guided tours in Abruzzo

Tours in Abruzzo 2009

Beautiful Abruzzo offers a variety of excursions for discovering this region considered one of the greenest in Europe, thanks to the professionalism of our tour guides and to our reliable, experienced bus drivers. The excursions or guided tours can be booked directly through our trip coordinators or in advance using our Abruzzo booking center via email. Some examples of our excursions are:

Tour 1: San Gabriele dell’Addolorata Sanctuary, Castelli and the Scala Santa

Arrival at Isola del Gran Sasso in the province of Teramo, located on the north side of the Gran Sasso mountain, where we visit the Sanctuary of San Gabriele, patron saint of Abruzzo and protector of our young people. We continue on to Castelli, the antique village the most famous ceramics in the world are made. We visit the historical center and its shops, where we may be able to watch ceramics being made right on the spot. We then tour Campli, a wealth of treasures, the most important of which is the Scala Santa (Holy Stairs) – the only one of its kind outside of Rome. Here, as we look at frescoes painted by Raphaelism artists on the Passion, Death and Resurrection, we can relive the Easter Triduum.

Tour 2: In the tracks of Padre Pio of Pietralcina and the water worship of Saint Michael the Archangel

This tour starts with a drive down to the region of Puglia, to San Giovanni Rotondo in Foggia, the hometown of saint Padre Pio. We We visit the Sanctuary of Michael the Archangel on Mount Gargano and the Grotta del Santo, a cave where a statue of the saint is found. This has been a destination of Christian pilgrimages since medieval times.

Tour 3: The Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano and the Benedictine Abbey at San Giovanni in Venere

A guided tour of Lanciano, in the province of Chieti, the town where a Eucharistic miracle took place in the 8th century A.D. Piazza Plebiscito offers an extraordinary historical and artistic legacy with its monumental archaeology: the Cathedral of Holy Saint Maria del Ponte and the Diocletian Auditorium. Following this, a drive along the Trabocco coastline and a visit to the Benedictine Abbey of San Giovanni in Venere in Fossacesia.

Costa dei Trabocchi per la visita dell’Abbazia benedettina di San Giovanni in Venere in località Fossacesia.

Tour 4: Caramanico – nature's rocks and water

Abruzzo, Europe's green region, is home to numerous hiking trails all around the national parks. One of the most beautiful trails is in the Valle dell'Orfento natural reserve at the Caramanico Terme (thermal baths) in the province of Pescara. We visit the Paolo Barasso Nature Museum at the center of the Caramanico Terme, where the exhibit and scenery tells the story of life on the Majella, the mother mountain of Abruzzo's people.

Tour 5: Macella and Manoppello – Nature's art in stone

The Benedictine rule perfectly woven into the scenery of the Majella is at its best in the Abbey of San Liberatore a Majella, the first autochthonous abbey in all Abruzzo. An excursion to Manoppello includes a visit to the Sanctuary of the Volto Santo (Holy Face). The afternoon is dedicated to visiting the marvelous Santa Maria Arabona Abbey.

Tour 6: Roccamorice, Abruzzo's hermitages – invisible refuges in the mountains

With the help of a nature guide, we hike along a rugged trail to reach San Bartolomeo in Legio's place of retreat, located in Roccamorice. This tiny hermitage is perfectly embedded and camouflaged in the rock of the mountainside.

Tour 7: Anversa, Scanno and Sulmona – the most photographed historical centre in Italy and the “Siena” of Abruzzo

Driving up the Valle del Sagittario, we pass through Cocullo, the town where serpents are celebrated, through Anversa degli Abruzzi and by the enchanting Scanno lake in the province of L'Aquila, to reach the most beautiful Borgo in Italy. We visit the wool museum where examples of typical womens' costumes are preserved, for centuries handmade by women in Scanno who specialized in wool fabrics. We also visit the historical Di Rienzo goldsmith's laboratory to watch gold filigree jewelry being made by these local experts. We taste Pan dell'Orso and tour Sulmona, the city of the Latin poet Ovidio and home to the most famous sugared almonds (confetti) in all of Italy.

Tour 8: Caporciano and Santo Stefano di Sessanio – UNESCO World Heritage sites

A visit to Bominaco, an abbatial complex protected by defense walls, near Caporciano in the province of L'Aquila for a tour of two important historical churches, Santa Maria dell'Assunta and the Oratory of St. Peregrine. The tour then proceeds to the exquisite village of Santo Stefano di Sessanio, once home to the Medici family of Tuscany, where we can see the crenellated tower.

Tour 9: Guardiagrele, the noble city of stone

This tour takes us up the east side of the Majella mountain where we visit Guardiagrele, one of the “Borghi più belli d’Italia,” in the province of Chieti. This town is known for its thriving artisan crafts such as filigree gold and wrought iron.

Tour 10: Roccascalegna – the fortress that prevails over Val di Sangro

Excursion to Roccascalegna in Chieti, which has recently been awarded the Orange Flag by the Italian Touring Club for its efforts in environmental politics and helping to promote tourism in the area. We visit the bastion built into a rocky spur, a location which wisely uses the natural defenses offered by the territory. It is certainly one of the most interesting examples of Abruzzo's heritage of castles and fortresses.

Tour 11: The historical town of Loreto Aprutino among the sacred and the profane

Ancient Castrum Laureti in the province of Pescara is located on a hillside lush with olive groves whose fruit produces the flavorful DOP olive oil which gives the town its fame as the “City of Olive Oil.” We have a walk in the elegant historical part of town where we see the Chiola Castle. We then visit the Acerbo Museum of Ceramics where ceramic works from Castelli are on display.

Tour 12: San Giovanni in Venere, the fortress abbey

This tour takes place along the Costa dei Trabocchi, which offers unique scenery of antique fishing rigs as we drive along the coast of the Adriatic to Fossacesia in the province of Chieti. We visit the San Giovanni in Venere Abbey which sits on a hill rich with olive groves and the valley of the river Sangro.