The Best Italian Multi-Day Hike You’ve Never Heard Of

This Italian multi-day hike is the perfect combination of food, history, culture and nature. Follow an ancient roman road through the countryside from Bologna to Florence!

Last year I was lucky enough to tackle one of Italy’s lesser-known multi-day hikes from Bologna to Florence with my friend Justine. Far from the crowds of Rome and Cinque Terre, is the Via Degli Dei otherwise known as The Path Of The Gods, taking its name from the several mountains named after gods and goddesses: Monte Adone, Monzu, Monte Venere and Monte Luario. 

This hike connects two of Italy’s most interesting cities and showcases the authentic history and culture found between the regions of Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany. Our days were spent hiking through historic villages, over rolling hills and through dense woodland. While at night, you’d find us feasting on local delicacies followed by a nightcap of good Italian wine.

We were on the trail with only six others, all Italians. There was a young couple who we affectionately labelled, ‘the eggs’ after overhearing them order 12 boiled eggs for breakfast on day one… they travelled ultra-light and walked so briskly we only ever saw them in the early mornings, if at all. Vik and Gabrielle, were cousins from Rome taking the journey to celebrate Vik’s recent all-clear from brain cancer and then there were two older fellows in their late 60s who were in the army together and have a tradition of doing a big multi-day hike at least once a year. Despite nobody speaking much English, we became great trail buddies by speaking Spanglish, using Google Translate and making excessive hand gestures.

If you’re looking for a unique European adventure that beats the crowds, you should definitely add the Via Degli Dei to your bucket list. It’s a moderate hike so you should have some experience and a good level of fitness as you’ll need to walk for several hours per day with some steep ascents and descents, rocky surfaces, heat in summer and pretty infrequent water stops. We decided to take six days to ensure we had time to take in the scenery but some people have been known to do it in four. Here’s all you need to know, including when to go, where to start, what to bring and where to stay! Scroll all the way down for our exact itinerary and the contact details for all the places we stayed.

 

When to go

The best time to do the Via Degli Dei is during late Spring or early Autumn (May, June, September). I went during the peak of summer and was treated to a 30 degree heatwave…it was still fantastic but a bit too hot.

Where to start

Download the app for trail advice and maps! Start your adventure in the student city of Bologna, it’s easy and cheap to get to by plane or train. This is a food lover's dream, with many famous Italian specialities originating here. We only had one day and night which wasn’t enough as there was plenty do see and do. During the day we caught the top historical sights of Piazza Maggiore, the leaning towers of Bologna, San Petronio Church and Archiginnasio. The evening was spent eating our way through town finishing up with one too many negronis in the town square (highly recommend). Make sure you try the famous tagliatelle al ragù from Trattoria della Santa, some Mortadella (salami) from one of the small restaurants via Pescherie Vecchie and Tortellino (tortellini in broth) from Osteria Bottega.

We stayed at Dopa Hostel for its great location and chill vibe. Breakfast is included and it’s a great way to start the journey by chatting with other travellers and swapping stories.
On day one of the walk through the city from Piazza Maggiore to Santuario di Madonna di San Luca! From there you can follow the signs for the Via Degli Dei but make sure you have a map and download the app for added security (we found the signs hard to follow as there are multiple routes using the same colours).

Where to finish

This walk finishes up in the world-famous city of Florence (otherwise known as Firenze). Make sure you buy tickets months in advance to the famous Cathederal complex including the Duomo here. Some of my favourite must-see tourist sights include Ponte Vecchio, Galleria degli Uffizi, Galleria dell'Accademia,  and the Museo del Bargello. If you have time, lock in a tour with my local friend Andrea’s tour, he’ll show you the most amazing spots and share his passion for the city like nobody else. Then when it’s time to feast head to Trattoria Sabatino & Trattoria Da Giorgio for delicious affordable local feeds. For the vino, there’s a great natural wine bar called Casa del Vino’ in Via dell’Ariento, in the San Lorenzo district.

 

Highlights

Day 1:

• Feasting our way around Bologna
• Kicking off by walking through Bologna's famous porticos to the Basilica of the Madonna of San Luca

Day 2:

• Breakfast at the farmhouse of B&B Ca 'de Taruffi 
• Ascending Monte Adonis

Day 3: 

• Rolling Hills of Monzuno
• Ruins on the road
• Madonna Di Fornelli
• Walk on the original Roman paving stones of the “Flaminia Militare” (Roman road)

Day 4:

• Walking through dense forest
• Sant Agata detour (must do!)
• Fancy dinner at Osteria Di San Piero

Day 5:

• Medici Fortress of Siena (don’t miss this!)
• Monastery of Monte Senario (don’t miss this!)
• Feasting at our accommodation - Camping Il Sergente (see below for details)

Day 6:

• Walk through vineyards
• Reaching Fiesole & the amazing view of Florence
• Descending into Florence 
• Grabbing a giant pint from the Palazzo Vecchio to celebrate!

Note! We hitchhiked anytime we hit asphalt (if you’re like me and hate walking on the road). This is the easiest place in the world to hitchhike! I found out by waving to a car to slow down because it was going too fast, they thought we wanted a ride. Everyone was so friendly and interested in what we were doing - it added an extra adventure for us! 

 

What to bring:

This hike is from guesthouse to guesthouse so you don’t need to bring a towel or sleeping bag and there are plenty of laundrettes in the small villages that you can use to wash your clothes. I like to pack light and on this hike, I had my laptop in my bag as well so I tried to bring even less. *Disclaimer, after 2 days I found out there was a taxi driver called Mario who takes your bags and drops them at your next location for cheap, so we ditched our bags and roamed with only a Matador Freeman 24 Litre pack for the rest of the trip - I have no regrets.

 

• 1 x 24-28 litre backpack 
• 2 x water bottles so you can carry 2 litres per day 
• 1 x trekking poles
• 2 x hats - a beanie if it’s cold in the morning and a bucket hat or cap to stay sun safe
• 3 x undies - Icebreaker undies are a dream and they dry quickly after a wash!
• 3 x socks
• 3 x t-shirts (two tee’s to alternate on the trail and one nice top for dinner activities in town)
• 2 x running shorts - some lightweight running shorts are all you need to hike in
• 1 x travel pants - ideally these are hiking / travel pants that can pass in a restaurant in the evening. I recommend the Arcteryx Gamma Pants for women and The North Face Paramount Pants for men
• 1 x dry bag for dirty laundry
• 1 x dry bag for toiletries
• 1 x first aid kit
• 1 x hiking shoe
• 1 x sandals (get one that you can hike in in case you get foot troubles, I use the Teva Originals)

Where to stay

This is our exact itinerary of places to stay on the Via Degli Dei, I was happy with all the accommodations and spent ages mapping them out. I hope you find it useful:

THE VIA DEGLI DEI IN 6 DAYS
The Path Of The Gods

Day 0 - Bologna
Dopa Hostel
Via Irnerio, 41
40126 Bologna (BO)
+39 051 095 2461
info@dopahostel.com

Day 1 - km 20 +314/-256
Bologna - Sasso Marconi/Badolo
B&B Ca 'de Taruffi
Via Maranina, 1
40037 Sasso Marconi (BO)
+39 339 4850720
info@cadetaruffi.com

Day 2 - km 24 +1315/-721
Sasso Marconi/Badolo - Monzuno/Madonna dei Fornelli
B&B Domus degli Dei
Via Bedside 3
40036 Monzuno (BO)
+39 340 552 3396
info@domusdeglidei.it

Day 3 - km 28 +1310/-1090
Monzuno/Madonna dei Fornelli - Monte di Fo’/Santa Lucia
Camping Il Sergente
Via Santa Lucia, 24 / A
50031 Monte di Fo '(FI)
+39 328 9851849
info@campingilsergente.it

Day 4 - km 24 + 550/-1100
Monte di Fo’/Santa Lucia- San Piero a Sieve
La Terrazza Guest House & Intorno Florence B&B
San Piero a Sieve (FI) - +39 3409348495
laterrazzasanpiero@gmail.com
intornofirenze@gmail.com

Day 5 - km 19 + 1000/-700
San Piero a Sieve - Olmo
Hotel Ristorante Dino
Via Faentina, 329
50010 Olmo (FI)
+39 055 548932
info@hotel-dino.it

Day 6 - km 17  
Olmo-  Fiesole - Firenze (Florence)
We stayed in a local Airbnb for a few days to get the full Florence experience!

If you have any questions about gear feel free chat to our friendly team of Outdoor Gear Specialists in-store or online today and don’t forget to share your adventures with us on Instagram by tagging @wildearthaustralia and #mywildearth in your next post.

 

 

About the contributor:

Lauren Clark is the social media manager for Wild Earth. An obsessive gram counter who's always on the hunt for the lightest and most compact gear for hiking and travel. You'll find her overseas in one country or another attempting digital nomad life. When she's not working she's taking in as much culture as she can, eating all of the foods, hiking all of the trails and trying to find people to belay for her. Follow her adventures on Instagram.