OUR TEN FAVORITE ITALIAN HIKES

Each of us has a favorite altitude in the mountains, a landscape that resembles him and where he feels good." 
Paolo Cognetti

TRE CIME DI LAVAREDO

Between Veneto and Trentino Alto-Adige, the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, also named “three fingers of dolomia”, rise to the sky with a magnificence which is all to discover by hiking around them.  The peaks's faces show themselves gradually along the path in their characteristic shapes and colors.

But not only the view of these peaks changeS and amazeS, also the panorama that surrounds them is unique: from Monte Paterno, to the Dolomites above Cortina and Sesto.

Curiosity: Along the path we can find some trenches or galleries, as an evidence of the role of battlefront this mountain had in the First World War. 

Location: Veneto

MONTE SECEDA

With a circular hike of medium difficulty, you can arrive at Seceda (2.519 mt.), in the heart of Dolomites, from where you could have a 360° view on the imponent Group of the Odle and the mountains around Val Gardena and Val di Funes.  

Lots of huts are disseminated in the the iconic and most photographed plateau at the top, characterized by a steep and crumbly terrain, and covered by amazing green lawns and colorful flowers’ expanses. 

Curiosity: Not too far from here, you can see the Pieralongia speers, whose shape remember two sharks merging from the water.

Location: Trentino Alto Adige

SORGENTI DEL PO

Walking among different and colourful blooms as it gains altitude, you can reach the river head of Po, the Italian longer river, which amazes you with two next little waterfalls, plentful of water in the spring end. 

You can continue the hiking by walking up to two stunning lakes among the mountains around: the Fiorenza lake, where does the Monviso mirrors itself and Chiaretto lake, characterized by a turquoise colour and rhododendrons all around.

Curiosity: the whole trail is dominated by the titanic presence of the Monviso, which is called “King of Stone”, for its 3.800 mts.


Location: Piemonte

MONTE CAPANNE

Heading from Marciana, a medieval village perched on the granite massif of the mount, you can start a trail which runs among chestnut and holm oaks leads you to old shepherds’ stone hut and fences for animals.

In the Monte Capanne slopes, the Mediterranean bush is flourishing and the granite rocks take particular and curious shapes, while at the top of the mount, in clear days, you can have a stunning view on the whole Elba and other Thyrrenian island and up to Corsica and Tuscany. 

Curiosity: along the path, you could see fallow deers, and solitary herds of mouflons who live undisturbed together with buzzards and peregrine falcons.

Location:
Isola d'Elba, Toscana

MONTE ABETONE

In the province of Pistoia, in Tuscany, you can hike in the Val di Luce, a wild valley located in a strategic location, in the middle of three ancient Italian government in the past and crossroad for wayfarers and merchants. 

Walking here, you can reach the Passo di Annibale, where the history evidence says the Carthaginian leader, Hannibal, crossed south the Apennines with his army in the 217 BC during the second Punic war.

Curiosity: In the early fall season, the blueberries plants color in red the slopes, giving the hike a most stunning experience.  


Location: Toscana

MONTE VETTORE

Not too far from Castelluccio di Norcia, known for the flowers bloom carpet of different colours, you can take a path, without any vegetation and close to a glacial basin, which brings you to the stunning top of Monte Vettore.

The ascent to Monte Vettore (the higher mountains of Monti Sibillini, with 2.476 m) offers you a suggestive panoramic view on the central Italian Apennines and the Adriatic Sea on the horizon. 

Curiosity: along the trail, you can find the Pian Grande, where it is possible to admire the Italy shape, given from a particular and specific tree pruning.

Location: Umbria

VULCANO ETNA

A particular trekking which let you observe the magnitude of volcanic crater depressions, by hiking up to the four top craters of Etna, the bigger active volcano in Europe.

Walking along the slopes made of volcanic ashes, you can see the evidences of the main explosive activity, which let the hikers with a sensation of impotence in front of this nature spectacle that never stop to surprising us.

Curiosity: Etna is the highest active volcano of the Eurasian plate and on 21 June 2013, the XXXVII session of the UNESCO Committee included Etna in the list of assets constituting the World Heritage Site.

Location: Sicilia

SENTIERO DEGLI DEI

For centuries, it was the unique way of communication and commerce between the Amalfi Coast villages, the Sentiero degli Dei runs along the ridge of Lattari mountains, that overlook the sea and offers one of the best skylines in the world. 

A specific grapevine, inheritance of the Ancient Greek colonization on this region, citrus and lots of other typical crops of the Mediterranean bush are the signal of the human labor of who until today live in this places, in a total harmony with the natural landscape.

Curiosity: Lots are the legends and stories about this trail: it is thought in the past it was a refuge for brigands or it was lived by a magician.

Location: Campania

KALABRIA COAST TO COAST

A naturalistic route of 55 km among old olive trees, vines, fields of wheat and prickly pears, woods of centuries-old chestnut and beech trees and granite stones shaped by time, which from the white Ionian beaches of the Costa degli Aranci ends in the picturesque Pizzo, perched on a tufaceous rock above the Tyrrhenian cost.

Off the usual touristic track, it is a journey between ancient flavors, fragrances and traditions of this place, rich in history and millenary culture; it seems that time never stopped there.

Curiosity: The trail runs among mountain territory of Calabria, but crosses also some suggestive typical villages of Calabria region, you can discover during the path.


Location: Calabria

VIE DEL SALE

In the Puglia Adriatic coast, you can hike among dry stone walls, ancient “pajare”, prickly pears and secular olive groves in the “tratturi”, ancient path crossed by who in the past picked up the salt from pools dug into the cliff and transported it in the hinterland.

Along the trail, you can hike among dry stone walls, ancient “pajare”, prickly pears and secular olive groves, typical of the Mediterranean bush and discover the salt flats that are close to the sea today yet.

Curiosity: One of the hiking destinations could be also the Torre Specchia Grande, one of the best and more majestic coastal towers used for the defense of Salento in the past.  The tower is a fortification work commissioned by Charles V to defend the Salento area from the attacks of the Saracens.

Location: Puglia

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