Italy is a veritable walkers paradise, as specialist publisher Cicerone know very well.  Recently, Cicerone kindly sent me four walking guides to a number of areas of Italy.

I got in touch with Cicerone after hunting for guides to Italy’s Abruzzo region and as a result ended up with walking guides to Sardinia, the Amalfi coastline, Monte Sibillini national park in Le Marche and, Abruzzo.

Each of the Cicerone guides I have are pocket-sized, as every decent walking guide should be.

Today, I’m going to write a little about the Walking in Abruzzo guide.

Walking in Abruzzo

The Abruzzo guide contains details on 30 walks in one of Italy’s most unspoilt regions and each of the routes has been walked by the author of the walking guide – Stuart Haines who also happens to have a house in Abruzzo.

Convenient Walking Routes

I was very pleased to note that many of the routes in Cicerone’s Walking in Abruzzo book are circular, which means you do not have to re-cover your tracks to get back to where you started and, maybe, parked your car.  Being a former walker myself, I tend to prefer routes which will help me get back to where I started from – and where I left my car.

• Walking in Abruzzo by Stuart Haines – Cicerone  – on Amazon.com
• Walking in Abruzzo by Stuart Haines – Cicerone – on Amazon.co.uk

As Haines notes in his guide, the quality of walking maps in Italy is somewhat patchy. To help readers sort out the wheat from the chaff, the Walking in Abruzzo guide also contains a list of decent maps. I’d add that it can be potentially dangerous to rely 100% on GPS equipped smart phones unless you have a couple of spare batteries or one of these useful portable charger devices.

Stop reading, start speaking

Stop translating in your head and start speaking Italian for real with the only audio course that prompt you to speak.

SEE HOW IT WORKS

Beware of the Apple’s iPhones, as they do not have removable batteries – charging up your iPhone in the midst of Italy’s mountains will not be easy.  It is, however, possible to buy things like solar chargers and supplementary batteries for iPhones so if your battery runs down, you’ll still be able to bring it back to life and use it as a portable map or if an emergency arises.

Even if you go armed with a rucksack full of technology, don’t forget to tell someone where you are going, plus when you will get back.  To be doubly safe, leave a photocopy of the route you plan to follow with someone too.  Just in case.  This is especially important if you plan to tackle the walks solo.

Italy’s mountains are beautiful, but as with highlands all over the world, the weather can turn nasty very quickly so the motto is better safe than sorry.

The Walking in Abruzzo guide warns when routes may be snowbound.

I’ll be writing about each of Cicerone’s other Italy walking guides another time.

If you do buy a copy of the Walking in Abruzzo book and actually do some of the walks, then please come back here and leave a comment. Tips are welcome!

As a suggestion, why not combine a walking holiday in Abruzzo with one of Italy Sweet Italia’s experience breaks? You’ll find details here: Italia Sweet Italia.