Italy Via degli Dei Trek

Overview

The Via degli Dei - the Way of the Gods - walks out of Bologna beneath the Portico di San Luca and over the Apennine watershed to arrive, 130 kilometres later, in front of Florence's Duomo. The gods are the mountains it crosses: Monte Adone's sandstone tower above the Setta valley, Monzuno, Monte Venere, Monte Luario. For long stretches you walk the Flaminia Militare, a Roman military road of 187 BC whose original paving still surfaces through the chestnut woods, and at Monte Sole you pass the memorial to the 1944 Marzabotto massacre - the route's sobering, necessary pause. This is civilised long-distance walking: red-and-white waymarks throughout, village B&Bs and agriturismi each night, tagliatelle and Sangiovese as recovery strategy. The climbs are honest - repeated 400-600 metre pulls, around 4,000m of total ascent - but trail shoes beat boots and luggage transfer is easy to arrange. Book accommodation ahead for the May-June and September-October sweet spots, and avoid the airless heat of late July and August. Around £500 covers six nights, meals and transfers; both ends are an easy train ride apart, which makes the logistics the simplest of any Italian trek.

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Prefilled for 1 April 2027 — the next best-season window. Search on partner sites — opens in a new tab.