If you think Tuscany is all about rolling hills and cypress trees then think again. Starting in Carrara in the west, and stretching right across to Garfagnana in the east, the Apuan alps are one of the region’s best kept secrets. Home to some of Italy’s wildest and most unspoilt countryside, this diverse ecosystem sees typically Mediterranean plants like olives and vineyards co-exist with beech woods, marshes, gorges and craggy waterfalls.

This is an expansive, densely forested terrain, scattered with ruins, historic towns and agriturismi, most of which remain, blissfully, under the radar of mass tourism. As the temperatures cool, and the leaves begin to turn brown, now is the ideal time to visit.