If we needed another excuse to get back to Italy ASAP (the nation is already welcoming back visitors), then this new hiking route should be just the ticket.
The Path of Parks or ‘Sentiero dei Parchi’ is a whopping 7,000 kilometres long and would take in all of the country’s 25 national parks - including those on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia.
Sergio Costa, Italy’s environment minister says the path will be based on the current CAI Path (Italian Alpine Club) which runs through 18 of the 25 parks already.
“National parks are a treasure trove of nature: we must guarantee their conservation, but also their usability," Costa said.
The hiking trail will take walkers through the mighty Dolomites and along Italy’s picturesque coastlines like the Cinque Terre.
While there is no official opening date yet, €35million will be invested in the route over the next decade. Once it is complete, hikers will be given a ‘passport’ as a memento when they pass through all 25 parks.
The proposed path is similar to Chile’s Route of Parks, which was created in 2018, and sits at 2,735 kilometres long. It connects 17 national parks in Chile’s Patagonia region, taking hikers from the southern section of the Andes Mountains, through grasslands, deserts and pristine rivers.
