Welcome to Hooked on Walking and our walking holidays in Italy. This particular hiking vacation in Italy is in the Abruzzo region of Italy. We have graded this walking holidays as a level 2 walking tour. Only a short distance from Rome lies one of the most interesting natural areas of Italy, the Abruzzo, featuring an almost pristine landscape, where even wolves still wander around. Nature here is overwhelming and now protected by three national parks, very different one from the other. You’ll visit the Gran Sasso National Park, featuring the highest peak of the Apennines, the savage Maiella National Park, dotted with remote medieval monasteries and the Abruzzo National Park, one of the oldest protected landscapes in Italy.
Of course in all this abundant nature you will make some wonderful walks, where you seem to be far away from everything. But nature is not the only feature of this area, so don’t forget about the cultural treasures of this region either. There are many very interesting medieval cities -it’s capital L’Aquila, is one of central Italy’s most beautiful towns, but also castles and monasteries. You will walk through medieval villages scattered on the hilltops of the area, monasteries with beautiful fresco’s and you’ll stay in wonderful Sulmona, birthplace of the Roman writer Ovidius and one of the most famous popes, Celestine V, named in Dante’s Divina Comedia. The Abruzzo area, not yet discovered by mass tourism, presents its real authentic character to the traveller. To allow you to explore and visit all 3 national parks we have developed this tour as a fly-drive-hike tour. You fly to the region , pick up a rental car and use this rental car to transport you to the walks in the 3 parks. This gives you great flexibility to explore the region to its fullest.

Available daily April to October
Level 2 self guided tour

Day 1 Arrival to L’Aquila
According to your arrival time, you may have some time to make a wonderful walk halfway in the Duchessa mountains or pay a visit to the most interesting excavations of Alba Fucens. Upon arrival you can make a first stroll through the historical centre of L’Aquila. Your hotel is right in the historical centre.Hotel L’Aquila

Day 2 Santo Stefano di Sessanio
Today you make a short drive to the National Park of the Gran Sasso (‘big stone’), the highest area of the Apennines. You can either drive up or take the cable car up to the plateau known as ‘Campo Imperatore’ (the field of the Emperor). Here you have several options for a rewarding round walk, depending on your level of fitness and the weather conditions, ranging from really challenging to less difficult or easy walks. You can opt to follow the ridge towards the highest top Corno Grande (2912 m.), or you can opt for a round walk along the vast high plain of Campo Imperatore. Then you drive along a wonderful panoramic road over the Campo Imperatore and down to the beautiful village of Santo Stefano di Sessanio. Hotel Santo Stefano
Total walking time: around 3,5 hours/ 8 km. + sightseeing time (4,5 hours/ 10 km. with extra option).
Driving distance around 30 miles 50km.

Day 3
Today’s walk starts directly from your hotel in Santo Stefano di Sessanio. First you wander through the village, once abandoned and now carefully restored. From here you can start a wonderful, but easy walk through the mountains, to Roccacalascio, Italy’s highest village, boasting an impressive castle and a wonderful church. Views are grand to say the least! On your way you can enjoy a picnic lunch. You should of course take some time to wander around in the scenic village of Roccacalascio, now mostly abandoned. Then you walk down to the ‘new’ (which in Italy still means medieval!) village of Calascio and back to Santo Stefano (optional local bus). There is time to enjoy a drink along the lake, before having a nice dinner somewhere in the village. Hotel Santo Stefano
Total walking time: around 3,5 hours/ 9 km. + sightseeing time (5 hours/14 km. if walking back to S. Stefano).

Day 4 Caramanico Terme
Today you travel on to Caramanico Terme, in the heart of yet another park, the National Park of the Maiella, one of the last remaining bits of real wilderness in central Italy, and therefore listed as one of the PAN parks by WWF. The walk starts directly from your hotel, you walk to the high end of Caramanico, and after a short visit to the nature museum you walk directly into the impressive canyon of the river Orfento. Although the landscape is spectacular and wild, the walk is not difficult. You can have a nice picnic lunch somewhere on the river, and then descend along the river. At the end of the canyon you walk through a surrealistic landscape of waterfalls and grotto’s, before returning to the village of Caramanico. You then climb up to the old town of Caramanico and make a walk through the historical centre, beautifully located on the ridge above the river. The late afternoon is at leisure for a stroll or a drink in the old town. Hotel Caramanico
Total walking time: around 3,5 hours/ 8 km. + sightseeing time. Driving distance around 40 miles 70km.

Day 5
By car you make a short drive to the small hamlet of Decontra at the other end of the canyon. From here you make a wonderful walk along some of the many monasteries in the area. First you walk through an open landscape, dotted with several ‘tholos’, strange stone buildings that seem to be prehistorical, but were used by shepherds until only a few decades ago, towards the canyon , in which you’ll visit the beautifully located monastery of St. Bartholomew, one of the most scenic little churches of the region. This is a good place for a first biscuit stop. From here you can climb up again and walk to the Convent of Santo Spirito. The daring walkers can also visit the isolated cave church of San Giovanni. From here we walk back to Decontra, always through a pleasant mountain scenery, and drive back to Caramanico. Hotel Caramanico.
Total walking time: around 5 hours/ 15 km. + sightseeing time (shorter option: 4 hours/12 km.).Driving distance around 6 miles , 10km.

Day 6 Maiella National Park
After breakfast, you make a short scenic ride through the Orta valley, which separates the two main ridges of the Maiella National Park. There are several shorter and longer walks possible in this area. A recommended stop is Rocca Caramanico, a small hamlet towering on a lonesome rock dominating the valley. From here you can start your walk along the edge of the mountain range, a scenic walk, without much climbing. Then you start the steep descend towards the medieval village of Pacentro, a very scenic village at the edge of the mountain chain, dominated by the impressive towers of its medieval castle. Take your time to walk through the whole historical centre! Then you continue down to Sulmona, a beautiful city, surrounded by mountains, and well worth exploring. Our hotel here is located in the very heart of the city, which gives you the opportunity to walk around and breathe its nice atmosphere. In the evening you can go out for dinner in a nice restaurant, which serves some superb local cuisine or opt for a nice pizza on the square. Hotel Sulmona
Total walking time: several shorter walks: around 2,5 hours (Roccacaramanico) + 1 hour in Pacentro + sightseeing time + extra optional walk in Lama Bianca (2 hours).
Driving distance 25 miles 40km

Day 7 Abruzzo National Park
By car you drive through the canyon of the Sagittario valley towards the third and maybe most famous of the National Parks in the area, the Abruzzo National Park. A number of places along the road are worth stopping, Anversa degli Abruzzi, and the tiny hamlet of Castrovalva, nestled on the ridge like an eagle’s nest. From here you can make a beautiful walk along the ridge, through a nice open landscape of mountain meadows and bits of forest, with spectacular views on the canyon. Then you drive on to the village of Scanno, maybe the most picturesque village of the Abruzzo range, famous for its traditional dresses of the women, immortalised by the photographer Cartier-Bresson. Take your time to stroll through its characteristic streets and may be have lunch or a drink on a terrace. In the afternoon you make a very scenic drive along the Passo Godi, towards the small village of Civitella Alfedena, where we stay the last two nights. Hotel Civitella Alfedena
Total walking time: several shorter walks: around 2 hours (Castrovalva) + 1,5 hours in Scanno + sightseeing time + extra optional walk around Passo Godi (1-3 hours).Driving distance 38 miles 60km

Day 8
Today you have the time to explore the Abruzzo National Park. A number of wonderful round walks can be made here, ranging from more easy to difficult. A good option can be one of the most famous trails of the National Park, the Camosciara, where it’s possible to see the chamois freely wandering or in alternative the Val di Rose walk, which start directly from Civitella. The real hikers can opt for a challenging round walk to the Monte Greco. If instead you want to relax you can opt for an easy walk along the lake and a visit the museum dedicated to the wolf, an animal which still populates the mountains of this area. Hotel Civitella Alfedena   Total walking time: Many possible options, ranging between 1 – 7 hours. Possibility to combine a few shorter walks.

Day 9
After breakfast the Abruzzo walking tour finishes.
Difficultly: We have graded this tour as level two although it is possible to extend the walks and difficulty to level 3

Accommodation: Typical 3 star hotels of the region.

2008 Prices

How to get there
Fly to Rome and the drive by motorway to the Abruzzo region ( around 2.5 hours )
Fly to Pescara with Ryanair and then drive inland to the National Parks ( around 30 minutes )

To view our other walking holidays in Italy

View our cycling holidays in Italy

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