The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

An Abruzzo Hiking Holiday

Abruzzo is an Italian region east of Rome featuring an Adriatic coastline, the rugged Apennine mountains, and hilltop towns dating to the medieval and Renaissance periods. For the avid hiker, national parks and nature reserves cover much of its rugged interior. Following my hiking week in Tuscany (refer to my post from last month), I drove down to Abruzzo, a region I had never visited, with the intention of hiking: taking in as many national parks, coastal walks, and countryside strolls as I could.

Nothing, however, went according to plan. I immediately realized that the Airbnb and town itself I had picked for my base in western Abruzzo were both terrible choices. After a poor night’s sleep, I made a same-day booking and relocated to the historic center of Atessa, in the Val di Sangro (province of Chieti) in southeastern Abruzzo. While this decision cost me several hundred dollars, it absolutely saved my holiday. Then the twin scourges of a ferocious June heatwave and my recurring foot problems managed to derail much of my newly-made plans. Nonetheless, a sufficient number of good hikes (and photos!) still remained to cobble together this blog post, to give the reader at least an idea of the Province of Chieti within the larger region of Abruzzo.

Atessa

Situated on a ridge at about 420m elevation and perhaps 20km from the Adriatic as the crow flies, Atessa turned out to be a great choice as a base. Using Booking.com, I found an air-conditioned apartment on Piazza Garibaldi in the historic center, with balcony and views over the surrounding countryside. While a long drive from two of the three national parks in Abruzzo, Atessa is a lovely, walkable town with many restaurants, public spaces, and some interesting buildings. Moreover, the local people were very friendly, something one won’t experience in a larger city. With free covered parking nearby and a supermercato within two minutes’ walk, it proved an inspired choice.

Morning view from my balcony
Octopus statue. I’m not quite sure what this memorializes.
Fontana di Giò Pomodoro and Duomo di San Leucio with its clock tower
Evening balcony view with the Chiesa di San Rocco bell tower left. Fortunately, the bells only rang between 6 AM and 10 PM each day!
i gatti che vivano liberi sono protetti. The cat-lover in me enjoyed encountering some of these feral felines.
A view of Atessa from the provincial road below town. The bell tower of Chiesa di San Rocco is seen far right.
Full moon from my balcony

Local Hikes

Although I spent many mornings simply walking around town, the countryside also beckoned. The wildly overgrown nearby trails were somewhat problematic, however. Even the official CAI trails could be difficult to manage.

Countryside a few minutes’ walk from Atessa
French Honeysuckle
View back towards Atessa. Much of the hay had already been baled by mid-June, and the ground was parched.
A zoom view towards Majella National Park, the only national park in reasonable driving distance and an obvious choice for a couple of hikes
A forest path near Gissi, in the next valley over from Val di Sangro. I did a nice forest and country loop hike here one morning.
Common Centuary. I know I’ve shown this before, but this late in spring wildflowers were mostly distant memories.
Countryside view back to Gissi
A zoom view of Gissi. Many homes in the town are coated with gesso, obtained from nearby caves and hills, hence its name.
Boardwalk view on my Monte Pallano & Archeology Park hike
A Samnite wall on Monte Pallano. These ancient Italic peoples inhabited Samnium, a region located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy.
A nine spotted moth. Until the sun warmed these guys up, they were stationary and thus easy to photograph.
A hut in a wall on Monte Pallano, either for fortification or agriculture I wasn’t sure

A Coastal Walk

Of course being so near the Adriatic made it obligatory to do at least one coastal hike. So despite the heat, I made an early start to the Regional Natural Reserve Punta Aderci.

Wheat fields, vineyards, and the Adriatic coast
Punta Aderce’s pebble beach (left) and a traditional wooden fishing pier, known as a trabocco. Indeed, the Adriatic coast in the province of Chieti is sometimes referred to as Costa dei Trabocchi.
Harvested wheat fields, cedars, and oleanders, with the Adriatic as a backdrop. Although the light wasn’t perfect, I like this panorama nonetheless.

Majella National Park

I finally gave up waiting for cooler weather, so as my time was running out and my feet were fully recovered, I made back-to-back alpine starts to enjoy two hikes in Majella before the heat of the day. They were the twin highlights of my sojourn. A brief synopsis of the park may be found in Wiki.

Dawn light on a hill town seen driving to the trailhead
WWI memorial at the trailhead of the Cascata San Giovanni loop hike
Bocca di Valle, near the start of the hike up the gorge
Fiume Vesola in the gorge
The objective: Cascata San Giovanni. At 7:30 in the morning, I had it all to myself.
Thistle macro
Limestone grottos. I completed an 8km loop by traversing along the mountainsides and ridge-lines.
Pennapiedimonte village trailhead view EARLY morning on the 12 km Vallone delle Tre Grotte (Valley of the Three Caves) hike
Cimirocco, an interesting formation and construction near the trailhead
Dawn view up the gorge. Note the path on the right that traverses along the slope above the valley.
Southern globe-thistle (Echinops ritro)
Early morning along the path. I only encountered one other hiker on this popular route, who in fact ran the trail to and from the sorgenti (springs) twice in about the time I managed it once.
Madonna delle Sorgenti. Having a secure source of water is crucial to the local inhabitants, hence this shrine.
Looking down on the Fiume Avella, with a small cascade and pool
Cascata Macarone della Pila. Though not as impressive as the prior day’s cascata, it was cool (literally) nonetheless.
Nearly back and not yet 9 AM! The first part of the path is accessible.

So, would I return to Abruzzo? The short answer is, YES. However, I would come either earlier in the spring, say April, or in October. I would absolutely love to do some iconic hikes and peaks in both Grand Sasso and Abruzzo national parks, as well as other areas of Majella. Realistically, staying at three different bases for one week each, and incorporating some cultural days in towns and cities would be ideal. There are reasonably priced hotels and mountain resorts, whose high season is winter for skiing. (I seriously considered the three base option, but the higher cost and more constant traveling dissuaded me – this time).

I depart Hastings tomorrow morning for Penzance in far west Cornwall for two weeks hiking along the Southwest Coast Path, in my continuing (never-ending?) saga to complete that more than 1000km route.

The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking Wild Tuscany

Northern Tuscany’s Apennine and rugged limestone Apuan ranges are a world away from the gently rolling hills and vineyards and the madd(en)ing crowds one usually associates with this region. Strangely, until this past month I had never been hiking in Tuscany, confining my brief visits to the tourist meccas of Florence, Siena, and Pisa.

Once again, I booked this one week hiking trip with KE Adventures. We stayed at the lovely Argiturismo Col di Lavacchio for the duration, traveling a few minutes each day to experience some of the best hikes in the area. Join me on this journey, with a surprise bonus at the end.

Col di Lavacchio

The British husband and wife proprietors of this working farm offer guided hiking weeks in the spring and fall, as well as great food and wine in a renovated farmhouse accommodation. As a base for hiking surrounded by nature, it would be difficult to beat. As I was recovering from yet another flare-up of my old nemesis, gout, I enjoyed my first full day here relaxing by the pool, swimming, and strolling some of the many paths at the Agriturismo, rather that participating in the group hike.

Col di Lavacchio Agriturismo
A pool with a view at Col di Lavacchio
Bees on Lamb’s-ear (Stachys byzantina)

Pania di Corfino loop (11.5km and 650m elevation gain)

Monday’s hike in Parco Naturale dell’Orecchiella featured a loop to the summit of Pania di Corfino (Pania means peak in the local vernacular).

Our objective. This photo was taken on our descent.
Canterbury bells (Campanula medium), popular in English cottage gardens since the 16th century
Pania di Corfino summit pano
Rock thyme (Clinopodium alpinum) on the summit
Carthusian pink (Dianthus carthusianorum)

Monte Forato loop from Fornovolasco (12km, 875m elevation gain)

Tuesday’s loop hike from the charming riverside village of Fornovolasco took in an amazing natural arch on the way to the summit with its spectacular views.

Village of Fornovolasco, our trailhead
Wooded mountain view with rock formations during our ascent
The natural arch of Monte Forato
On the summit with Pania della Croce behind, our final objective for the week
The holoparasitic Thyme broomrape (Orobanche alba)
Our KE group on summit ridge. I’m at the back, closest to the edge.
The broad descent gully we took back to Fornovolasco

Monte Maiore loop from Abetone (7km, 275m gain)

As I had kept the rental car from my sojourn near Lago di Garda, I chose to do an alternative hike after our rest/cultural day on Wednesday (which I will explain later in this post). It was only a leisurely morning walk, as can be seen from the stats above, followed by lunch and a stroll around the lovely town of Barga, not far from the Agriturismo.

View towards Monte Lagoni (l) on my wooded Monte Maiore loop hike
Heath spotted-orchid (Dactylorhiza maculata). We saw these on other hikes, but on Monte Maiore there were fields of them.
Knotted crane’s-bill (Geranium nodosum), a species I may not have shown before

Pania della Croce traverse from Piglionico (13 km and 950 m elevation gain)

This fantastic – but difficult – hike to the summit of the “Queen of the Alpi Apuane” provided a fitting culmination of the week. The Apuan Alps are known predominantly for their Carrara marble quarries which disfigure the landscape and pollute the streams. We began with a low-level traverse from the east to the west side of the mountain before the climbing proper began.

View south towards Pania della Croce from Barga’s Duomo di San Cristoforo. (Photo taken two days prior).
PeakFinder view north from the initial low-level traverse of Pania della Croce. I really like this free app, where one can download maps ahead of time, obviating the need for a mobile connection.
Our west-side ascent route, mostly exposed to the sun
Apennine globularia (Globularia incanescens), the favorite flower of our local guide, Manuel, is endemic to northern Tuscany
Distant Mouflon (high zoom photo) Manuel and I saw on our ascent. These are now considered to be a feral subspecies of primitive domestic sheep.
Three on the Pania della Croce summit ridge
Pania della Croce summit. Our leader, Jamie, is on the left here.
The Vagabond Hiker in a reflective mood at the summit marker
Summit view northwest. The Ligurian Sea may be seen in the left background.
View towards the Dead Man feature (that green hump) and our descent route. Can you spot the bright green roof of Rifugio Enrico Rossi? Sadly, it was not open for the season until the following day.
Some of our group descending along the summit ridge (zoom)
Our boulder-infested descent gully. Many found it slow going. (photo from another client)
Almost back! Spot some of our group, circled in red.

That’s it for the hiking portion of the week, but for me there was another attraction during my short time in Tuscany. . .

The 2026 Mille Miglia

The auto enthusiast in me could not resist a (likely) once in a lifetime opportunity to see some of the 400+ historic Mille Miglia (literally, “1000 miles”) cars from 1927 to 1957 in action. Our mid-week rest day coincided with Day 2 of the 5-day historic road rally, which fortuitously went from Padova to Montecatini Termi, with the afternoon hill climb over the Abetone Pass (roughly on the border between Emilia Romagna and Tuscany). A last minute decision to procure a hotel room with terrace overlooking the action in Abetone (about 90 minutes’ spirited drive from our Agriturismo) proved to be brilliant.

1927 Bugatti Type 37
1937 BMW 328
1929 Mercedes Benz 710 SSK
Hotel Regina balcony view at dusk, after most of the action had wound down.

As this blog is posted, my three-week stay in Abruzzo is nearly over. Tomorrow I fly to Madagascar for an Explore Worldwide group trip to that amazing island delayed since 2020 when Covid shut down the world. Unfortunately, it is not the trekking trip I had originally booked, but rather more of a walking nature safari. Nevertheless, I certainly hope to capture some interesting photos for another blog later this summer.

The Vagabond Hiker

Lago di Garda hikes and flowers

Once again I had not planned on posting from my time spent at Lago di Garda in Trentino. But not surprisingly I found aspects of some of my favorite hikes as well as new hikes that I have not covered here before. And of course, since it was May, there were many wildflowers in bloom…

I arrived at my Airbnb in Gavazzo – the same one I stayed at in 2023 – to impending rain. Nonetheless, the balcony view south to northern Lago di Garda was stupendous.

I repeated the Monte Colt & Croce di Ceniga loop from nearby Arco as it is one of my favorites in the area.

Here is the paved approach to Santuaurio della Madonna di Laghel.
Monte Colt summit view to Monte Biaina. It is the only summit in Italy I know with its name etched into the rock.

I have mentioned Massone – Bosco Caproni hikes in the past, but never showed many photos as wooded hikes are difficult to capture. With many trails, though, one could spend weeks and never repeat the exact same hike.

Here is a pano towards Lago di Garda from above the village of Massone.
A path through Bosco Caproni, likely in former times used to move marble from the nearby quarry down to Arco.

A new hike for me from nearby Torbole (just east of Riva del Garda) is the popular Busatte – Tempesta Panoramic Trail loop. I started early mid-week, so only encountered hordes of hikers on the last section of the return.

The lake with Riva del Garda and the Cima Valdez massif. There were spectacular views at every turn and numerous sets of metal stairs on this highly-maintained route.
Crimean iris (Iris lutescens), a new wildflower for this blog.
Poppies, Lago di Garda, and the Cima Della Nara massif
Meadow Clary (Salvia pratensis), a more detailed photo of one previously shown. Native to Europe, it is considered a weed in areas of the US.

Many of my hikes were done simply walking out of my Gavazzo (Tenno) apartment. I extended my 2023 forays farther up into the mountains (as well as to the village of Vigne where the local grocery store now has Amazon lockers!)

Monte San Pietro from the road above Volta di No, less than a 1/2 hour walk from Gavazzo. Many local roads had little or no traffic, and often were gravel or packed dirt.
Balm-leaved Arachangel (Lamium orvala), a better photo of one I have shown before.
Rio Bordellino cascade. I rarely encountered anyone in the forest above my apartment. (In Italian, unlike Spanish, Rio refers to a seasonal stream).
Everlasting Pea (Lathyrus latifolius). Common they may well be, but I liked this photo.
Peach-leaved bellflower (Campanula persicifolia), a species of Campanula I don’t recall having included in my posts before.

Unlike last year when I stayed in Arco with the popular Sarca River walk as my go-to early morning exercise, I did a variant of this hike only once last month.

Multi-use path and valley view with grapevines on my loop walk to Ceniga from Arco along the Fiume Sarca, seen peeking out to the left here.
Gavazzo balcony view at sunrise. I never tired of the views from my Airbnb and would love to return in the future. Critically for the summers is has AC!
  • A note on the photos: this spring I bought a new Samsung Galaxy S25 phone which has a highly capable camera. All photos from this post were taken with that phone rather than my Olympus Tough camera, which will most likely also be the case for future posts.

After a week at an Agriturismo in Tuscany doing a series of group hikes, I have now moved even farther south, to Abruzzo, where I will remain until the first week of July. Some Tuscan hike photos will be posted in two weeks or so.

Enjoy the longer and warmer days outdoors,

The Vagabond Hiker

Categories

Subscribe for Updates