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Discover Italy’s Unspoilt Pollino National Park

Italy has no shortage of national parks, I visited one this summer. I have not, alas, visited the Pollino national park in Italy’s largely ignored Calabria region. I was even more surprised to learn that this park is Italy’s largest covering an area of over 192,000 hectares, 740 square miles.

I found out about the Pollino National park after writing about an innovative local council located within the park area – San Lorenzo Bellizzi – and after hunting around YouTube, I came across this photo presentation of the peaks in the Pollino park.

The Peaks of Italy’s Pollino National Park, Calabria

[youtube width=”520″ height=”415″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPAgbxWoZKg[/youtube]

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.

Looks lovely, doesn’t it? Via Twitter, I’ve learnt that the paths are clearly marked and food fans will be pleased to hear that there’s lots to be discovered in this virtually unknown Italian national park – which, remember, is the biggest in Italy.

This is where the Pollino National Park is in Italy (you can zoom in and out):

Have you ever been? Probably not, though you might consider doing so now. If so, Edelweiss Cai organises trekking trips to the Pollino park from time to time and it organises trips to other areas in Calabria. There’s one coming up soon from September 20th-27th, 2014. The details are in Italian.

Chad

+Alex Roe is from the UK, but has lived and worked in Milan, Italy, for many years. Alex has been interviewed by the BBC on Italy issues. He tweets news and information about Italy to over 37,000 Twitter followers via @newsfromitaly on Twitter.

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