Trip of the week: a glorious walk across the Apennines in Italy
The 80-mile Via degli Dei footpath can be seen as a pilgrimage route of sorts
Winding over the Apennine mountains between Bologna and Florence, the 80-mile Via degli Dei footpath can be seen as a pilgrimage route of sorts – a way to celebrate “the secular religions of Italian life: food and beauty”, says James Stewart in The Times. It hardly matters which way you walk it. Known as La Grassa, “The Fat One”, Bologna is Italy’s culinary capital, and Florence’s artistic heritage needs no introduction – but neither city is lacking in either respect, and nor is the countryside between them. To make the most of it, proceed at a leisurely pace, stopping for picnics in sunny glades, and use a tour operator such as Inntravel, which provides detailed route notes, reservations at the best village inns, and daily luggage transfers.
Starting from Bologna on a ten-night trip in the early summer, you climb for two days through the Apennine foothills, across wildflower meadows like “swaying carpets of wildflowers”, and past copses alive with birdsong. At the Albergo Poli in the village of Madonna dei Fornelli, the beer tastes “like the tears of angels”, and even a dish as simple as tortellini with butter and sage is superb. Higher in the mountains, you ramble through cool forests of beech and chestnut, where the canopy ripples in the breeze “like water”. Crossing from Emiglia- Romagna into Tuscany, you enter a landscape of rolling fields and farmhouses ringed by orchards and cypress trees. This is the Mugello region, a Tuscany of “tatty Fiat Pandas and tractors”, far from the tourist trail, but with plenty of treasures, such as the Donatello crucifix at the convent in San Piero a Sieve.
From a distance, Florence appears like a vision, spread out under pale luminous skies familiar from Renaissance paintings. If its “splendour and swagger” leave you dazed after such a peaceful week, seek out the Ristorante Cafaggi: there’s nothing a big dish of its slow-cooked beef, or peposo, can’t fix. Ten nights cost from £1,495pp (inntravel.co.uk).
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The magician who secretly smashed the Magic Circle's glass ceiling
Under The Radar Sophie Lloyd lurked in the all-male society by posing as a teenage boy for nearly two years, but was expelled after revealing her true identity
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Kate Summerscale's 6 favorite true crime books about real murder cases
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Helen Garner, Gwen Adshead, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Team of bitter rivals
Opinion Will internal tensions tear apart Trump's unlikely alliance?
By Theunis Bates Published
-
Kate Summerscale's 6 favorite true crime books about real murder cases
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Helen Garner, Gwen Adshead, and more
By The Week US Published
-
6 elegant homes in the Mediterranean style
Feature Featuring an award-winning mansion in Colorado and an Alhambra palace-inspired home in Washington
By The Week Staff Published
-
Juror #2: Clint Eastwood's 'cleverly constructed' courtroom drama is 'rock solid'
The Week Recommends Nicholas Hoult stars in 'morally complex' film about a juror on a high-profile murder case
By The Week UK Published
-
Explore a timeless corner of Spain by bike
The Week Recommends Take a 'dawdling route through the back-country' far from the tourism hotspots
By The Week UK Published
-
Saoirse Ronan: how the actress went viral
In the Spotlight The actress dropped a 'chat-icide bomb' on Graham Norton's BBC show
By The Week UK Published
-
Griddled salmon and vegetables with miso and melted butter recipe
The Week Recommends Hokkaido comfort food classic with a delicious twist
By The Week UK Published
-
Edmund de Waal on this year's Booker Prize shortlist
The Week Recommends The chair of judges details works by Rachel Kushner, Percival Everett and others
By The Week UK Published
-
Shattered: Hanif Kureishi's 'inspirational' memoir of accident that left him paralysed
The Week Recommends 'Exhilarating' book is composed of diary entries dictated to his son Carlo
By The Week UK Published