Halfway up Italy's "boot" on the Adriatic
Sea, Abruzzo is a rural region dotted with ancient mountaintop
towns and a more modern coastline of beach resorts and small
fishing villages. Abruzzo's seaside draws Italian city dwellers
every summer, while in winter skiers head to the resorts that make
their home along the majestic Apennine range.
But Abruzzo
remains largely unknown to foreign visitors, despite being within a
90-minute drive of Rome. In all, the region boasts some 85 miles of
golden beaches, but a better reason to visit is the mountainous
inland landscape, a picturesque region brimming with snow-capped
peaks, medieval hill towns and somber castles.
Roughly one-third
of Abruzzo is protected parkland where free-ranging animals such as
the Marsicano bear and Apennine wolf live alongside secluded,
artisanal communities with stone-terraced houses.
In Castelli, a
center for ceramic art, narrow, cobbled streets are lined with
dozens of craft shops. 
Exquisite works are on display
in the town's two museums. Sitting in the shadows of a snow-capped
massif, Castelli is also an excellent base from which to explore
Gran Sasso National Park.
Farther south,
the Majella Mountains provide the backdrop for Sulmona, a charming
and sophisticated medieval town whose elegant main street, Corso
Ovidio, is lined with high-end shops, piazzas and a magnificent set
of churches.
Feasting in Abruzzo
Not to be missed
is Piazza Garibaldi, an expansive square flanked by a Gothic
aqueduct dating to 1256. Here, in a town museum alongside
Garibaldi, I dined on a 12-course meal prepared by chefs Clemente
Maiorano from Sulmona's Ristorante Clemente and Carmine Cercone
from Pacentro's Ristorante Caldora in Pacentro, a small, hilltop
village three miles out of town.
I enjoyed a plate
of goat ricotta cheese drizzled with honey and berry jam; followed
by liver salami in grape syrup; white bean soup; an omelet with
wild asparagus; pecorino cheese of the Brigante; red garlic
sprouts; papardelle pasta with a white lamb sauce; potato dumpling
soup with chickpeas and codfish; and roasted kid served with a side
of charcuterie, red garlic and broiled red peppers.
The bill, by the
way, didn't empty my pockets. Food and accommodations in Abruzzo
are quite reasonable, running some 30% less than in better-known
regions.
For foodies bent
on combining culinary exploration with cultural heritage, a
stop-off in Loreto Aprutino is a must.
One of Abruzzo's
top producers of extra virgin olive oil and wine, the medieval town
is full of beautiful churches from the Norman-Swabian period. The
Castello Chiola hotel on the top of the hill dates to 864 and is a
four-star property affording expansive views of olive groves and
vineyards.
To get a proper
fix on the area's historical development, head to Chieti. Its Museo
Archeologico Nazionale d'Abruzzo houses the so-called "Warrior of
Capestrano," a life-size, sixth century B.C. funerary statue of a
warring king whose iconic figure appeared on posters in nearly
every town I visited.
Chieti's museums
chart the region's fractious past, from the earliest Italic tribes
to the Roman invasions to a slowly developing regional identity
under the Swabians, Anjous, Spanish Hapsburgs and
Bourbons.
Then you might
meander through the back roads, for there are castles and frescoed
churches even in the smallest towns.
Abruzzo remains
uncharted, its secluded areas waiting to be discovered.
For more on
Abruzzo, visit www.regione.abruzzo.it/turismo/en.
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