style="font-size:15px;"> Pescara is the home of a large fishing fleet and the quayside market is a fine sight when the boats come in. Fish stews, risottos, soups and simple grilled fillets taste delicious when so fresh. Again, local recipes feature strongly in the region’s restaurants.
Other regional specialities are fine olives; saffron from the Navelli plain; red garlic and sugared almonds (confetti ) from Sulmona; lentils from Santo Stefano; polenta made from maize; truffles, chestnuts and porcini mushrooms from the forests; and cima di rapa – a green leafed vegetable prepared quite deliciously.
Wine production, too, is a regional obsession. Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is the local red wine and Trebbiano and Pecorino are the whites. Much of the production is on a small scale for family use but the commercial wineries produce many memorable bottles.
Nearly every village in the region has its festa, usually in the summer – a celebration of the local speciality food with music, wine and, at the end of the night, lots of fireworks.
Walking in Abruzzo
Abruzzo is wonderful walking country. It is one of the wildest and least populated regions of Italy, with 169 peaks over 2000m, long mountain ridges, high plains and deep gorges, huge forests of native beech, oak and pine and gentle fertile valleys. The highest points in peninsular Italy and the southernmost glacier in Europe are all here.
This beautiful natural environment is maintained to a remarkable extent in the region’s three national parks, one regional park and many smaller reserves. Almost a third of the entire region is afforded protected status of one form or other. The parks cover the four main mountain massifs; they correspond also to the main walking areas, although there are many fine routes throughout the region.
The Gran Sasso e Monte della Laga National Park covers an area of over 150,000 hectares in the north of the region, one of the largest national parks in Italy. Its spectacular high point is Corno Grande, at 2912m the highest point in the Apennines. In a wild corrie sheltered by the three peaks of Corno Grande lies the small and fast-disappearing Calderone glacier, the most southerly in Europe. From the foot of the mountain, the magnificent high plain of Campo Imperatore stetches away for 25km. With an average altitude of 1400m, the plain covers an empty 80km2.
The Maiella National Park lies in the south east and covers the area of the high and wild Amaro massif, the nearby Morrone massif and the ridges and plains that run up to them. Monte Amaro, at 2793m, is a barren and exhilarating place – the second highest point in the Apennines. The park is just 30km from the Adriatic, and the south east slopes are incised by a series of spectacular gorges. Ancient monasteries and hermits’ retreats are hidden away, blended into the remote cliff faces.
The long-established Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise National Park lies in the south west of the region. It’s a relatively small area but its high peaks and ridges and remote forested valleys harbour an internationally famous wildlife. Its biodiversity is as remarkable as its beauty. In the ancient forests and on the bare crags of the Upper Sangro and its side valleys live bears, wolves, chamois, boar, lynx and eagles.
The Sirente-Velino massif in the west of Abruzzo is (merely) a regional park, but you would be pushed to tell the difference. The management of its contrasting natural habitats – gentle meadows, deep gorges, high mountain walls and spectacular sub-alpine summits – has been equally effective in creating a rewarding walking area.
All the parks are covered by a network of established paths. In addition, lovely routes lie along the thousands of country lanes, tracks and droves and across open hillside and meadow, especially in the areas beyond the park boundaries.
Waymarks are usually paint splashes (red, or red and white) but can be cairns, signposts or even plastic strands tied to branches. A route indicated as ‘waymarked’ usually has good or adequate signing (when combined with the recommended map and route description), although occasionally it is poor. Marking can be inconsistent or old, especially where more than one authority is involved – perhaps the national park and the Club Alpino Italiano (CAI) and the Corpo Forestale dello Stato (CFS) vying with different colour schemes! Be careful – but don’t be put off.
Rifugios (mountain huts) are spread across the upland area but most are locked or spartan bivouacs. Many are shepherds’ huts or, if operated by the CAI or park authority, have no guardian (warden) and the key (often available only to members) must be collected beforehand. There are some notable exceptions – see ‘Places to base yourself’, below.
When to go
Abruzzo is a coastal and upland region where seasons are remarkably varied. Overall the climate is typically Mediterranean, but altitude brings a big variation. Winter in the mountains is reliably cold. There are 10 ski resorts (little known outside Italy) and the main walking areas are deeply covered in snow well into the spring – fantastic for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing! Summer is reliably hot and dry; the seasonal rivers disappear and the hillsides turn tinder-brown. Spectacular lightening storms and localised downpours bring relief when the atmosphere becomes too charged. Between the two, spring and autumn are usually mild and can be damp.
Monte Amaro from a meadow on Walk 9
The walking season begins in late spring and goes into autumn – late April to late October. Ideal, perhaps, are the months of May, June and September, either side of high summer (which can be very hot). July and August can be very enjoyable too, and are (relatively speaking) the busiest times on the trail. April and October should not be dismissed as they offer solitude, often perfect conditions and the riches of the changing seasons. Even March and November can see spells of clear, settled weather.
Getting there
Abruzzo is easy to reach, both from other regions of Italy and from abroad, and its main centres are well connected by road and rail.
The airport at Pescara is served by several low-cost airlines that fly from countries in Europe and offer internal flights to destinations in Italy. For most of the year, Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) flies five days a week from London Stansted and Frankfurt, four days a week from Brussels and twice a week from Dusseldorf, Malta and Barcelona. Wizz Air (https://wizzair.com) flies twice a week from Bucharest, and Mistral Air (www.mistralair.it) flies four times a week from Tirana in Albania. Internally, Ryanair and Alitalia (www.alitalia.com) both fly twice a day from Milan, while Mistral Air flies twice a week from Palermo, Catania and Cagliari. Blue Air (www.blueairweb.com) flies three times a week from Turin.
Pescara airport is connected to the city railway station by a frequent bus service. For more information, visit the airport website: www.abruzzoairport.com.
Ancona airport is about 1hr north of Abruzzo by motorway and is connected by fast trains to Pescara. Lufthansa (www.lufthansa.com) connects Ancona daily with Munich, while Ryanair offers four flights a week from London Stansted and two a week from Brussels. Ancona is connected to Rome with two or three flights a day. For details visit www.aeroportomarche.it.
View down Valle Pagano from Monte La Meta (Walk 24)
Naples
