Abruzzo Mountains

Sit on the sun-terrace outside your Villa. In front of you, away in the distance, are the Monti Frentani.

To your right, much closer, is the Majella National Park, with its rugged and dramatic Abruzzo mountains.

Whatever the season, the Majella scenery is spectacular – and accessible too thanks to hundreds of safe, signposted hiking trails.

If you're a keen walker - or just fancy a stroll through the Majella National Park - we have hiking guides and maps you're welcome to use.

The best months for walking are June (when the high meadows are a carpet of flowers)...and September and October.

From late October until mid-May only the lower reaches of the Majella are snow-free.

The Abruzzo mountains are dotted with thriving towns and villages, many of them based on ancient settlements stretching back to before the time of the Romans.

The hiking trails that criss-cross the Majella are usually based on the old sheep and goat-herding paths used to move flocks from towns up around the mountain grazing pastures in the summer.

Of rather darker purpose are Abruzzo's castles - and there aren’t many in as dramatic a setting as the medieval castle of Roccascalegna, which towers over the surrounding landscape.

The castle's open every day in July and August and at weekends only in spring and autumn. It's closed from November to March.

Abruzzo Ski Resorts
If you stay at Villasfor2 between late November and late April, you’ll have the opportunity of trying out the three Abruzzo ski resorts that are within easy reach of us.

Passo di Lanciano and La Majelletta
Nearest are the twin resorts of Passo di Lanciano and La Majelletta.

If you’re here for up to a week and want to ski for just two or three days, Passo di Lanciano and La Majelletta are ideal.

But they’re definitely not the kind of ski resorts that’ll give you a week or more of new daily challenges.

Both resorts offer Alpine, snowboarding and cross-country skiing – and you can hire all the equipment you’ll need on the spot.

Together with a full day's ski-pass, this shouldn't cost you more than around €60.

Tip: You'll need to show your passport or other ID before being allowed to hire ski equipment.

There’s also a ski school offering group lessons and individual tuition. Reckon on about €25 each for a group lesson.

Both these Abruzzo ski resorts can get extremely busy around Christmas/New Year - and at weekends too, as they're extremely popular with skiers from Rome.

During the week though, it’s pretty quiet. The picture at the very top of this page was taken at around 1100 on a beautiful Tuesday morning in mid-February.

You can normally drive from Villasfor2 to the carpark right next to the bottom of the Passo di Lanciano chairlift in less than an hour.

Depending on the weather conditions, it could take a little longer, but the snow-clearing on the road up through the Majella National Park to Passo de Lanciano – and then further on up to La Majelletta – is extremely efficient.

When you ski La Majelletta on a clear day, you’ll be able to see the Adriatic. Allegedly this is the only place in Europe in which it’s possible to ski and glimpse the sea simultaneously !

Check out the Abruzzo skiing conditions at Passo di Lanciano and La Majelletta and read independent reviews.

Roccaraso
A little over an hour south of us – perhaps a little longer in the middle of winter – Roccaraso is the biggest of the Abruzzo ski resorts.

Linked to the slopes at nearby Rivisondoli and then out onto the enormous Cinque Miglia plateau, at Roccaraso you most certainly can find at least a week of different daily runs of varying difficulty.

But the trade-off is that unlike Passo di Lanciano and La Majelletta, you’ll be sharing Roccaraso with the mass tourist industry and during the season, it's busy during the week in addition to weekends.

Roccaraso is a town built around winter sports. As with Passo di Lanciano and La Majelletta, you have a choice between Alpine skiing, cross-country and snow-boarding.

But that choice is far, far bigger here – and there’s a skating rink too.

You also have a wider choice regarding equipment hire and ski schools – and neighbouring bars and restaurants.

Check here to find out what the Abruzzo ski conditions are like in Roccaraso today.