Active vacations in the nature of the Apennines
Secret villages, soft nature, celebrated seaside resorts, not to mention the food…Emilia Romagna is an archetypal region for slow tourism, made up of walking and pedaling.
Here are some tips for carving out your own active vacation in this area, tailored to your needs.
The Alta Via dei Parchi
If you are a true trekker, the right route is the.
Alta Via dei Parchi
: 500 km divided into 27 stages through two national parks, five regional parks and one interregional park. Of course, one can also walk only parts of the entire Alta Via.
The setting is theApennines, between Emilia Romagna, Tuscany and Marche. An area that gives wild nature, breathtaking views, historical vestiges. We plunge among mountains, lakes, high-altitude grasslands, chalk cliffs, volcanic crags…
The route starts in Berceto, famous for the Cathedral of St. Moderanno, an ancient church of a Lombard monastery from 719 AD, whose current Romanesque facade was rebuilt in 1845. Final destination is Bascio, a small hamlet dominated by a thousand-year-old tower.
When to experience this adventure? Between mid-spring and mid-autumn.
Discovering the Casentino forests
What about the bikers? The
Casentino Forest National Park
, which stretches between Tuscany and Emilia Romagna, offers a beautiful opportunity.
You ride mountain bikes from the Park’s highest peaks, Mounts Falterona (1,654 m.) and Falco (1,658 m.), to the source of the Arno River. All, through a short (10 km) off-road loop route, starting and finishing at Fonte del Borbotto.
Among the major points of interest of the route-which aims precisely to go up the source of the Arno River to “Capo d’Arno”-is Mount Falterona. It is here, on the slopes of the second highest peak in the Tuscan-Romagna Apennines, that the river originates.
Its peak crosses the border between the province of Florence and the province of Arezzo. It has an arenaceous structure and is covered with beech forests: pedaling here on fat wheels is a unique thrill.
Trail running: running in the parks in Emilia Romagna
Finally, an unusual way to discover the parks of Emilia Romagna is … by running! In fact, on the trails of theEmilian Apennines it is possible to practice trail running, that type of running – increasingly popular in Italy in recent years – that abandons the road in favor of paths surrounded by breathtaking views.
