The Garfagnana is the area corresponding to the Valle del Serchio. It is in the north-west region of Tuscany in the province of Lucca and it separates the Apuane Alps from the Tuscan-Emilian Apennine. Its places are rich in history and the blend between the Alpine and the Apennine landscape make this place one of the most eligible destinations for excursions.

The centre of the Valle del Serchio is Castelnuovo di Garfagnana from where it is possible to choose numerous tracks and visit the other locations: Borgo a Mozzano, Bagni di Lucca, Barga, Coreglia Antelminelli, Camporgiano, Gallicano, Pieve Fosciana, St. Romano in Garfagnana and Piazza al Serchio.
Otherwise, it is possible to discover the natural paradise of the valley and the mountains around, walking throughout chestnut groves and running into stags, moufflons, wild boars and many species of birds.
Neanderthal men, who either moved following mammoths or ascended the mountains looking for wild goats and chamois, already populated the Valle del Serchio in the Middle Paleolithic period, probably.
Nevertheless, differently from the rest of Tuscany, there are traces of human settlements dating to the Neolithic. A large number of people might have been attracted to the copper deposits of the Apuane Alps.
However, the first and most important human settlements belonged to the Liguri Apuani populations whose numerous tombs were discovered. It was a period between the VII and the II century B. C. characterized by a quite peaceful cohabitation and mutual exchanges with the Etruscans.
With the arrival of the Romans, the Liguri Apuani populations were subjugated and deported into the Sannio region, but their presence did not leave memorable traces on this territory. The Garfagnana was later governed by the Lombards after their conquest of Lucca.
At the age of the Italian city-states, all the centres in Garfagnana enjoyed a certain administrative autonomy with the protection of Lucca, but they were influenced by other big cities, too. It was the case for Barga that surrendered to Florence during the battles between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines.
Numerous conflicts originated also with the same Lucca, because of the intromission of Ferrara into the communal organization of the Valle del Serchio. In this period, Ludovico Ariosto acting as a "commissary" of the Estensi family of Ferrara played a central role inside the Garfagnana's political field.
The domination of the Estensi family lasted until the political upsetting of the Napoleonic period, when the French occupied the dukedom of Modena, their new residence since the XVI century, and, consequently, the Valle del Serchio.
After the restoration of the Estensi family in 1814, the Garfagnana was later occupied by the Piemontese in 1859 and it was eventually annexed to the Province of Massa in 1861, the year of the Italian Unification.
It was only in 1923 that it returned within the jurisdiction of Lucca.