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Italy walking vacation activities

If you’re looking to complement your walking vacation with some alternative activities then why not hike through history, go volcano hunting or fill your boots at a traditional trattoria as you read about Italy walking vacation activities to inspire and encourage even the most reticent of cultural walkers.

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Italy walking vacation activities

Don't let the powder posers push you off the pistes. The snow covered slopes are for everyone and snowshoeing guides know all the best secret, snowy spots.

Cold feet

The Dolomites offer dramatic snowshoeing, trekking around glacial lakes and white woodlands of the South Tyrolean region, with belly warming stops at one gorgeous trattoria after another. You can also go snowshoeing on the steamy slopes of Mt. Etna. Always go with a qualified guide: you don’t mess with the mountains in winter.

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Hike through history

Italy is falling down with history. On every hike be it an ancient mule path, Etruscan trade trail or Roman road, you will strike some sort of treasure. In Sicily alone, the Valley of the Temples is a paean to classical Greece, Palermo oozes Arabic style, while Siracusa and Noto are Baroque gems. And Sardinia alone boasts 7,000 sites linked to the mysterious Nuraghe dating back 6,000 years.

The medieval and Renaissance fabric of Florence is complemented by other Tuscan wonders: Gothic Siena, Renaissance Lucca and San Gimignano’s high medieval towers - rivalled by lovely Alba, Piedmont's 'town of 100 towers'. Amid the jagged rose-tinted peaks of the Dolomites, enjoy a unique blend of Austrian and Italian culture and architecture in towns like Bolzano and Merrano. And on the Amalfi Coast you have Pompeii and Herculaneum, or the stunning remains of a Greek city at Paestum. Take a walking vacation that includes cultural stops along the way, or just wander and see what you fall upon. Because wherever you walk in Italy, you’ll constantly be reminded of one thing: it wasn’t built in a day.

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Hiking up Stromboli at night and seeing sparks fly out is one of those moments when the planet's fragility really hits you.

Volcano hunting

Head to Sicily for a truly ‘active’ Aeolian archipelago experience. Stay in a mountain hut on the slopes of Mt. Etna, explore Lipari’s dormant volcano, hike to Vulcano Island’s crater to see the 'Fumaroles' (vents of volcanic gas), and enjoy its hot thermal springs. It’s even hotter on Stromboli, where you can see 'Sciara del Fuoco', a fiery channel where the lava outflows plunge directly into the sea.

Fill your boots

In Italy, people truly live to eat rather than eat to live. And on our walking vacations, you will fill your boots again and again. From basic mountain rifugi, Tuscan trattoria or Alpine agriturismi, feasts await. Try fresh pesto sauce in its Ligurian birthplace or a pizza in Naples. Explore the HQ of the Slow Food movement in Piedmont, sampling its specialities: arborio rice, white truffles, Castelmagno cheese and Barolo wine.

In Umbria, try norcineria (cured pork produce) or warming spelt and barley soups. In Sicily, tuck into Arab-infused delights or discover new seafood flavours on Sardinia: sea urchin, salty botarga (dried roe) and tart scabecciu fish dishes. Toast it all in atmospheric bars serving tempting nibbles (aperitivi), while sipping superb artisan grappa or a glass of Franciacorta – Italy's fine riposte to champagne.

More about Italy walking

Best time to go on a walking holiday in Italy

Best time to go on a walking vacation in Italy

Travel either side of the hotter summer months and you’ll find the best time to go on a walking vacation in Italy with cooler temperatures, fewer crowds and an abundance of seasonal scenery ensuring Tuscany, southern Italy and the Dolomites encapsulate a picture perfect walkers’ paradise.

Walking vacations in Italy travel guide

Discover la via e bella as you peel back the pages of our Italy walking travel guide and find out what does walking in Italy entail and whether guided or self-guided, hut or high end or centre based or nomadic walking vacations in Italy are for you.

Italy walking vacation highlights & map

Our Italy walking vacation highlights map will take you from Mont Blanc and the Italian Alps in the northwest to Naples and Sicily down south to ensure you find Italy walking vacation highlights to suit your mood and have you crying encore after encore.

Best walking vacations in Italy

Our top walking vacations in Italy or primo promenades, if you prefer, will take you through Tuscany and along the Amalfi coast before ascending to peak practice as you summit the likes of Mont Blanc, the Italian Alps and Mount Etna.

Top 10 walking vacations

From gentle strolls through rolling vineyards, to hikes up volcanoes and craggy cliffside treks, Italy has a huge array of walks from the easy to the challenging.

Walking vacations in Italy travel tips

Tips from friends in Italy are always handy when accumulating walking vacations in Italy travel tips which is why we’ve asked Etien Veeman, Emily Christye and Eric Lasserre, to give us their expert recommendations to help you travel safely on a walking vacation in Italy.

Responsible walking vacations in Italy

It’s all well and good thinking that you can walk the walk but if you’re really looking for responsible walking vacations in Italy then read on as we’ve got sensible suggestions that explain what you can do when it comes to hunting and hiking, noisy helicopters and how to embrace the culture of mountain safety.