Italy Outdoor Travel Guide

If you are visiting Italy during the summer, you should explore the best of Italy’s nature by hiking. Apart from the beautiful towns and cities, there’s the natural side of Italy you need to explore first-hand. Here’s a list of the top 10 hiking areas you should visit:

Tre Cime di Lavaredo Dolomite

Dolomite features numerous hiking trails and the best circuit- Tre Cime di Lavaredo, which is located in Parco Naturaledelle Dolomiti di Sesto. It is one of Italy’s most beautiful mountain ranges, and the least visited Alpine areas compared French and Swiss Alps. Dolomite boasts idyllic lakes, pristine forests, limestone peaks and cloud-scraping mountains.

Orobie trail, Lombardy

This eighty-kilometre hiking trail connects some of the most beautiful peaks of the Italian Alps in Bergamo province. The trail stretches to an altitude of 2,100-2,200 m and crosses various landscapes, ranging from meadows, alpine mountains and woods. There is an Italian Alpine club where you can rest while enjoying Italy’s best stew dishes.

The Alpine Path of the Dolomites

This hiking trail stretches 180 km with the highest point having an altitude of 3,000 m. 30 mountain passes border a series of towering peaks and pristine alpine lakes. Your journey starts at Brixen and ends at the ancient city of Feltre, making it the most challenging hiking trail in the country. The Alpine Path of the Dolomites is also called the Way of the Legends with some of its highest paths touching famous dolomitic groups, including the Pale San Martino, the Sella and the Marmolada.

Monte Bianco and Monte Rosa, Aosta Valley

This Italian region borders Switzerland and France. It is known for its vertical peaks, including Monte Cervino, Monte Bianco, Grander Paradiso and Monte Rosa, which is the highest in the Alps. The tour to the White Mountain (Europe’s most classic trail) starts from Courmayeur.

Sentiero Azzurro

The 12-kilometre hiking trail is located in Cinque Terre, a jaw-dropping picturesque of this mountainous region. Sentiero Azzurro connects all the five fishing villages located here, teetering past the vines, terraced hillsides and joining the contour of the coastline cliffs along Liguria Sea. This route is best hiked from east to west, i.e., from Riomaggiore to Monterosso. If you are not up to the challenge, you can walk as far as the Corniglia, the middle village and jog back.

Selvaggio Blu, Sardinia

It is a 45-kilometre stretch hailed as Italy’s toughest trek in Sardinia. Selvaggio threads along the Golfo di Orosei on the east coast of Sardinia and requires great mountaineering experience when climbing. This multi-day hike will lead you to Italy’s wildest and most isolated coastlines, thick vegetation, deep gorges and cliffs, dipping 800 metres. You will also find charcoal burner’s paths weaving past quiet bays and dramatic overhangs.