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Quiet Mountains of the Apennines
Nights: 4
Day 1: as your first walk is not overly long, you could take some time to explore Porretta Terme before setting off. When you are ready, you strike out uphill in the direction of Castelluccio, an ancient village with a crumbling castle and sweeping views over the surrounding area to reward the occasionally steep ascent. Your destination is Lizzano in Belvedere, from where the views - as the village's name suggests - are every bit as panoramic as those of Castelluccio, if not more so. (8km, 3hrs) Accommodation: Hotel Il Fondaccio (3*), Lizzano in Belvedere. This friendly hotel is typical of the authentic inns in this region, with owner Giorgio Gasparini offering warm and genuine hospitality and hearty Emilian cuisine.
Accommodation: Hotel Montegrande (3*), Vidiciatico. This hotel is highly praised for the hospitality of Bruno Bartolomei and his wife Piera, and also for the delicious regional cuisine, which is justly renowned locally. Day 3: starting with a short transfer, this is a high-level walk with breathtaking views. You follow panoramic ridges along which you may spot marmots to reach the summit of the Corno alle Scale, the highest of the Apennine peaks (1,944 metres), and La Nuda. (19km, 7hrs) Accommodation: Hotel Montegrande, as above. Prices & travel 2008:
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The
Apennines, stretching from Liguria to Umbria, form Italy's spine and offer some of country's best
walking. Our chosen area is the Alto Appennino Bolognese between the great
cities of Florence and Bologna and close to the Tuscan border. Here, traditional
villages cluster on the lower slopes of dramatic peaks rising to nearly
2,000 metres, and inviting paths lead up through thick, majestic woodland of beech, oak and chestnut
to the high mountains. In such a quiet, untouristy
area, the welcome is genuine and warm. Our chosen inns receive high praise, not least for a regional cuisine of pasta,
cured meats, fish from the rivers, bread made from chestnut flour, and, in season, wild mushrooms, truffles and chestnuts. 
Starting point: Hotel Helvetia (3*), Porretta Terme. This is a smart Art Deco-style hotel in the
old town with spacious public rooms, pleasant gardens, saunas and
a pool. You stay on
a bed and breakfast basis so that you can choose where you dine.
Day 2: this fairly strenuous walk starts with an ascent through a couple of small hamlets and around a delightful valley. Your target is Mount Belvedere, the summit of which lives up to its name, affording a 360-degree panorama that in clear weather stretches over Emilia to
the border with Tuscany. The descent to Vidiciatico takes you through woodland and fields, following for part of the way
a path that commemorates the Americans and local resistance members who
fought here in World War Two. (12km, 5hrs)