(Coming from the A11 Pisa Lucca Firenze Motorway)
Exit the A11 Motorway at Lucca Est – as you come off the slip road you will see McDonalds ahead of you. Follow the slip road, keeping McDonalds to your right, then quickly move over to the right hand lane – otherwise you will head back in a loop towards the motorway. Tip: if you see McDonalds on your left then it’s to late you are already heading back toward the motorway, so do a U-Turn at Pisa and then start reading these instructions from the beginning again.
Continue straight ahead. You will come to a small roundabout (if you look back you shouldn’t be able to see McDonalds anymore), stay in the left lane and continue straight, on your right you will see the Walls of Lucca. The Walls go all around the city, think of them as one enormous roundabout
(circumference of about 4 km/ 2.5 miles). Continue travelling clockwise around the city walls following signs for Castelnuovo Garfangnana, Barga o Bagni di Lucca. Tip: If the walls are on your left then you are not following these instructions properly, but don’t worry it’s a roundabout so continue and sooner or later you will come across the signs for Castelnuovo Garfangnana, Barga o Bagni di Lucca.
Leaving Lucca, you will travel along a long straight road passing (on your right) a sexyshop and then a couple of car dealerships. Continue straight until you reach a large junction with a supermarket next to it. Halfway along the supermarket building you will see a sign to barga, so turn right over the river. After crossing the bridge follow the road to the right. Tip: don’t go straight on otherwise you will end up back on the coast (Near Viareggio) and will have to start following these directions from the start again.
You will go through a series of four tunnels, after the tunnels, the road splits, take the road to the right which crosses a bridge continue following the signs to Castelnuovo /barga.
The river is now on your right, Note:if the river is on your left, then at the supermarket you went straight instead of right, but don’t worry just carry on going straight and at the next bridge cross over.
The river is on your right, so carry on going straight along the valley, you should pass the towns of Diecimo and Borgo a Mozzano. Continue for 20 km towards Castelnuovo G/Barga until you see a large blue building with a “K” on it.
Just after this building, follow the signs towards “Fornaci di barga”, hence take the bridge across the river, then go passed the Fornaci football stadium and continue straight until you come to a stop sign. In front of you is the Fornaci high street. Turn right and after 50 meters turn left towards Barga.
Follow the road up the hill and after a few km you will see the “most Scottish town in Italy” sign. If you continue along this road, on your right you will see the “Fosso” car park and castle walls, then a few more meters on your left is the new panoramic camper car park and after another 100 meters on your right is the Bright red Barga Telephone Box.
More from the “Weekly Words for the Wise – a weekly column for the people in the know” can be read here