Day1: Individual arrival in Parma, hotel accomodation in the city center, welcome and tour information on site by our representative.
Day2: Ghiare di Berceto – Berceto
The stage starts from the bottom of the Taro River Valley and takes you to discover the wild and narrow Manubiola Valley, scene of heroic deeds of partisans against the Nazi-Fascists during the Second World War. Once in Corchia – one of the best preserved medieval village of the Apennines – with a hiking guide you will visit the old mines created in the sixteenth century by the Gold Rush and the Martino Jasoni Museum, who born in Corchia in 1901 and emigrated at the age of 6 years in the United States where he became a famous painter. On the way you will have the chance to stop at a famous restaurant to taste the specialties of the valley, the prized porcini mushroom IGP. The end of the stage is in Berceto, village built along the Via Francigena (the medieval pilgrim’s route linking Rome to Canterbury) and famous for its cathedral of the twelfth century, built on the ruins of a former monastery.
q: 25km – < total ascent: 900m (2900 feet)
Day3: Berceto – Corniglio/Lagdei
After leaving Berceto you exceed the Sillara’s pass to reach the nearby ridge and enters the Appennino Tusco-Emiliano National Park: an endless succession of woods and valleys watered by rushing streams. At this point you can choose to stop for the night in Corniglio, a town famous for its castle and for the Parma’s ham… or go in to the wild heart of the national park and stay in Lagdei, a comfortable and modern mountain refuge. If you choose Corniglio you will discover the secrets of crafting the ham, if you prefer Lagdei you’ll have the possibility to make an unforgettable trekking to reach the Lago Santo, a real wonder of nature surrounded by secular woods.
q to Corniglio: 20km – < total ascent: 600m (1960 feet)
q to Lagdei: 23km – < total ascent: 1000m (3280 feet)
Day4: Corniglio/Lagdei – Apella
You’ll spends the whole day riding in the national park, through woods and rivers, crossing the habitat of the wolf and eagle up to the big lake Paduli and Lagastrello Pass, which marks the border between Emilia Romagna and Tuscany. A fast descent takes you to the medieval villages of Tavernelle and Taponecco before reaching the agriturism farm Montagna Verde in Apella, housed in a tower of the XI century and famous for its cuisine.
q: 45km – < total ascent: 1100m (3600 feet)
Day5: Apella – Pontremoli
You’ll start the day cycling between majestic specimens of chestnut trees and then drop down to reach the plains of Bagnone and discover the Lunigiana, a land rich in history, as testified by the numerous castles and fortified villages and for the famous statues stele, anthropomorphic figures carved in stone which can be viewed at local museum in the Piagnaro castle once in Pontremoli.
q: 34km – < total ascent: 600m (1960 feet)
Day6: Pontremoli – Berceto/Parma
An exciting final stage that will take you to conquer the Cisa pass cycling along the imperial road built by Napoleon, for centuries the only connection between Central Europe and the basin of Meditterraneo. The pass it’s been for centuries a symbolic and coveted goal for pilgrims traveling along the famous Via Francigena and is the latest difficulty of the journey before before starting the long descent back to Berceto.
q: 27km – < total ascent: 850m (2780 feet)
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