In recent years, local authorities across Europe have been looking for ways to combat the problem of overtourism and improve the quality of life in their cities. Some cities, such as Manchester and Venice, have introduced tourism taxes, while others, such as Amsterdam and the Spanish island of Mallorca, are restricting or banning large cruise ships from city centers.
But there are other ways to get visitors off the beaten track. This spring and summer, three new hiking trails were opened: the Cammino Retico and the Sentiero dell’Arte e dell’Anima in Italy and the Palmihar in Portugal. They are designed to expand tourism to the countryside and relieve pressure on Europe’s major cities.
Here’s what you need to know about the new trails – and how you can experience them firsthand.
The Cammino Retico in Italy
Opened in May, the Cammino Retico stretches 170 kilometers through the Dolomites, connecting 10 remote mountain villages in the Veneto and Trentino regions of northeast Italy. The circular route, named after the pre-Roman Rhaetian people who once lived here, starts and ends in Aune di Sovramonte, near the town of Belluno.
Along the way, the route crosses plateaus and valleys and passes mountain villages and mountain lakes.
“It runs mainly through areas that are not very populated and urbanized,” says Francesco De Bortoli, who came up with the idea for the Cammino Retico. “You can walk for hours without meeting anyone.”
Along the way, hikers can stop at various places of historical interest, including Monte Avena, where traces of Neanderthal populations have been discovered, and the Sanctuary of Saints Vittore and Corona, a 12th-century Byzantine-Romanesque church with original frescoes. The trail also passes by the Pedavena Brewery, in operation since 1897, and a bicycle museum in Cesiomaggiore.
The itinerary is designed to be completed in seven days (though hikers can extend their trip by staying longer in some towns and doing side hikes). Along the way, hikers can stay at more than 50 lodgings, such as the 18th-century Villa San Liberale in the walled town of Feltre and Campo di Cielo, a working farm in Cesiomaggiore with panoramic views of the Feltrina Valley. Camping is also possible along the way.
Since the trail opened, more than 200 travelers have completed the entire hike, De Bortoli said.
A second route specifically for mountain bikers, the so-called Rhaetian Way, is expected to be completed in 2025.
The Sentiero dell’Arte e dell’Anima begins in the ancient Tuscan village of Pienza.
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Italy’s Sentiero dell’Arte e dell’Anima
The Sentiero dell’Arte e dell’Anima, which means “Path of Art and Soul”, begins in the Tuscan town of Pienza, about 114 kilometers southeast of Florence, and takes visitors into the countryside.
Inaugurated in March, the three-kilometer-long path begins in the city’s main piazza and is lined with 28 marble benches, each carved by a different internationally renowned sculptor, including Mauro Berrettini and Matthew Spender.
According to Fondazione FUR, a foundation founded by Urs Rechsteiner, a Swiss art collector who lives in the area and donated the benches, each artist has “interpreted the theme of the seat, the bench, the space to stop and reflect or to stop and aim. Each of the great artists has made their unique contribution to the vision and interpretation of beauty and for the first time they can all be found together in a large collection and in a unique place in the world.”
Some of the seats look like abstract thrones, others like river stones. One is reminiscent of a freight wagon, while another looks like a figurehead on the bow of a ship. All of them allow hikers to rest and enjoy the Tuscan landscape of vineyards, farmhouses, forests and a former watchtower.
The Palmilhar Portugal hiking trail eventually leads to the picturesque Portuguese region of Alentejo.
PIXELS for the PEOPLE/Shutterstock
Palmeiras Portugal
When Portugal’s newest hiking trail, Palmilhar Portugal – which translates to “Wandering Portugal” – is fully opened, it will be the longest loop hiking trail in the world, at nearly 3,200 kilometers. For comparison, it’s only slightly shorter than the Appalachian Trail, the point-to-point route that runs between Georgia and Maine.
So far, only the first section in Alenquer, north of Lisbon, has been opened to hikers and cyclists. A further 15 sections are expected to be completed by the end of 2024.
Ricardo Bernardes, the founder of the project, estimates that the trail will be completed in about three years. It will run along Portugal’s northern and southern borders, passing through vineyards, towns, national parks and the coast.
In the coming months, travellers tackling the route will be able to track their progress using a mobile app, which includes a digital passport to record each section completed. There will also be a physical passport that can be stamped – a concept used on the famous Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain.
