Daytrip is a private car service platform that connects you with local drivers who will transport you door-to-door. We also give you the opportunity to explore sights/attractions along the way. We drive, you discover.
Daytrip offers private door-to-door transfers with optional sightseeing stops, hourly driver hire, and curated day trips â all with local English-speaking drivers and operating across 130+ countries.
For private trips, you can cancel for a full refund up to 24 hours before departure. For the Daytrip Pool shared shuttle, we offer 3 ticket options when booking: Non-refundable, Flexible with cancellations 24 hours before departure, and Super-flexible with cancellations up to 15 minutes before departure.
Yes! Book a private, door-to-door airport transfer with a local English-speaking driver. Enjoy fixed and transparent pricing, no hidden fees, and the option to pay in advance without the hassle of exchanging cash at a foreign airport.
You will receive the vehicle that best fits the number of travelers in your group, ranging from a sedan to a van for groups of up to 7. Depending where you travel, you can book anything from a sedan comparable to a Toyota Corolla to a Mercedes V-Class to a Classic Cuban Car. While the exact model may vary, we always ensure that the vehicle provided meets your needs in terms of safety, reliability, and comfort. You may be upgraded to a larger vehicle class free of charge depending on availability. Since our largest vehicle seats 7, for groups larger a combination of vehicles will be used. We will send you the exact vehicle details a few days before your trip.
Everywhere except the USA, drivers will supply appropriate child seats (just let us know during booking). In the USA, certain states require you to supply your own child seats.
Know more about traveling from Malaspina Castle
Fosdinovo's location makes it a natural anchor for a broader Lunigiana or Ligurian coast day. La Spezia, a gateway city for Cinque Terre, is roughly 30 minutes away by car. The Luni archaeological site, which preserves ruins of a Roman colony near the Tuscan-Ligurian border, is a short drive in the other direction. If wine is part of the plan, the Fosdinovo area is a recognized production zone for Colli di Luni DOP wines, including the local Vermentino. A Daytrip transfer makes combining stops straightforward: you simply request the sightseeing stops when booking, and your driver builds the route around your chosen destinations.
Fosdinovo sits in the hills of the Lunigiana, roughly 20 km (12 miles) from La Spezia and approximately 90 km (56 miles) from Pisa. The castle perches above the village on a hilltop with no direct public transport connection. The nearest train station is in Sarzana, about 10 km (6 miles) away, and from there a taxi or local bus is still required to reach the village. A Daytrip private transfer solves this entirely: your driver brings you directly to Fosdinovo, waits while you explore, and takes you onward or back at your chosen time. No timetables, no transfers, no puzzling out rural bus routes.
The guided castle tour lasts about 50 minutes, but the surrounding medieval village easily fills another hour or two. The main street traces a section of the ancient Via Francigena pilgrimage route and passes a historic theater, former Mint, two oratories, and the church of San Remigio. Piazza Garibaldi offers sweeping panoramic views of the valley, the sea, and on clear days as far as Elba and Corsica. A full half-day is a comfortable and rewarding visit; arriving with your own private transfer means you control the pace rather than racing to match a return bus or train schedule.
Castello Malaspina in Fosdinovo is one of the best-preserved medieval fortresses in the Lunigiana region of northern Tuscany. Built on a sandstone rock in the mid-1100s, it functions today as a working museum, a contemporary arts center, and even a bed and breakfast. The guided tour takes roughly 50 minutes and covers elaborately frescoed halls, a room where Dante Alighieri once slept, a collection of weapons and torture instruments, and the chamber where a ghost is said to roam. The views from the ramparts alone, stretching across the Magra Valley to Portovenere and the Ligurian islands on a clear day, make the journey worthwhile.
The castle's most haunting legend centers on Bianca Maria Aloisia, the young daughter of a Malaspina Marquis, who was reportedly walled alive inside the castle along with her dog and a wild boar. The throne room ceiling still bears stains that local tradition attributes to her story. The guided tour stops in the room associated with her ghost, and the castle's reputation for the paranormal draws visitors who have no particular interest in medieval history at all. Add to this the secret trapdoors, the torture room, and nearly 900 years of fortress history, and the "Castle of Mystery" tagline earns itself quickly.
Most medieval castles in Italy are either ruins or heavily restored showpieces. Fosdinovo's Malaspina Castle is neither. It has been continuously inhabited and maintained by the same family line since the 14th century, which means the interiors retain genuine period furnishings, original painted halls, and a lived-in authenticity rarely found elsewhere. It also survived the 1920 Lunigiana earthquake that destroyed much of the surrounding region, earning it the local reputation of being "indestructible." The combination of ghost legend, Dante connection, contemporary arts programming, and working B&B rooms makes it one of the most layered and genuinely unusual castle experiences in northern Tuscany.
