Description
Bumping uphill in a 4x4 with white rock on every side is the best way into the Carrara marble quarries, and this off-road tour lasts about two and a half hours. A guide and a driver take you from Piazza Vittorio Veneto, by the marble obelisk, along winding dirt roads, through tunnels and galleries, up to quarries that are still being worked.
The route runs through Torano, Miseglia and Colonnata, three marble basins that together make up what is called Michelangelo's Valley. At the first stop the guide uses tools and images to explain how marble is cut out of the mountain and then processed. There is time to get out and take photos at several viewpoints.
- Open-air quarries seen from close up
- The Fossa degli Angeli, a hidden, multi-level temple of rock, unique of its kind
- A small tasting of Lardo di Colonnata IGP
Fuel and everything in the programme are covered; drinks with the tasting are not. Tours leave twice a day, morning and afternoon, in English or Italian. Dogs are welcome if you tell the organiser beforehand so there is space for them. The tour is not suitable for pregnant women or wheelchair users.