Pinocchio Park and Pistoia Zoo

Hi, I've just come back from a lovely trip to Tuscany; thanks to an early taste of spring and a good offer online we decided to finally visit the Pinocchio park too. Even though we had read many negative reviews about the park, my little one liked it a lot....of course it's not Gardaland with its high-tech rides, and perhaps the entrance ticket is a bit pricey, 20 euros (combined ticket for the Pinocchio park, Villa Garzoni, butterfly house); inside there are several little rides (1 euro) and various educational workshops (also paid), but overall we can only give a positive verdict. Next to the park there is the Osteria del Gambero Rosso, which offers various tourist menus from 20/23 euros per person, 10 euros for children, but we preferred to make use of the park's lovely picnic area.

Villa Garzoni, on the other hand, was a pleasant surprise; everyone liked it, and its entrance is just a few steps from the Pinocchio one. Inside there is also the butterfly house with a lovely exotic garden and beautiful butterflies and little parrots. For the night we took advantage of an online offer at the Residenza del Granduca in Monsummano Terme; spacious and comfortable rooms, as well as kindness and helpfulness from the staff. In the evening we treated ourselves to a taste of the excellent Tuscan cuisine at the Osteria Antica Pieve in Pieve a Nievole, about 2 km from our hotel. The next day we visited the Pistoia zoo; here too the entrance is a bit pricey, 23 euros for two plus 2 euros for parking.

As the entrance ticket was so expensive, we made use of the lovely picnic area in this case too (in these times of crisis, making a virtue of necessity.!!!!!); in front of the picnic area there is a beautiful playground and Matteo had a great time. Inside the park there are several food dispensers for the animals, so it was possible to feed the giraffes and the little goats, to the great amazement of the little rascal. Giraffe, hippo, zebra and "King Julien" were all placed close together, and the little one addressed them calling them Martin, Melman, Moto Moto and Gloria like the characters from the well-known cartoon Madagascar. He was very amazed and truly happy, and so was I for him.... Before heading back to Genoa we stopped in Pistoia for a stroll around the historic centre.