I'll be in Florence in early Feb (approx 7-14) and trying to determine
if a daytrip to Carrara is feasible. I see the train takes only about
an hour, but that takes me to the town. I am interested in seeing the
marble quarries (which I saw once at a distance from the highway).

Is there public transport or some sort of tour arrangement out of the
town to the quarries or do you need a car?

Or is the whole idea of doing this in Feb (given their altitude)
foolish?

I've done some googling but no luck so far finding this info.

Carole Allen <[email protected]> wrote:

    > I'll be in Florence in early Feb (approx 7-14) and trying to determine
    > if a daytrip to Carrara is feasible. I see the train takes only about
    > an hour, but that takes me to the town. I am interested in seeing the
    > marble quarries (which I saw once at a distance from the highway).
    >
    > Is there public transport or some sort of tour arrangement out of the
    > town to the quarries or do you need a car?
    >
    > Or is the whole idea of doing this in Feb (given their altitude)
    > foolish?
    >
    > I've done some googling but no luck so far finding this info.

No, I haven't done it, but I have tried googling in Italian
(quarries=cave, tour=visita, marble=marmo). So, here there are some
links:

http://www.vacanzeinversilia.com/cave.html

The marble museum in Carrara:
http://giove.cnuce.cnr.it/Museo.html

As far as I understand, there are some historical marble quarries (like
in Colonnata) that can be visited. Colonnata is also quite famous for
its aromatized bacon (lardo di Colonnata):
http://www.vacanzeinversilia.com/colonnata.html

But I am afraid you will need private transportation to get there.
I am afraid that the places are quite cold in February.
Also, be careful as marble quarries are quite dangerous places.


--
Luca Logi - Firenze - Italy e-mail: [email protected]

Thanks Luca. I will probably not end up going, but I had a notion
that I could get some fantastic photos. I have plenty to see and do
during my time in Florence which is pretty flexible, some other
daytrips planned, and even a one day cooking class! I've been to the
region before, but you can never have enough time to see it all...

I'll check the websites...I am hardly fluent, but I can get by enough
in Italian to figure out what they say....

On Sat, 13 Dec 2003 14:53:32 +0100, [email protected] (Luca Logi) wrote:

    >No, I haven't done it, but I have tried googling in Italian
    >(quarries=cave, tour=visita, marble=marmo). So, here there are some
    >links:
    >http://www.vacanzeinversilia.com/cave.html
    >The marble museum in Carrara:
    >http://giove.cnuce.cnr.it/Museo.html
    >As far as I understand, there are some historical marble quarries (like
    >in Colonnata) that can be visited. Colonnata is also quite famous for
    >its aromatized bacon (lardo di Colonnata):
    >http://www.vacanzeinversilia.com/colonnata.html
    >But I am afraid you will need private transportation to get there.
    >I am afraid that the places are quite cold in February.
    >Also, be careful as marble quarries are quite dangerous places.
    >--
    >Luca Logi - Firenze - Italy e-mail: [email protected]

We passed by some of the marble works on the train back in Feb. on our
way to Pistoia. I suspect it is a bit more than an hour journey though
from Carrara to Florence, seems like the total train time from Carrara
to Pistoia was on the order of an hour or more (through Pisa). AFAIR
some of the marble works were quite near the station. It was clear and
sunny that day in Feb., with temps. about 40 deg F (4 deg C). Sweater
and a medium weight jacket where all that were required. Our photos did
not turn out that well since they were taken through the train window
and I was using a slow speed film.
--
wf.

Carole Allen wrote:
    >
    > Thanks Luca. I will probably not end up going, but I had a notion
    > that I could get some fantastic photos. I have plenty to see and do
    > during my time in Florence which is pretty flexible, some other
    > daytrips planned, and even a one day cooking class! I've been to the
    > region before, but you can never have enough time to see it all...
    >
    > I'll check the websites...I am hardly fluent, but I can get by enough
    > in Italian to figure out what they say....
    >
    > On Sat, 13 Dec 2003 14:53:32 +0100, [email protected] (Luca Logi) wrote:
    >
    > >No, I haven't done it, but I have tried googling in Italian
    > >(quarries=cave, tour=visita, marble=marmo). So, here there are some
    > >links:
    > >
    > >http://www.vacanzeinversilia.com/cave.html
    > >
    > >The marble museum in Carrara:
    > >http://giove.cnuce.cnr.it/Museo.html
    > >
    > >As far as I understand, there are some historical marble quarries (like
    > >in Colonnata) that can be visited. Colonnata is also quite famous for
    > >its aromatized bacon (lardo di Colonnata):
    > >http://www.vacanzeinversilia.com/colonnata.html
    > >
    > >But I am afraid you will need private transportation to get there.
    > >I am afraid that the places are quite cold in February.
    > >Also, be careful as marble quarries are quite dangerous places.
    > >
    > >
    > >--
    > >Luca Logi - Firenze - Italy e-mail: [email protected]

--
wf.
Wayne Flowers
Randee Greenwald
[email protected]