This is one of my main dilemmas while trekking in the Italian Apennines, especially in Abruzzo, where there’s a chance to see a Marsican Brown Bear: I’d like to encounter one, but I wouldn’t like being eaten by it. To be more precise, I wouldn’t like to meet it—but I would like to see it. Probably the majority of hikers
I started the 3rd day of our Abruzzo in December trip stating that my knee was in the lovely shape of a small balloon (pity, it wasn’t colourful). Annoying, and not great to climb, but I still could walk. And I did walk; we just had to modify our ‘to do’ list.
The next day of our off-season travel in Abruzzo, we started by visiting two churches and the castle in Bominaco. Driving there, I was looking at the mountains and thinking that Abruzzo in winter would be better with more snow, but on the other hand, many roads would be closed. And we saw it later on.
I believe I’ve already stated that I love Abruzzo. I’m sure I have, but I’ll do it again: for me, Abruzzo is no 1 in Italy. No wonder I happily jumped when we were going there again, hoping to see some snow. There was no snow; there were nice towns, confetti in the shape of everything, a closed road to
I’ve probably mentioned a hundred times that I love Abruzzo, so I was really happy to be back on another trip there. This time it was short – just two days — but still better than nothing. We stayed in a huge apartment in Fara San Martino.
If it were up to me to send tourists to Italy, Abruzzo would be a must-see. Or maybe better not, because it would be full of people and trampled. And unfortunately, it seems that it is slowly becoming that way.
Nevertheless, there are still places where meeting a living soul, especially out of season, can be not so obvious.
The Orfento Valley hike (Valle dell’Orfento) and Ponte Del Vallone are great starting points for exploring the Majella National Park and admiring the wildlife of Abruzzo. You won’t see the whole park — it covers nearly 100 square miles of mountains and canyons — but you’ll see two of its absolutely beautiful corners
Eremo San Giovanni all’Orfento hike is one of the longer trails in Maiella National Park in Abruzzo (Parco Nazionale della Majella). While not particularly challenging (apart from a few sections) it can take 6-7 hours, so to do it without rushing, you’ll need a whole day.
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