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Welcome
to our walking in Italy pages. Using only trains and local busses,
we spent 4 days exploring the Cinque Terre in Liguria, then
3 days hiking to the refugio Nello Conti in the Alpi Apuane,
and finally 3 days in Florence (Tuscany). We hope you will find
these pages informative and helpful in planning your trip.
Italy, not only the home of
pizza, pasta , wine, and gelato, but also centuries-old villages,
unspoiled scenery, fantastic art treasures, and friendly people
beckons one to visit.
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ice cream (gelato) selection |
Train
tickets can be purchased either from a ticket counter or a machine
at the train station. They must be validated/stamped before
boarding a train or one is liable to pay a fine when the conductor
comes around.
Look for a yellow box in the station or on the platform. |
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Bus tickets are NOT available in the bus, they must be purchased
at a magazine store or bar. Then one must validate/stamp them
after boarding the bus.
Look for a green box after entering the bus.
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Cinque Terre
The five lands of the Ligurian coast are
one of the most rugged and picturesque spots in Europe. A unique
characteristic of the area are the terraced wineyards sustained
by dry walling, a perfect example of landscape architecture
created by man in inaccessible surroundings. The rare and disappearing
species of flora and fauna are protected throughout the Cinque
Terre as far as Porto Venere. Panoramic foot paths that have
been clearly marked by the C.A.I. Association traverse the area
and are well used by walkers and trekkers alike.
Alpi Apuane
Located to the west of the Appenine range,
the Alpi Apuane are rugged mountains, known worldwide as the
source of the famous white Carrara marble.
Tuscany
Think of vineyards: rows of baby
green vines that manage somehow to march in arrow-straight formation
up the gently rolling hillsides, bounded by single files of
darker green cypress trees, snaking sandy roads leading to rust-colored
farmhouses and moss-coated castles, symmetrically rounded hilltops
surmounted by towns so homogeneous as to seem one single building.
Every inch of land has been sculpted, first by the elements
and then by generations of inhabitants whose goals were always
twofold: make the land produce as much as possible, make the
land as beautiful as possible.
Spectacular natural parks, colorful outdoor markets, and world
famous attractions just waiting to be explored.
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Italian
in 10 Minutes a Day
by
Kristine K. Kershul |
We liked the stickers and flip cards
which helped us memorize common words. Book is well laid out,
has nice menu and laminated phrase section to cut out and take
with you. |
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Conversational
Italian in 7 Days
by Shirley Baldwin &
Sarah Boas |
Small enough to take with you, and
now with CD so you can actually listen to the pronunciation and
practice. |
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Walking
And Eating In Tuscany And Umbria: 2005 Edition
by
James Lasdun, Pia Davis
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Nice book describing 40 walks in
Tuscany and Umbria. Handdrawn maps of the described walks included,
but are not adequate for safe and troublefree walking as they
only show the described path. Should you loose your direction,
there is no way of determining how to get back onto the correct
trail. Otherwise a great book. We own both the current and the
previous edition and recommend this book. |
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Lonely
Planet Walking in Italy
by
Helen Gillman, Stefano Cavedoni, Sandra Bardwell & Nick Tapp
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An attractive book for getting ideas
about where to walk. Well laid out with maps, covers all regions
of Italy. We used this guide to help us pick regions we wanted
to explore on our trip to Italy.
Published in 2003. |
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Walking
in Italy
by Gillian Souter, John Souter |
This book helps you plan your journey
and enjoy the best of Italy. It offers walking tours in Rome,
Florence, and Venice, suggests routes around such gems as Sienna
and Perugia, and leads you into Italy's most stunning landscapes
and national parks. The day walks and two-day itineraries are
designed with occasional walkers in mind and never take you too
far from a comfortable hotel bed and a good meal.
Published in 2002 |
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Walking
in Tuscany
by Gillian Price |
Reviews are mixed, so we selected
not to purchase this one. We list it because it is one of the
few books available.
Published in 2000, so a bit dated. |
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The
Independent Walker's Guide to Italy: 35 Breathtaking Walks in
Italy's Captivating Landscape
by Frank
Booth |
At first glance, this book looks
like a trail guide to 35 fabulous walks throughout Italy. In fact,
it's a country guide that happens to focus on walks. The first
walk is not described until page 64, after loads of advice on
what to pack and where to stay. Published in 1998 so a bit dated. |
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Maps for walking and hiking in Italy
are expensive to acquire from the US. Amazon.de offers Kompass
maps, but the shipping to the US is rather prohibitive. The Cinque
Terre (Kompass #644, Cinque Terre, ISBN 3-85491-570-5) and
Nello Conti (Kompass #646, Alpi Apuane • Garfagnana, ISBN 3-85491-852-6)
hikes are easy to accomplish without a map, as they are well marked
and you will frequently encounter other hikers, however, maps
are essential for walking in Tuscany. We recommend the following
map for the Florence region: Kompass #660, Firenze • Chianti,
ISBN 3-85491-414-8. This map is available in bookstores (not
magazine stands!) at airports and in most larger cities at libreria
la Feltrinelli (bookstore in italian = libreria, open
7 days a week).
la Feltrinelli stores are located
in:
Pisa on the main street which is called Italy Course, #50; on
left side if walking from the train station toward the Leaning
Tower.
Florence (2 stores, one on Via Cavour, #12 and the other on Via
de' Cerretani, #30/32r )
Rome (6 stores)
Milan (4 stores)
Ask 'Lei ha carta sentieri?' (lay-ee ah car-tah sin-tee-eh-ree
= do you have walking maps) and someone will show you the map
section.
P icture on the right shows a map carousel in the Pisa airport
bookstore. The Kompass maps are the green ones to the right of
the arrow. |
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Parco
Nazionale delle Cinque Terre |
Italian website (in english) about
Cinque Terre |
| Slow
Travel Italy |
Very informative site for anyone
considering visiting Italy |
| Parco
Alpi Apuane |
Italian website (in english) about
Alpi Apuane |
| Massa
Carrara Bus Service |
In Italian only, bus schedule for
service from Massa to Resceto, scroll down to find linea 78, click
the link below Seleziona Fascia Oraria to see current
time table.
Feriale = Monday through Saturday
Festivo = Sunday and Holidays |
| Refugio
Nello Conti |
Emanuele
Cesaroni is the keeper of this refugio,
he speaks good english and is very friendly and helpful, as well
as an excellent cook! The website is in italian. |
| Hotel
Kursaal Ausonia in Florence |
Very nice and reasonably priced hotel
5 minutes by foot from train station and museums in Florence.
Friendly and very helpful staff (perfect english spoken here!).
Wonderful rooms with tall ceilings, bathrooms, big and fluffy
towels, TV, and airconditioning. Room rate includes good breakfast
with cereals, yoghurts, and juices on buffet; bread, croissants,
butter, jelly, etc. at table. Computer with high speed internet
access (small charge) available to guests. |
| Florence |
Italian website (in english) with
lots of info about tuscany, including links to reservation forms
for the museums. Lines are long and it's advised to reserve popular
museums such as the Uffici Gallery in advance. |
| Trenitalia |
Italian train service website with
ability to look up schedules (in english). |
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