The Garfagnana and the Devil’s Bridge

Mist clings to the arches of the Devil’s Bridge as the Serchio slides beneath. You pause on the square at Borgo a Mozzano, 28 km north of Lucca, to take in the skewed span of the Maddalena bridge, reworked around the 15th century. Higher up, the mountain line marks the hinge between the Apennines and the Apuan Alps. Barga comes next, perched at 410 m: a short climb leads to the Romanesque Cathedral of San Cristoforo and its sweeping lookout. Then deeper into Garfagnana, to the 16th‑century Rocca delle Verrucole, a sandstone stronghold over San Romano.

Collected from your hotel in Lucca, you settle into a Mercedes and keep it for the day: photo stops, a detour to a trattoria in Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, time to wander alleys—while your driver handles the winding SR445. With a private chauffeur in Lucca, linking Barga (45 min), Borgo a Mozzano (35 min) and the Verrucole fortress (about 1 h 20 from Lucca) is easy, with no parking hassles in historic centers. You taste chestnut‑flour necci, explore at your own pace, and the schedule flexes if the valley fog lingers.