Walking in Italy - European Travel Books

Paperback - May, 2002 - Interlink Books
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By: Gillian Souter and John Souter
ISBN: 1566564530

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Reviews by readers

Countryside walks without need of a car

As the editorial review says this book covers walks in both the countryside and in major tourist towns & cities.
Introduction
The short Introduction covers Grading of the walks ( the walk on the island of Capri refered to by the earlier reviewer Lisa is graded easy but lots of steps),Path waymarking, Where to go in the towns and countryside, When to go where- wildflowers and climate,How to travel, Where to stay, What to take, and Warnings and Tips. There are colour photos right through the book and colour hand drawn maps showing the route.

Town walks
There are several walks described in each of the "big three" major cities of Rome, Florence, and Venice,with walks also ( north to south) in Turin, Bergamo, Verona, Padua, Genoa, Ferrara, Bologna, Ravenna, Lucca, Pisa, Perugia,Naples,Palermo, Siracusa, Taormina and Cagliari.The town maps are generally adequate. The names of the buildings etc on the walks are bolded and numbered in the text and numbered on the maps which is good. Each map also has a short list of 3 or 4 "Dont Miss" buildings on the walk.There is even a list of opening hours of the main attractions on the walk( very necessary in Italy). I used the walks in 7 towns other than the "big 3" and found them very good. There is not a lot of detail about each building so if you want more you may want a "Rough Guide Italy" too. Tourist office's street and email addresses are given along with web sites.

Countryside Walks
The main value of the book for me though was the descriptions of walks in the countryside. Importantly each area has a SUGGESTED BASE and the walks are either circular from the base , or you can get to the begining and/or the end by public transport. This is a big point of difference of this book from other Italy walk books which often assume you have a car. Almost all the walks are day walks, not multiday strenuous Treks.The 11 country areas covered ( listed N to S with base) are: Gran Paradiso ( Valnontey), Lago di Como( Menaggio), Dolomiti(Cortina),Cinque Terre (Riomaggiore- but you can easily use another village on the coast), Tuscany ( San Gimignano), Chianti( Radda), Umbrian Hilltowns(Assisi), The Maiella (Campo de Giove), Amalfi Coast(Sorento),Temples of Sicilia, and Sardegnan Wilds(Dorgali). There are generally 3 walks described in each area with maps that show the route, a total of 32 walks. Most countryside walk chapters also give a short description of "Other walks in the Region" without maps.The walks are almost all 4 to 7 hours in length. There are no 1-2 hour walks.

I have completed 15 of the mapped or other suggested countryside walks and so feel qualified to comment on the book. Names of "waypoints" along the trail are bolded and numbered in the text and numbered on the maps (as for the town walks).The points are generally churches, peaks of hills and sometimes track junctions. But they are a good method of knowing you are on the right trail. Each chapter lists the relevant topographic map(s)for the area and generally I would recommend you buy it as the handdrawn colour maps in the book are really not adequate for safe troublefree walking. There are usually track junctions not described in the text or maps that can therefor be quite confusing. The text could use the simple directives to turn left or right at track junctions a bit more. Some country areas have well waymarked paths eg Gran Paradiso,Tuscany and Amalfi coast.Others like Umbria less so and book directions become more critical.The walking times given should be regarded as a minimum. If you dawdle and look around as I do you should allow longer.
My picks would be Alpe Money in Gran Paradiso, Tre Cime de Lavaredo in Dolomiti, San Donato loop in Tuscany, Sentiero Azzurro and walk to Hill Sanctuaries in Cinque Terre, Trevi to Campello in Umbria ( but care needed in route finding) and "Above Positano" (Sentiero degli Dei - Pathway of the Gods) on the Amalfi Coast.
With the described quibbles aside, the book is a fine introduction to the sights in lesser known Italian towns and the delights of the Countryside.Go and explore.

Walkers, beware

Just back from a trip to southern Italy, and want to caution readers about this book. While the descriptions of trips are adequate, we found the rating system and time estimates for the walks to be very misleading.

My husband and I are reasonably fit walkers - we averaged about 8-10 miles a day while in Italy - but on the island of Capri, this book threw a monkey wrench into our plans because of its underestimation of the difficulty of the proposed walks.

The first walk, pretty much a 3-mile paved uphill grade to the marvelous Villa Jovis they rated "easy, but lots of steps." By the time we got to the top, we raised our eyebrows at the rating of "easy" because people who are minimally fit or have trouble walking would doubtless find this difficult. We were definitely looking forward to an "easy" walk down to the Grotto di Matermania later in the afternoon. What the authors described as "steps" was a one-person-wide staircase nearly 3/4 miles long of straight-downhill steps with no banister or railing. It was not only steep, but pretty problematic for anyone who's not crazy about heights. Halfway down, I turned back because I was becoming dizzy. My husband returned the next day to complete the walk, and confirmed that the flight of "steps" was indeed very long. The authors estimated the two walks would take "at least four hours" to complete; the trip took us at least 6. On an island, where it is necessary to catch a ferry at the end of the day, a better estimate would be helpful.

The book lacks substantive details about what you'll see on the trails, providing little information about the sights. More detail, and a more realistic picture of what's ahead on the trail, is a must for any book focusing on walks.

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