Abruzzo
5
Day Itinerary •
Italy
Five days in Abruzzo reveals the full extraordinary range of Italy's most overlooked region. Two national parks, the highest peaks in peninsular Italy, wild bears and wolves in ancient forests, medieval hilltop villages that time forgot, the finest saffron in the world, a trabocchi fishing coast unlike anything else in the Mediterranean and one of the great untold stories of modern Italy in the rebuilt city of L'Aquila. This route covers all of it. The Gran Sasso fortress and plateau, the Abruzzo National Park in its full wild depth, L'Aquila's extraordinary story of rebuilding, the Trabocchi coast of wooden fishing platforms over the sea, the hilltop town of Chieti with its extraordinary museum, and the wild Majella National Park, the hermitage mountain of Abruzzo.
Best Time To Visit
May to June or September to October
Getting There
Fly into Pescara (PSR) or Rome then drive 2 hours
Getting Around
Rental car essential throughout
Budget Per Day
Approx 65 to 100 euros per person per day
Difficulity
Easy, walking and driving
DAY 1
GRAN SASSO
MORNING
ROCCA CALASCIO, THE MOST DRAMATIC CASTLE IN ITALY
A ruined medieval fortress at 1,460 metres with 360-degree views over the Abruzzo mountains and the Adriatic plain. Used as a filming location for Ladyhawke and The Name of the Rose. Free to enter. The adjacent tiny church of Santa Maria della Pieta is one of the most beautiful in Abruzzo. Drive: 30 min drive to Campo Imperatore
MIDDAY
CAMPO IMPERATORE, THE LITTLE TIBET
A vast high plateau at 1,700 metres below the Gran Sasso peaks. Mussolini was imprisoned in the hotel at the cable car top in 1943. Extraordinary hiking, with the 2,912-metre Gran Sasso accessible from the top station. Cable car approx 11 euros return. Drive: 45 min drive to Sulmona
AFTERNOON
SULMONA, BIRTHPLACE OF OVID
The most beautiful small city in Abruzzo, birthplace of the poet Ovid in 43 BC. The medieval aqueduct runs directly through the Piazza Garibaldi. The world capital of confetti with extraordinary sculptural sugar-almond arrangements sold along the Corso Ovidio.
💎 HIDDEN GEM
Santo Stefano di Sessanio near Rocca Calascio was almost entirely abandoned by the 1980s. The Sextantio Albergo Diffuso has restored it into one of the finest village hotel projects in Italy. Walk the extraordinary stone streets and stay the night if possible.
🍽 WHERE TO EAT
Breakfast: Bar in Calascio village Coffee before the climb to the fortress. | Lunch: Ristorante La Torre, Calascio Local lamb, pecorino and Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. | Dinner: Ristorante Clemente, Sulmona Most celebrated restaurant. Local saffron and the finest Cerasuolo wine.
DAY 2
ABRUZZO NATIONAL PARK
MORNING
ABRUZZO NATIONAL PARK, BEARS AND WOLVES
Italy's oldest national park (1923) is home to approximately 50 Marsican brown bears, Apennine wolves, Abruzzo chamois and golden eagles. The Camosciara valley is the finest for wildlife. The visitor centre in Pescasseroli has maps and routes. Entry to the park is free. Drive: 30 min drive to Scanno
MIDDAY
SCANNO, THE MOST PHOTOGRAPHED VILLAGE
A labyrinth of medieval stone streets above the extraordinary heart-shaped Lago di Scanno. Women still wear the traditional embroidered black costume on feast days, unchanged for centuries. The lake below is surrounded by extraordinary mountain scenery. Drive: 30 min drive around park
AFTERNOON
PARK VILLAGES AND EVENING WILDLIFE
Civitella Alfedena has a Wolf Museum where park wolves can sometimes be observed. The evening hours (5pm to 8pm) are finest for wildlife watching. The beech forests of the park in autumn are extraordinary.
💎 HIDDEN GEM
The Lago di Barrea at the southern end of the park is one of the most beautiful and least visited lakes in central Italy. The villages of Villetta Barrea and Barrea on their ridges above the lake are extraordinary at sunset. The lakeside walk is free.
🍽 WHERE TO EAT
Breakfast: Bar in Pescasseroli Coffee in the park's main village before the morning wildlife walk. | Lunch: Trattoria degli Alpini Outstanding mountain cooking. Local lamb from the park farms. | Dinner: Ristorante La Piazzetta, Scanno Local trout from the lake, lamb and Montepulciano wine.
DAY 3
L'AQUILA
MORNING
L'AQUILA, THE CITY REBUILDING
The 2009 earthquake killed 309 people and devastated the medieval centre. 15 years of extraordinary reconstruction have restored hundreds of historic buildings. The Basilica di Santa Maria di Collemaggio (1288) with its extraordinary pink and white stone facade is one of the finest Romanesque churches in Italy. Drive: 15 min walk to fountain
MIDDAY
THE FONTANA DELLE 99 CANNELLE
A medieval civic monument from 1272 with 99 stone faces each pouring a continuous stream into a long rectangular basin. The 99 fountains represent the 99 castles that founded L'Aquila. The setting in a dramatic walled enclosure below the old city is extraordinary. Free. Drive: 30 min drive to saffron country
AFTERNOON
NAVELLI AND THE WORLD'S FINEST SAFFRON
The Zafferano dell'Aquila DOP from the fields around Navelli is considered the finest saffron in the world, more intense than Spanish or Iranian. Buy directly from producers in Navelli for a fraction of what it costs in Rome or Milan.
💎 HIDDEN GEM
The Museo Nazionale d'Abruzzo in L'Aquila's Spanish Fortress contains the finest collection of Abruzzese art and prehistoric finds in the region, plus the extraordinary skeleton of a Mammuthus meridionalis elephant found near Scoppito. Entry approx 6 euros and almost entirely unvisited by international tourists.
🍽 WHERE TO EAT
Breakfast: Caffe in L'Aquila old town Coffee in the rebuilding city. The Piazza del Duomo bars are extraordinary. | Lunch: Ristorante Elodia, L'Aquila Finest restaurant in L'Aquila. Local saffron, lamb and Montepulciano. | Dinner: Agriturismo near Navelli Dinner on a working saffron farm. Local lamb stewed with the world's finest saffron.
DAY 4
TRABOCCHI COAST AND LANCIANO
MORNING
THE VIA VERDE DEI TRABOCCHI
The extraordinary coastal path follows ancient trabocchi, wooden fishing machines on stilts over the sea used by single families for generations. The finest stretch runs from Ortona to Vasto. Several have been converted into restaurants accessible only across wooden walkways over the sea. Drive: 30 min drive inland to Lanciano
MIDDAY
LANCIANO, THE MEDIEVAL CITY OF THE EUCHARISTIC MIRACLE
Lanciano is a beautifully preserved medieval city almost entirely unknown to international visitors. In 700 AD a monk experiencing doubts during Mass saw the bread and wine transform into actual flesh and blood. The preserved relics in the Sanctuary of the Eucharistic Miracle have been scientifically examined and confirmed as human tissue. The medieval centre has extraordinary 13th to 15th century architecture. Drive: 30 min drive to Chieti
AFTERNOON
CHIETI, THE EXTRAORDINARY ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM
The Museo Archeologico Nazionale d'Abruzzo in Chieti contains the Warrior of Capestrano, one of the most extraordinary pieces of ancient Italian sculpture in existence. An extraordinary painted limestone warrior from 525 BC, standing 2 metres tall in full armour and headdress, unlike any other sculpture from the ancient world. Entry approx 5 euros.
💎 HIDDEN GEM
Guardiagrele is one of the finest medieval towns in Abruzzo, largely unknown to international visitors, with an extraordinary 15th-century cathedral and the finest artisan tradition in the region. The goldsmiths and copperworkers of Guardiagrele have worked since the Middle Ages and several workshops are still active.
🍽 WHERE TO EAT
Breakfast: Bar near Ortona harbour Coffee before walking the trabocchi coastal path. | Lunch: Trabocco Punta Tufano Lunch on a trabocco fishing platform over the sea. Fresh Adriatic catch. Book ahead. | Dinner: Ristorante Villa Maiella, Guardiagrele One Michelin star in an extraordinary mountain town. Outstanding Abruzzese cuisine.
DAY 5
MAJELLA NATIONAL PARK
MORNING
THE MAJELLA, THE HERMITAGE MOUNTAIN
The Majella massif (2,793 metres) is Abruzzo's second great mountain range and the most spiritually significant. From the 10th to the 17th century, hundreds of hermit monks carved cave churches and hermitages into the limestone cliffs of the mountain. The most extraordinary is the Eremo di Sant'Onofrio al Morrone near Sulmona, carved into a sheer cliff face and accessible only by a long stone staircase. Pope Celestine V lived here before being elected pope in 1294 and returning here after his abdication. Drive: 30 min drive to cave churches
MIDDAY
THE CAVE CHURCHES OF THE MAJELLA
The Majella contains over 300 rock-cut cave churches from the medieval hermit tradition, scattered along the limestone cliffs and ravines of the mountain. The Santo Spirito a Majella complex near Serramonacesca is the finest, with extraordinary frescoes from the 14th century. The Majella National Park visitor centre in Caramanico Terme has maps of the cave church routes. Entry to most sites is free. Drive: 30 min drive to Caramanico
AFTERNOON
CARAMANICO TERME AND THE MAJELLA GORGE
Caramanico Terme is a beautiful spa town in a dramatic gorge of the Majella where hot springs have been used since Roman times. The Orfento river gorge below the town is one of the finest natural landscapes in the Majella, with extraordinary rock formations, waterfalls and ancient footpaths. The walk into the gorge takes 30 minutes and is entirely free.
💎 HIDDEN GEM
The village of Pacentro above Sulmona, the ancestral home of Madonna's family, is one of the finest medieval villages in Abruzzo. Three medieval towers survive, the streets are entirely cobbled and the views over the Peligna valley are extraordinary. Free to visit and almost entirely unknown to international visitors.
🍽 WHERE TO EAT
Breakfast: Bar in Sulmona Coffee in the extraordinary confetti city before driving to the hermitage mountain. | Lunch: Ristorante Degli Angeli, Pacentro Outstanding mountain restaurant in one of the most beautiful villages in Abruzzo. Local lamb and saffron. | Dinner: Final dinner in Sulmona or L'Aquila End the trip with a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and a plate of local pasta with saffron. Perfect ending.
Where To Stay
Santo Stefano di Sessanio, Night 1 Sextantio Albergo Diffuso, the restored medieval village hotel. Approx 120 to 180 euros. Scanno or Pescasseroli, Night 2 Agriturismo or park hotel. Approx 70 to 110 euros per night. L'Aquila, Sulmona or coast, Nights 3 to 5 Mix of city hotels and coastal agriturismi. Approx 60 to 120 euros per night.
Top Tips
1. Rocca Calascio is most extraordinary at sunset. Stay in Santo Stefano di Sessanio for the evening light.
2. National Park bears are most active at dawn and dusk. The Camosciara valley is the finest area.
3. Trabocco restaurants on the coast are extremely popular in summer. Book at least 2 weeks ahead.
4. Abruzzo saffron from Navelli is the finest in the world. Buy it directly from producers near L'Aquila.
5. L'Aquila's rebuilt city is extraordinary and profoundly moving. Allow a full morning to explore properly.
6. Montepulciano d'Abruzzo red wine is outstanding value and largely unknown outside the region. Buy it locally.
Total Budget
85 to 140 euros/day