Transport
Shuttle Buses | Airports | Trains | By car | Detailed directions/maps
The meeting will be held at the Il Ciocco Conference Centre, Castelvecchio Pascoli. It is situated in the northern Tuscany region of Italy approximately 40 km (26 miles) from Lucca, 60 km (39 miles) from Pisa and 110 km (74 miles) from Florence.
Shuttle buses will leave on July 1 from Pisa Airport at 11 am, 15 pm, 19 pm and from Pisa Railway Station at 11:15 am, 15:15 pm, 19:15 pm. Transfer time to Il Ciocco is approximately 1.5 hours.
Shuttle buses on July 6 will depart from Il Ciocco at approximately 11:30 am and 15:30 pm to Pisa Airport and will arrive approximately at 13:00 pm and 17:00 pm at the airport and 15 minutes later at the Pisa Railway Station.
We anyway will be asking you onsite to sign up for the two busses. Those of you leaving later we either suggest to take one of those busses to go to Pisa earlier or otherwise we can arrange a minibus onsite.
Personal shuttle buses for early or late arrivals or pickup from Florence Airport, can be arranged by contacting Bruno Giannasi, Conference Manager at Il Ciocco:
Email: commerciale@ciocco.it
Tel.: 0039 0583 719564
Car 4 persons: EUR 115,00
Mini bus 8 persons: EUR 165,00
Pisa International Airport (PSA)
Pisa International Airport is the closest international airport to Il Ciocco (approximately 39 miles). There will be a shuttle bus 3 times daily to and from Il Ciocco on the first and last day of the conference.
Florence Airport is an alternative for attendees at Il Ciocco, although it is farther away (approximately 74 miles) than Pisa Airport.
The web site for train information in Italy is www.trenitalia.com. Catch the train from either Pisa Areoporto, or Pisa Centrale. Pisa Centrale is a 5 minute (3km) taxi ride from the airport, so it is often easier to do this (as trains are more regular from the Pisa Centrale). There is also another station after Pisa Centrale called Pisa S. Rossore. The train route you need is "Pisa - (Lucca) - Barga-Gallicano".
Barga-Gallicano is the station most convenient to Il Ciocco. When searching for this station using trenitalia, type it exactly as written here. Barga-Gallicano is about 5km from Il Ciocco. When you reach the station, you can call the hotel (0583 7191) from the bar next to the station and ask them to send a taxi for you. A taxi to the hotel is about EUR 10 - 20.
The total journey time varies but is approximately 1 hour 30 minutes. After Lucca, the train is a small slow valley train. To assist you, the station before Barga-Gallicano is Fornaci di Barga. A word of warning regarding your ticket: once purchased, you must stamp it using the small yellow machines which are located on the platforms. This puts a date stamp on your ticket and validates it. You can be fined if your ticket is not validated!
From Florence (Firenze): take the A11 direction Lucca / Mare (then see detailed instructions below)
From Rome (Roma): take the A1 north to Firenze, join the A11 direction Lucca / Mare (then see detailed instructions below)
From Bologna: take the A1 south direction Firenze then join the A11 direction Lucca / Mare (then see detailed instructions below)
From Genova: take the A12 south direction La Spezia / Livorno, at Viareggio, join the A11 direction Firenze, to Lucca (then see detailed instructions below)
From Pisa: take the A12 north, direction Viareggio / Genova, join the A11 direction Firenze / Lucca (then see detailed instructions below)
Please note: It maybe useful to use Google maps to look at the route which has the street names used below as a reference. Follow this link, which starts from the A11 Lucca Est junction.
Exit the A11 at Lucca Est (this is the first Lucca junction you reach from Firenze and the second from Pisa, Genova). Pay at the toll booth - as you come off the slip road you will see McDonalds ahead of you. Follow the slip road, keeping McDonalds to your right but then you must quickly move over to the right hand land otherwise you will head back in a loop towards the motorway / autostrada junctions. Continue ahead on Viale Europa (marked in yellow on map). It is a wide road - stay in the right hand lane.
Cross over some traffic lights then you will come to a roundabout - take the second exit and you will join Viale Giosue Carducci. The Lucca city walls will now be on your right. Continue around the city on this road travelling clockwise on the following streets: Viale Lazzaro Papi which turns into Viale Carlo del Prete. Try and stay in the right hand lane and don�t turn off this main tree lined road. You will approach a large grassy roundabout - Piazzale Marta della Liberta (if looking at a map of the city, you should now be on the Northern edge, slightly right of center).
At this roundabout, the first exit takes you into the city through one of the city gates (Santa Maria). Take the exit after this (onto Viale Pompeo Batoni) and move into the left hand lane. You will come to another much smaller roundabout. Take the second exit (onto Via Matteo Civitali). On this road, stay in the right hand lane. You will pass through some traffic lights and at the top of this street, branch right (you are now on the SS12 Via del Brennero) heading north away from Lucca. After approximately 5 km, you will come to a major junction. To your right, there is a supermarket called Essalunga.
Continue straight ahead on the SS12. You will drive through a small town (Ponte e Moriano). After approximately 4.5km from the Essalunga supermarket, you will eventually merge up a slip road onto the SS12var.
In approximately 2 km you will come to a small town called Piaggione. Drive straight through it and stay on this road for approximately 7.5km until you reach a sign saying Borgo a Mozzano. Move left into the filter lane and turn left over the bridge. At the roundabout on the other side, take the first exit right. You are now on the SP2. With the river now on your right, you will pass a bridge spanning the river. Stay on this road and drive into and through Gallicano (approximately 13km). You will pass a supermarket on your right called E. Leclerc, In approximately 3 km, you will come to Ponte di Campia. At the junction, turn right and cross the river again. At the other side of the bridge, you need to bear left almost immediately onto Via Giovanni Pascoli. Follow the road for just under 1 km and you will enter Castelvecchio Pascoli, a small village. You will pass a small market shop on your right, a small bar on your left, then a bank and bicycle shop on the right. Just past the bicycle shop, make a left turn to Il Ciocco - look for the big sign on the right hand side of the road pointing out the turn. There is also a light suspended above the junction.
Pass the guard at the bottom of the hill, then follow the road ahead (and up!). In approximately 2km, you will find the main car park and hotel.
The detailed directions above follow ONE route from Lucca to Il Ciocco. Please note that there are a number of alternatives. Approximately 5.5km north of Lucca (the junction where Essalunga supermarket is), you have the choice of continuing ahead and taking the SS12 then SR445 to the right of the river - or, turning left and taking the SP2 then the SP20 on the road to the left of river. You are able to cross the river at various points (Borgo a Mozzano and Ponte di Campia). Il Ciocco is situated on the right of the river in Castelvecchio Pascoli.