A visit to the marble basins is a must: you meet a patrimony which, according to some written documents concerning Carrara, amounts to sixty thousand million cubic metres of marble. The three big giants standing out behind the town are Ravaccione, Fantiscritti and Colonnata basins
You get to the first taking the road which leads from Carrara to Campocecina. You follow the road signs to Torano and from here take the road to the first groups of quarries of the Apuan Alps: Lorano, il Polvaccio (approx. 450 mts. a.s.l.) Crestola, Bettogli, Zampone, Torrione, Boscaccio, Valpulpito, Battaglino. The second trip leads to Fantiscritti, 630 mts. a.s.l., which owes its name to the famous shrine dating back to the third century A. C. and representing Hercules, Jove and Dionysus. It was taken from the top of the quarry in June 1863 and is now preserved in the academy of the fine arts in Carrara. To get to the field you take the road to Miseglia which runs through the Vara's bridges.

marble basin

You meet on the way the quarries of Verdichiara, Scaloni, Strinato, Canalgrande. A little eastwards there is an ancient quarry, one of the many "Roman cutting" which can be found in the apuan Alps and which witness the marble activity recalling to Luni's trades. The basin of Colonnata opens even more eastwards at a high of 500 mts a.s.l.. This group of quarries dominates the homonymous mountain hamlet, which can be reached through Codena and Bedizzano. Here they are, the marble basins: Fossacava, Gioia, Tarnone, Belgia, Campanili, Venedreta, La Piastra, Fontana, Canaloni.

Vara's bridges.

1-Carrara-Colonnata-Vergheto
A meandering road leads to Colonnata(8,5 km from Carrara). From its little square the road winds up, through woods and marble fields, to Vergheto, a village which was once inhabited by quarrymen, but has been now abandoned. From here you can enjoy a very suggestive panorama of the surrounding mountains and of Massa's marble basins. From Vergheto you can get to Pisa shelter (1000 mts)

2-Carrara-Piastra-Campocecina

From Carrara to Torano and Ravaccione you get to La Piastra. From here a path leads to Campocecina (1320 mts. a.s.l.). For this mountain walk, which will take approx. 2 hours, one needs to be used to walking.

3-Carrara-Campocecina-Foce di Giovo

From Campocecina a mountain road, crossing villages like Gragnana and Castelpoggio, climbs up to the CAI shelter. Many paths branch off from the shelter, leading to the quarries of Mount Sagro (1743 mts), to Foce di Vinca (1333 mts), to the Garnerone shelter, also owned by CAI, to Foce di Giovo and so on..

4-Carrara-Vinca- Equi Terme
Following the same road to Campocecina, you get to the Majestic junction, where the Spolverina road leads to Vinca (808 mts). From Vinca's village, Monzone, which is renowned for its bakeries and its bread, many paths branch off. They lead to Foce di Giovo, and Val Serenaia and they cross the Mount Pizzo d'Uccello northwards and the Mount Grondilice southwards.
From Vinca going back by car to Monzone and taking a road on the right, you can reach
Equi Terme.