Holiday House in Versilia Tuscany

Why Il Piccolo Nido

Peaceful Holiday House with a panoramic view on the sea coast and mountains. In the natural park of the Apuan Alps and in Versilia famous for its long beaches - Closed to Garfagnana, Lunigiana and to Cinque Terre in the Ligurian coast easibly accesible by car, train or boat. Perfect for a sea and a mountain holiday together. Great geographic location, outside the chaotic touristic routes but ideal for daily excursion to anywhere in Tuscany and Liguria. Great food and wines! All the territory of Massa Carrara is a perfect destination for food&wine tourisms. A paradise for the hiking lovers with hiking trails starting just in front of the house

Main features of the house

Indoor: 4 rooms for a total of 50m2, 1 sleeping room, 1 toilet with shower, living room with a sleeping sofa and fireplace, independent kitchen. Outdoor: small garden with a great panoramic view, facing southwards, barbecue and garden furniture, hiking trails starting just in front of the house, natural spring at a short distance (10 mins walk). What to see: Natural Parks, Alpi Apuane, Lunigiana, Garfagnan, Poets Gulf, Cinque Terre, Portofino, Beaches of Versilia, famous cities of Tuscany (Firenze, Lucca, Pisa, Siena...), the Coast of Etruscan and Park of Maremma, Marble quarries of Alpi Apuane, culture events, food&wines itineraries, castles and stony built villages. What to do: relaxing, trekking in the natural Parks, sports (tennis, golf, swimming), extreme sports (canyoning, kayak, paragliding, rock climbing), horse riding and horse back excursion in the parks, river and lake fishing, fish-tourism, scuba diving, cultural visits to castles and museums, discovering the small medieval villages of Lunigiana, and Garfagnana, tasting great local foods and wines. Main distances: Shops: Loc. Cerreto 2km (small food shop, pizza shop, bar), Loc. Capanne 3km (all shops, banks and a postal office). Sea coast and beaches: Marina di Montignoso (Cinquale): 9km, Versilia 13km (Forte dei Marmi) - 30km (Viareggio), Cinque Terre 60-80km. Tuscany: Massa 7km, Carrara 15km, Pisa 55km, Lucca 50km, Firenze 135km, Siena 185km. Emilia Romagna: Parma 145km, Bologna 205km, Ferrara 250km Emilia Romagna: Parma 145km, Bologna 205km, Ferrara 250km.

Montignoso

Montignoso is between Versilia and Massa stretching from the top of Monte Carchio to the sandy coast. You can find a variety of different landscapes here, from the beaches of Versilia, to the marshes of Porta Lake and finally the mountain landscapes of the Apuan Alps. Montignoso is included in the protected area of Apuan Alps Regional Park. The clear sea waters, the well organized beach resorts, the proximity to Versilia, Garfagnana, Lunigiana and Tuscan cities of art and the Spa of Villa Undulna attract every year numerous tourists from Italy and abroad. Sant'Eustachio is one of the villages in the mountain part of Montignoso. It stretches parallel to the coastline, looking southwards, it enjoys a wonderful view on the coastline and the valley. Normally 250 people lives here but in summer Sant'Eustachio is visited by many tourists who decide to spend their holiday in this quite place. Historically Montignoso has always been a land of passage and on important commercial routes such as the roman via Sauria (today via Aurelia) and the medieval Via Francigena which passed from Porta Beltrame (below the castle and in front of the Porta Lake). It has interesting historical place to visit such as the San Vito e Modesto church, in the locality of Piazza and the San Eustachio church in Sant'Eustachio. Montignoso has not a town with the same name but several villages "disperse" in its territory. Some of these are the village of Renella by the Porta lake, where via Francigena passed through; Prato with its wine yards producing wines such as “Il Calomino” and “Il Feudo”. Among the villages in the mountain part of Montignoso there are Sant'Eustachio, Cerreto, and Pasquilio. Sant'Eustachio is a small village also called "Montagne" at an altitude of ca 300m above sea level. It stretches parallel to the coastline, looking southwards, it enjoys a wonderful view on the coastline and the valley. Normally 250 people lives here but in summer Sant'Eustachio is visited by many tourists who decide to rent a holiday house and spend their holiday in this quite place. In July there is the Sagra of Taglierino or Sagra delle Montagne where local food is cooked and sold in the green lawn in front of the church. Cerreto is a locality set in a green landscape and surrounded by olive trees while Pasquilio is a panoramic locality at 800-900 mt above sea level. From Pasquilio you can take the trail to Mount Folgorito and visit the Gotic Line sites where the last fights of the Second World War took place. The German and partisan trenches are visible and easy to reach. From here you can also enjoy a beautiful view on all the coast of Tuscany from Livorno to Portovenere in Liguria and on the Islands in front of Tuscany. If you are lucky and the day is clear you can see the outline of Corsica. Montignoso is dominated by its Castle, the fortress of Aghinolfi. Among the castles of Massa Carrara, it is one of the most ancient and it was an element of the byzantine Limes, on the border with the Lombard territories. The castle, named by the Lombard king Aghinolfo, played a very important rule in the history of the town. The fortress was an important control centre, in particular on the main roads (Via Regia, via Aemili o Scauri, via Francigena). The castle probably has roman origins. Before the arrival of the Romans the area was inhabited by the Liguri - Apuani who where defeated by the Romans who understand the strategic position of this land for their commercial traffics. It has been contended for centuries by the military forces of Pisa, Genoa and Lucca. It played a strategic role in the Second World War as 1945 it was a nazist stronghold on the Gotic Line; the castle was set free by Americans and the partigiani.