Abruzzo, with its amazingly varied terrain incorporating protected National Parks, mountains, valleys, beaches and forests, is an excellent region for exploring by foot at a rambler or hiking pace, something the Italians (along with the Dutch, Germans & Scandiwegians) have known it seems since time begun. However, despite the wonderful hiking opportunities Abruzzo offers it is not always easy to get information directly in the region; often park tourism offices are closed, and official website info & maps do not clearly indicate how to find or begin the walks in question.
We were therefore hugely excited (as 2 desperately amateurish hiking enthusiasts with a love for photography) to hear of a new book, Walking in Abruzzo by Stuart Haines, to be published imminently. Further investigations led us to contacting the publishers Cicerone, who kindly allowed us to have a sneak preview of one of the book’s walks, Walk 12 “Monte Bolza Ridge” in the lunar landscape of the Campo Imperatore, click here to view.
From this fortunate preview we can confirm the book offers concise and genuinely useful info on the location of the walk, the relative difficulty and the required time specs. The itinerary in question even gives details of two butchers’ shops as reference points. A vignette map provides an indication of the route’s layout and key features such as landmarks, all very handy! Photographic illustrations help the walks come alive and give an excellent visual insight into the topography that (in this example anyway) makes Abruzzo so stunning. We also really like that there is a published warning to ignore and skirt around Abruzzo’s sheepdogs, the Pastore Abruzzese, whilst they are tending their sheep and guarding from strangers as well as wolves and bears!
The book, to our knowledge the first English-language example of its kind, is due for international publication by the specialist hiking, walking, climbing & cyclist guide publishing house, Cicerone on the 15th July 2011 via their website and usual channels, including Amazon, and we will certainly be looking forward to checking it out and providing a more full review upon its release.
