Stunning Walks in Italy

Walks of Italy could really be a book, not a newsletter, so I have limited it to five that I have been walking for many years because I love them! They are always spectacular, showcasing the very best of the town or region and allow you to feel at one with nature.

A mountain church called San Martino

Those of you who have travelled with me before know I love a walk to a church high in the mountains, not for religious reasons, but because they always have the most amazing views!

Directly across the lake from Bellagio on Lake Como is the small village of Cadenabbia-Griante. Cast your eyes up and you’ll see a little white church, around a 45 minute walk through quiet streets, past beautiful palazzi of the 16th and 17th centuries and countryside with cows grazing and their cowbells ringing in the silence. Continue up a zigzagging cobblestoned path through the woods to a stunning panoramic vista of the two branches of Lake Como converging at the promontory where Bellagio sits.

The church of San Martino was built in the 16th century and became a sanctuary after the discovery of a 15th century wooden statue of the Lady with the Child. According to local legend, the statue was discovered by a young girl in a cave on the mountain. When the locals of Griante heard of this discovery, they brought the statue to the village, but it miraculously disappeared and was later found again on the mountain. This was interpreted as the Lady’s wish to be adored on the mountains, so a niche was built and later, today’s church.

You don’t need to be super fit and the path is never crowded, often only walked by locals and perhaps a few tourists in the know, but once at the top at an altitude of 475 metres, you have a complete overview of the centre of Lake Como.

The quintessential Tuscan walk

Leaving our walled town of Montepulciano through the ancient gate of Porta dei Grassi, we walk down a steep hill to the Temple of San Biagio, a beautiful Renaissance church built in the 16th century which featured in the movie ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’. In front of us is a long road planted on both sides with tall cypresses, each one in memory of a soldier from Montepulciano who died during the First World War.

Perched atop a high solitary hill is our destination, a medieval hamlet called Montefollonico, surrounded by 13th century walls with three streets and less than 500 locals.

To arrive at our secret garden for lunch for the best cacio e pepe EVER, we walk the winding white road through the valleys of Val d’Orcia and Val di Chiana, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites, past Nobile vineyards, over creeks, past postcard worthy Tuscan villas and along an impossible to find path (unless you know) to one of three well preserved gates into Montefollonico.

At a leisurely pace it’s around a three hour walk, requiring no more than moderate fitness. Given there may well be wine to accompany our delicious pasta, taxis return us to Montepulciano.

Prehistoric caves in one of the oldest places on the planet

As if exploring the Sassi of Matera isn’t enough, not to be missed is the Murgia Materana Park. Access into the Gravina River canyon is from a stairway leading from the road at the top of the old city wall. The path descends to a Tibetan style suspension bridge called Ponte Tibetano della Gravina, a swaying pedestrian wooden bridge constructed in 2015 to allow access across the creek and up the other side of the canyon, past caves 10,000 years old to the Belvedere viewing point.

As you walk the zigzagging path, there are magical views of the ravine and ancient Matera, one of three continuously inhabited places in the world. The return journey is only 2.7 kilometres and considered an easy walk.

The Path of the Gods

Located high above the coastal towns of Praiano and Positano is one of the most jaw-dropping walks in Italy called the Path of the Gods, or Sentiero degli Dei. Starting from the hamlet of Bomerano, a thirty minute bus ride from Amalfi, and finishing in tiny Nocelle, perched above Positano, the distance is 5.6 kilometres with a difficulty level of easy to moderate.

Walking in this direction is less strenuous than starting from Nocelle. To arrive in Positano, there is a choice of the local bus, calling a taxi or descending 1,792 steps from Nocelle. No prize for guessing which way everyone chooses!

Despite being famous around the world and attracting more walkers, if you start early there will be less people. In May this year, we didn’t start the walk until mid-morning, yet were pleasantly surprised to have very few people on the path. At 630 metres above sea level, photos often don’t portray how stunning every part of the walk is.

The Path of the Forts

Unless you stay on the island of Capri, a daytripper will leave with no concept that this alluring 10.4 square kilometre island is a walker’s paradise. One of my treasured maps shows the many trails traversing and circumnavigating this popular tourist destination that allow you to escape the thousands of tourists that arrive every day during tourist season. Who knew?

The Path of the Forts, known as Il Sentiero dei Fortini, is a 5.5 kilometre walk from the Blue Grotto to Punta Carena, Italy’s second largest lighthouse. The walk, considered easy, takes you along the western side of Capri, past three forts built between the 9th and 15th centuries to defend the island against regular attacks from pirates. Destroyed by Saracen pirates in the early 19th century, the forts of Orrico, Mesola and Pino were rebuilt as military defense posts, first by the British in 1806 and then enlarged by the French after the capture of Capri in 1808.

Hugging the edge of the island, you walk through mediterranean shrubland, sculpted rocky promontories, deep inlets and past many ceramic tiles telling you about the island’s flora and fauna. It is the most stunning walk and very unusual to see many people walking it.

My Italian proverb to summarise all of the walks is “chi va piano va sano” - take it easy and live long.

Ci vediamo la prossima settimana.

Deb