Luxury hotel holidays to Abruzzo

Highlights of Abruzzo

Mediaeval castles abound, with Pescina, San Pio delle Camere, Celano and Ocre merely some the most spectacular; wandering the winding streets of the dramatic castle towns of Castel di Ieri and Fontecchio; Maiella National Park, with its 40 hermitages and chapels, wild-flower valleys and forests, and Gran Sasso (9,554ft), the highest summit on the Italian peninsula; the ski resort of Pescocostanzo, complete with 16th century palaces and 11th century churches; Ovid's birthplace, Sulmona, a pretty medieval town in the shadow of Gran Sasso, with a 13th century aqueduct still supplying water to the town's fountain, a stunning 11th century cathedral with Byzantine-style reliefs; 1s
t century Roman ruins of Alba Fucens; Gole di Celano, a 2,000ft gorge, with a twisting, dramatically narrow, well-marked track at its base; Ovindoli, a charming hilltop village and wonderful base for hikes and rides into Velino-Sirente Regional Park, where visitors can walk alongside an underground river at Stiffe past spectacular rock formations, giant stalactites, stalagmites and spectacular subterranean waterfalls; Castelli, another classic hill-town with vast views over the valley below Gran Sasso, famed for its contemporary art shops; the 9th century cathedral of Atri and its magnificent Renaissance frescoes; an abundance of monasteries clinging to the cliffs, including the baroque churches and 15th century cloisters of San Giuliano overlooking L'Aquila.