My Favourite Italian Day Hikes…so far!
There are hundreds of walking trails in Italy, from strenuous mountain climbs along Via Ferratas (wire bolted into the side of rocks to hang onto) to easy strolls along the beach for the whole family. Italy has an incredible network of treks, which are generally really well maintained. The system includes trail numbers and difficulty ratings from Tourist Path to Equipped Expert Hikers. It can be fairly overwhelming to wade through all this information online so I recommend a visit to the local tourist info or national park office when you arrive. You can do some pre-planning online and then drop in for detailed advice and maps if needed. Once you know what trail numbers to follow, you look for the signs and then simple red and white markings on rocks, grass, buildings – basically anything in your eye line – to keep on track. Wandering Italy has a fantastic list of resources you can start with.
I did a lot of my hiking last year in autumn, my favourite season! The weather can change dramatically from the north to the south of Italy during the autumn months. I was wearing a rain jacket and puffa vest in the Dolomites and shorts and a singlet in Abruzzo. But generally speaking, the weather is stable, pleasant walking temperatures with the added bonus of stunning colours and less people!
Cinque Terre, Liguria – clifftops and coast
I did this one on a trip to Cinque Terre in 2016. Cinque Terre is a series of five villages, clinging to the edge of the Ligurian coast, near the large town of La Spezia. Cinque Terre is a National Park and is also UNESCO World Heritage Listed. The towns are absurdly picturesque, with brightly covered buildings looking like they might tumble into the Mediterranean at any moment. The area suffered serious landfalls in 2011 after torrential rain fall and as a result, the paths between Riomaggiore and Manarola and Corniglia have been closed since. However, you can walk along the sea path between Monterosso al Mare and Vernazza and Corniglia and also up to the steeper, longer mountain path which links all five villages. Cinque Terre has been a popular tourist destination for many years, but its popularity continues to grow and also now includes tour groups from cruise ships that anchor near the larger towns nearby and bring their hoards of passengers in for day trips. There have been rumours of visitor numbers being limited, but that hasn’t happened as yet.
The walk between Riomaggiore and Portovenere is not one of the main village walks, but it was my favourite of the hikes I did in the area. The path leaves Riomaggiore and climbs up to a little church, Santuario della Madonna di Montenero and then runs along the side of pastures and cliffs and through forests and some little towns until you reach Portovenere. It’s pretty well signed and a little bit of preparation to know which trail numbers to follow is all you will need, no big map required. I did it one way and it was about 14km and 6 hours with plenty of photo stops and even a coffee stop at a little hut in the forest. You can catch a boat back along the coast to the 5 villages or the bus into La Spezia and then the train to your main base.
Majella National Park, Abruzzo – remote mountains and ocean views
I spent 10 days in the Majella National Park so I’m going to mention two hikes and I could easily have added several others! It’s difficult to find an article about Abruzzo without the word ‘wild’ being used or a reference to it being the last undiscovered part of Italy. This actually holds true, it certainly is nowhere near as developed as Tuscany or the Dolomites and the difference between tourist Italy and Abruzzo in off season October was stark. You can easily talk yourself into believing you are an intrepid traveler, discovering new places tourists have never seen in this part of Italy. I barely saw another person on the hikes I did there, but of course that type of remoteness also comes with other challenges such as limited English speakers, reduced choices for food and safety considerations when hiking.
Monte Mileto is a manageable mountain hike in Majella with extraordinary views for those of us who love hiking, but not actually rock climbing. The loop I did, recommended by the National Park Rangers, involved parking at the hotel at the top of the San Leonardo pass and then walking through dense beech and oak forest, covered in autumn leaves, along the side of a mountain path, up a bare, barren Mt Mileto and then back down via pastures and more forest. It took about 5 hours and was a climb of about 800 meters (Mt Mileto is 1920m but you start from high on the pass). I did not see a single person, just some cows. To stand on the top of that mountain on my own, looking at the Gran Sasso mountain range, down to the Atlantic ocean and all across the Majella National Park was incredible. I felt like I was on top of the world, as you can see from the main photo! No people also helps when you’re taking silly selfies jumping on top of a mountain!
The Valle Dell’Orfento (Orfento valley) walk is a short one that leaves from the Caramanico National Park Visitors Centre and is accessible for the whole family. There is a steep walk in and out of the valley, but it otherwise is a flat, easy stroll along the valley floor following the tumbling river that has carved out the gorge between towering mountains. The river becomes a series of waterfalls and rock pools and you cross several bridges back and forth over the river. With autumn leaves floating down around me, it felt like walking through a fairy land.
Cortina D’Amprezza, Dolomites – classic Italian mountains
Of course, the Dolomites mountain range presents a huge variety of walking options. I found it really quite overwhelming to try and find a couple of walks for Mum and I to do. We ended up calling into the tourist information centre which was the right move. The weather was pretty tricky most of the time we were there, but we managed to get in one fantastic hike. We caught the cable car from near the railway station in town up to Faloria and started our loop from there. With a clear morning, the view from the top of the mountain out over the town of Cortina D’Amprezza and over the other mountains was extraordinary. We then followed the Dolomiue path down to Ristorante Rio Gere where we had a coffee stop. You can head back into town from there, but we went along the side of the mountains via a couple of other refugios where you could stop for lunch or coffee if the time of day was right. It looped all the way around, back to a number of different trails you could take back down to Cortina.
If you are short on time in Cortina or the weather is not your friend, this is a great option. It was a decent five hour hike for us, but was very manageable in terms of climbing up or down. I would love to go back and do some of the other hundreds of trails in this area!
Monforte D’Alba, Piedmont – hiking through vineyards
There is something about walking through vineyards that just makes me happy! And there are lots of walks through vineyards in Piedmont which may account for why I loved the Langhe area so much! In fact, the vineyards are UNESCO listed:
“The Piedmont vineyard landscapes constitute an outstanding example of man’s interaction with his natural environment, outstanding for its harmony; the balance between the aesthetic qualities of its landscapes; the architectural and historical diversity of the built elements associated with the wine production activities and an authentic and ancient art of winemaking”. UNESCO citation, June 2014
My favourite was the loop I did from Montforte D’Alba to Castello di Serralunga d’Alba to Castiglione Falletto and back to Monforte D’Alba. The towns of Serralunga and Falletto are hilltop villages (as most places are in Piedmont) with fortified castles so they are great places to actually stop for a look around and a coffee or lunch. You essentially walk down the hill the village is on, across the floor of the valley and back up another hill to the next one! This was a decent six hour hike of about 21km for me. I only stopped briefly in Serralunga for coffee but otherwise moved through fairly steadily. You could easily slow it down a little from that and take most of the day to stroll and explore.
You walk through multiple working vineyards, along well marked paths. It was a gorgeous time of year when I went in late October, with the leaves all orange and on their last legs. The vineyards were busy, with workers preparing them for winter, pruning and removing old vines and doing all the necessary maintenance after harvest season. It was great to see the work involved in making sure I could enjoy a glass or two of Nebbiolo at the end of hiking through the fields!
This list is, of course, reflective of my own travels. I have so many more Italian hikes to do! I would love your recommendations, because I’m certainly returning to Italy one day soon. It’s a country I’m not sure I’ll ever consider “done”. Where have you loved hiking in Italy?