The mountains are ideal for your New Year's Eve, but let's not settle for any mountain! The Gran Sasso is one of the most important mountains in Italy, being the highest relief in the Apennines, but on a tourist level it is little known. In fact, there are many things you can do and visit in this beautiful area, especially for your New Year's Eve 2024.
If you are passionate about sports, this is the right place for you: Campo Imperatore, nicknamed “Il Piccolo Tibet” for its vast plateau, is home to the first ski resort of the Apennines, born in the 1930s, and still one of the highest in all of Italy. Ski lifts include:
15 km for alpine skiing;
Over 60 km for Nordic skiing;
Snowpark with half pipe and boarder cross slopes;
A ring for cross-country skiing
For New Year's Eve 2024 on the Gran Sasso there are many events organized by the municipalities of all over the area, some of which are very folkloristic. In Nerito di Crognaleto, for example, an ancient rite takes place, called “Christmas Fire”, in which the whole country gathers to create a gigantic bonfire around a large tree, called “la stanga”, to be lit on Christmas Eve and which will burn until New Year's Eve morning. Or, on December 31, on the slopes of Prati di Tivoli, the characteristic snow grooming performed by ski masters and their pils takes place.
If you are in the area on December 27th, you can't miss the Plenilunio in Little Tibet (https://www.abruzzoparks.it/item/plenilunio-nel-piccolo-tibet-3.html), a simple ring of about 10 km.
Campo Imperatore is a boundless plateau, hidden in the heart of the Central Apennines... so much so that Fosco Maraini compared it to Tibet. The view manages to push itself for considerable distances in every direction, just get up a little and you can embrace everything in a single look, the plain and the whole crown of mountains around. On all stands the familiar silhouette of the Corno Grande, the father of the Apennines. When the white of the snow-covered mantle comes to cover every blade of grass and the access roads, the plain gets even wilder. Far away by now the flocks and the shends, in the boundless desert of dolines comes only the song of the wind, a music that you can't miss! The sunset bursts into this snowy (or golden) desert tinging the sky and the surrounding mountains pink, the inclined rays of the sun caress the plain redesigning humps and profiles... silence reigns supreme. On December 27th then there is the full moon, the "Cold Moon" or the Moon of the Long Nights", which will rise immediately after sunset. With or without snow, it will be exciting to walk in the silver plain in the moonlight, and you won't need to use the front! Try, believe it! The program includes the departure in the early afternoon to be able to grasp the magical moment of sunset and moonrise. For dinner time we will already be back in Castel del Monte.
Possible meeting with wolf, suede, fox, hare.
The following day, December 28th, a reference to art in a beautiful excursion in the Gole del Sagittario Regional Nature Reserve, in the footsteps of Escher (https://www.abruzzoparks.it/item/nelle-gole-del-sagittario -4.html), in a circular route of approximately 8 km.
Maurits Cornelis Escher discovered Abruzzo in 1929 and was fascinated by the valleys, hills, villages, imposing rocky mountains and overhanging peaks. For a Nordic like him (Escher was Dutch), accustomed to the vision of a wide and linear horizon, the steep and steep mountains of our region with the stone villages perched in the mountains had to exert an irresistible charm. The purpose of his travels was to collect emotions and drawings. After two months or more he would return home, thin and tired but with hundreds of sketches, which he used to make lithographs or woodcuts. The one that Castrovalva detracts is certainly the most famous and admired in the world. This time, however, we will also take the opportunity to admire the glimpse of the Antwerp lithography of the Abruzzi.
The ring route starts from Antwerp of the Abruzzi (585 m), descends to the Cavuto spring (about 520 m), where the visitor center of the reserve and the botanical garden are located, and then goes up a stretch of the gorges until you reach the ridge of the Colle San Michele (847 m) where the town of Castrovalva stands perched. It runs along the aerial ridge until it faces the gorges and reaches a viewpoint that often gives the sighting of the golden eagle in flight on the walls of the Pizzo Marcello. He then reaches the village of Castrovalva by crest, where we will stop for the visit of the village and the sandwich stage. You then go down the bush along another path, passing by the well-known Escher group of the road that goes up to the small village, to admire and perhaps redesign the glimpse portrayed by the Dutch artist in the famous lithography.
On this route it is planned to meet with wolf, roe deer, golden eagle, wild boar, bear, deer, fox, squirrel, hawks, woodpecker, water red mear, coral gracchi, grazing animals.
From December 29th to January 2nd, New Year's Eve on the Majella, a dream New Year in the arms of the Mother Mountain, which will welcome you with the usual generosity.
Five exciting days in the heart of the Maiella National Park. You can walk in the unspoiled nature, on the trail of wildlife or on the steps of the hermits who loved these places so much, immersed in the scent of snow and the silence of the snow-capped mountain, caressed by the sun and under the starry sky, to rediscover a healthier pace of life and the intimate well-being that contact with nature can give. You can immerse yourself in the Christmas atmosphere of the villages of Sant'Eufemia in Maiella, Caramanico Terme and Roccacaramanico, rich in art, history and traditions, and be pampered by the tasty dishes of local cuisine.
The maximum program alternates moments of excursion and free moments, to leave room also for Christmas events organized by the villages.
On December 30th, snow tacking at the foot of Monte Amaro. Snow is an irresistible novel... every track is the plot of a story to be retraced backwards, going back the course of time.
Snow tracking consists of following the trace of an animal on snowy ground to obtain as much information as possible: in the case of the wolf, the number of specimens that make up the pack, the sex, the extent of the territory, the prey, the movements and the social interactions.Anyone can become a good trapper, because the ability to read the footprints is a real art that is refined with time and practice. Retracing the track traced by a wolf is then really exciting... who knows if you can't really cross his gaze!
The excursion takes place in the magnificent snow-capped landscapes of the Maiella National Park, in an area very frequented by the wolf and its prey. At the tip of snowshoes and with suspended breath we will enter the kingdom of the wolf ... with the humility and respect of those who know they are a guest and not a host. Medium difficulty hike, excellent for taking the first steps with snowshoes.
At the end of the hike, we will make a stop at the small medieval village of Roccacaramanico. Completely abandoned in the 60s, this village is now experiencing a renaissance thanks to the intervention of the Park and the private individuals fascinated by the spirit of the place. The recovery of the local stone houses and the organization of worldly events make Roccacaramanico one of the most significant places of identity in mountain Abruzzo, in balance between conservation and sustainable development.
From 5 to 7 January 2024 Befana sul Gran Sasso: on the white cloak of the king of the Apennines... between endless highlands, medieval villages, ancient abbeys and castles.
With or without snow, the father of the Apennines, His Majesty the Great Sasso of Italy, will be able to welcome us with the usual generosity made of boundless highlands, airy ridges, breathtaking landscapes, castles, abbeys and some of the most beautiful medieval villages in Abruzzo. Three exciting days in the heart of the Gran Sasso National Park and Monti della Laga, in which you can walk in unspoiled nature, on the trail of wildlife or on the steps of the shepherds and flocks who have always inhabited the Terre della Baronia, immersed in the silence of the winter mountain, caressed by the sun and wind, to rediscover a healthier pace of life. And the intimate well-being that contact with nature can give. You can immerse yourself in the Christmas atmosphere of the villages of Santo Stefano di Sessanio, Calascio and Castel del Monte, rich in art, history and traditions, and be pampered by the tasty dishes of local cuisine. The maximum program alternates moments of excursion and free moments, to leave room also for Christmas events organized by the villages.
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