Falterona, Bilancino, the Casentinesi Forests.

The Casentinesi Forests, Monte Falterona and Campigna National Park covers 36,848 hectares across Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna and was established by Italian decree on 12 July 1993. Its core, the Sasso Fratino integral reserve (764 ha, founded in 1959), has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 7 July 2017 within the "Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe" property: it preserves continuous forest cover with trees over 500 years old. From the property the Park's western boundary lies at about 25 km.

Monte Falterona (1,654 m) marks the watershed between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic seas. The Arno rises on its slope at Capo d'Arno (1,358 m). The Falterona–Falco–Acquacheta ridge trail crosses several panoramic peaks and the Acquacheta waterfall, mentioned by Dante in Inferno XVI, 94–102.

Lake Bilancino was created in 1996 by damming the Sieve as a flood-control basin for the Arno. It covers 5 km² and is located in the municipalities of Barberino di Mugello and San Piero a Sieve. It has held FEE Blue Flag status since 2004 — a rare distinction for an inland Italian water — for water quality and beach management. The 18 km loop is suitable for walking, cycling and horse-riding; the lake is also a stopover point for migratory birds (cormorant, great crested grebe, mallard).

The Mugello's wildlife reflects the climatic and altitudinal gradient: roe deer in the foothills, fallow deer in the woodlands, red deer in the Park (with its September rut), wild boar, the porcupine (now stably present even at high altitudes), and rare sightings of wolves returning from Romagna. From the property all three areas — Park, Bilancino, Falterona — are reachable in less than an hour by car.

The Giotto room overlooks east towards Vespignano and Monte Giovi: the same horizon the young pastor would have looked at, before Florence. Double room, first floor, shared bathroom.

Giotto room details →