benefits of being retired is that I get to spend so much more time in the great outdoors, not only as a photographer but in exercising one of my other great passions — hill walking. This is a particularly good fit when one’s photography centres around nature and the landscape. There can be few better places to do that than here in the beautiful mountains of Tuscany.

A few words about the walks

As you might expect, the vast majority of walks with angellightphoto are found in and around the part of Tuscany that we live in — namely, the municipalities of Fivizzano and Casola-in-Lunigiana in the far north of the region. Our area is geographically sandwiched between the Apennine mountains and the magnificent Apuan Alps. Some of our walks venture up into the high mountains; most are in the steep but rolling hills between; and a few have been taken from our travels further afield; but, as far as possible, we have designed each walk to be suitable for the average keen walker. For further clarification, we have graded each walk by level of difficulty as follows:

  • Easy walks — By easy, we mean a short walk over good terrain that is suitable for people of all ages, including walkers with pushchairs and/or wheelchairs.
  • Leisurely walks — By leisurely, we mean short to medium length walks over mixed terrain that are suitable for all ages with average fitness.
  • Moderate walks — By moderate, we mean medium to lengthy walks over mixed terrain that could include narrow paths, rough paths or particularly steep sections, but that are still suitable for people of all ages with average fitness. (Equals T1 Hiking on SAC Mountain Hiking and Alpine Scale).
  • Challenging walks — By challenging, we mean long walks over often difficult terrain that are suitable for regular walkers with good levels of fitness and stamina. (Equals T2 Mountain Hiking on SAC Mountain Hiking and Alpine Scale).
  • Technical walks — By technical, we mean long walks in mountain terrain with sections that might require some scrambling. These walks are suitable for seasoned hillwalkers with excellent levels of fitness and stamina. (Equals T3 Difficult Mountain Hiking on SAC Mountain Hiking and Alpine Scale).

The grade is included in each walk’s summary section.

What you can expect to find on the page for each walk

Introduction section — Each walk has a slightly cryptic title that hints at something particular about that walk. To add clarity, the title is followed by a heading that includes the starting point and a few key places that you’ll pass along the route.  Finally, a short description expands on both the title and the heading.

Summary section — Here you will find a table that is used to show the grade of the walk, its length, whether or not it’s circular, an average of how long it’s likely to take to walk it, its start and finish coordinates, the highest and lowest points reached, and the total amount of ascent and descent. This is followed by a useful tool for estimating how long the walk should take your party to complete, based on the pace of the slowest walker.

Map section — Next comes the all important map of the route, which is accompanied by an interactive elevation profile. Moving the mouse pointer (or your finger) along the elevation profile moves a marker on the map to show exactly where all the hills and valleys lie. The map itself has a number of controls for zooming in and out, displaying full screen, and for changing the map overlay. Immediately below the elevation graph is a button that allows you to download the route as a GPX track.

Details section — If you don’t use a GPS walking app or device, then don’t worry because a detailed description of the route is given below the map, enabling you to navigate the walk by following the step by step instructions.

Gallery section — Last, and by no means least, you will find a gallery of images taken along the way to give a visual taste of the main views and features of the walk.


Walks with angellightphoto by level of difficulty

Walks with angellightphoto

Visit our leisurely walks page.

Leisurely walks

Walks with angellightphoto

Visit our moderate walks page.

Moderate walks

Walks with angellightphoto

Visit our challenging walks page.

Challenging walks

Walks with angellightphoto

Visit our of easy walks page.

Easy walks

Walks with angellightphoto

Visit our technical walks page.

Technical walks

Walks with angellightphoto

See the complete list of walks.

All the walks

A few words about maps in Italy

When you’ve grown up with with maps of the quality of the UK’s OS Landranger and Explorer series then nothing else quite seems to cut the mustard. In reality, the appeal of the OS map has more to do with the UK’s network of protected rights of way than it does about the skill of the cartographer. For that reason, the best maps here, in Italy, are those that cover the coastal and mountain areas, as they attract the greatest number of tourists. The Italian equivalent to the OS map is the Carta Turistica e dei Sentieri, which is available at a scale of 1:50,000 (red cover) and 1:25,000 (green cover). Fitness based recreational tourism is on the increase in Italy. This is a country that has always taken road cycling very seriously, so a growing interest in mountain biking was a logical development that has been boosted by an increasing awareness of the need to protect the environment (and the health of the nation in the process). Consequently, we’ve found that the online maps produced by Thunderforest, such as OpenCycleMap, are hard to beat and are the most up to date. As luck would have it, these are the maps most likely to be found on your GPS device or walking app and are the ones used on this site.

A few words about rights of way in Italy

There are very few countries in the world where you can expect to enjoy the same level of legally protected rights of way as those to be found in England and Wales. On the other hand, private ownership of uplands and other wild country has resulted in access to swathes of the British countryside being denied to the walker. Finding a balance between, on the one hand, a system of open access (or the right to roam) and, on the other hand, the right for landowners to protect (or prevent trespass on) their property, has always been a contentious one — in the UK at least.

Here, in Italy, things are a little different. A little more laid back, you might say. There is no concept of legally protected rights of way or those very British fingerposts that announce and protect the existence of a footpath. Instead, you will discover a system that very much resembles the way in which walkers might expect a right to roam policy to be honoured. For the most part, agricultural and wild areas (forests and mountains) are open access by way of the numerous tracks and paths that are used by the farmers and foresters who make their livelihoods off the land.

That said, footpaths do exist but without the level of state protection that we are used to. This distinction is an important one because there is no onus on landowners to maintain the paths. Paths that are usable one moment can become overgrown and impassable the next.

What about way marks?

In the mountains and other popular walking areas, the Club Alpino Italiano (CAI) has developed networks of numbered paths that are walked reasonably frequently. These are always marked using red and white stripes on rocks, trees or whatever else is to hand and, if the lines are not straight, then the angle or curve of the symbol will give an indication of which way you need to go next. Great. Except the marks are not always easy to find. They get weathered out. The trees get felled.

In Lunigiana, there are two long distance footpaths that pass through. The Pilgrims’ Way (la Via Francigena) is the more established of the two and, consequently, has better signage and an array of books and guides that are available in many languages. The other is la Via della Volto Santo (VVS). Many of our walks include sections that follow the VVS, which is indicated in a similar fashion to the CAI paths but with blue symbols.

Finally, there is a rapidly growing trend for local councils to organise community walks that include a number of food stops along the way. These go under such names as Mangialonga or Mangia Walking and, in our area, the routes are typically marked with either red symbols (Fivizzano) or orange symbols (Casola-in-Lunigiana).

Parting shot

By taking advantage of our downloadable GPS tracks you will not need to worry about being able to follow any of our routes because you can upload them to your GPS walking app or device of choice.

Happy hiking!


While you’re here, why not visit a gallery?

Fine Art by Nature

Creative close-up nature photography.

Jump right into Nature

Fine Art Landscape

Dramatic images of the great outdoors.

Explore the wild places

Fine Art on Display

Exhibitions & events featuring my work.

Find out more

Butterfly Galleries

Beautiful images of butterflies.

Spread your wings

The Great Outdoors

Walks with angellightphoto.

Breathe the fresh air

Travel and Tourism

Images from our favourite places.

Take a holiday