Best walks in Italy: autumn is the perfect season!

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«The best walks in Italy are in October, when it’s nature that steals the spotlight. Discover all the magic of Italian paths.»

The autumn walk, also called Foliag, is the one between the last days of September and San Martino (11^th November). This is the best time of year to really appreciate, especially in landscapes less contaminated by man, the colors of autumn, that colorful mix of shades that seem to arise from the brilliant mind of a Renaissance painter. In the month of October, in fact, nature turns into magic, and we can all enjoy a walk through the green of the forests and luxuriant woods; In our eyes there is the spectacle of the foliage, the phenomenon of the foliage of the trees that in autumn turns into a vortex of colours. Certainly the best walks in Italy are in October.

You don’t need to fly to Canada or Japan to admire it: in Italy, from the woods of Trentino to the Sila Plateau in Calabria, up to Pollino, there are many sites where you can admire the fall-foliage. It’s a phenomenon that every year brings thousands of people to travel through historical parks, mountain paths and rolling hills, in order to catch all the autumn shades of nature
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The first walk to admire is the one in Trentino in Lake Tovel, a splendid location located in Val di Non, where the clear waters, which fade from blue to green, are the counterparts to the massif Northern Brenta Group. A rugged and wild land in winter, but sweet and romantic in October, thanks to the seasonal colors that make it one of the top destinations to see, especially during the autumn. This is a land of woods, and in this season it’s even more colorful. It’s really worth being prepared to take your camera out and to capture all the richness of mother nature. Once, the lake of Tovel was rich in a particular alga that dyed it bright red and this phenomenon gave life to mysterious legends, like that of Queen Tresenga .

If we move to Piedmont, in the province of Biella, another one of the best walks in Italy to take is in the Oasi Zegna, crossed by the panoramic Zegna state road, from Trivero to Valle Cervo, which offers a spectacular view of the Po Valley and the Upper Sessera Valley.

Built by Ermenegildo Zegna, this splendid oasis of peace and silence is a garden that boasts great records: the oasis, in fact, houses 500,000 conifers, blue hydrangeas and many hundreds of rhododendrons of various species and colorings, which in the foliage period become a spectacle with a thousand nuances. Do not miss the Conca dei Rododendri and the Bosco del Sorriso, ring trail to discover the bioenergetic benefits of plants on the body.

A walk not to be missed is the one in the woods of the National Park of the Casentinesi Forests, one of the most colorful walks in Italy, with bright shades ranging from yellow to purple red, from green to orange. Monte Penna is one of the most evocative places to visit. On its top we find the Lama Forest  which can be reached along the road that also leads to the Hermitage of Camaldoli and the Campigna Forest . You cross the monumental forest of beeches, maples and firs that surrounds the Sanctuary of La Verna, a place full of charm and mystery. Even the mountains of the Garfagnana offer a scenario not to be missed: in fact, on the ancient Fortress of the Verrucole you can find one of the best “belvedere” on the golden woods, with panoramic views of the hills covered with vineyards. But do not miss the Hermitage of Calomini, perched on a breathtaking cliff: the sight of the falling leaves is a perfect picture.

Even in Calabria the fall-foliage gives its best show; the protagonists of the scene are the Sila National Park and the Fallistro Giant Forest. Immersed in wild nature, you will take a walk through the tree-lined avenues painted with red, gold and brick, among beech woods, alders and plane trees. In October, then, it is the season of festivals, and your getaway weekend becomes an exhilarating opportunity to sin with the products of the ancient local tradition.

Lastly, with its foliage, the Pollino National Park becomes a destination not to be missed for no reason in the world. The beech forest in autumn gives amazing colors: red, yellow and brown with intense shades. Spending a weekend in autumn in this National Park is an opportunity to immerse yourself in nature between walks, chestnut and truffle collection and, why not, truly magnificent views. In October do not miss the best walks in Italy … doing it would be a crime!

Argia Renda

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