Hiking trips

Territory

All the guided nature walking-tours are in the natural protected Park area of Monteveglio abbey and it's surroundings. The excursions will enable you to admire the natural landscape, rich of local fauna and flora.
Snowdrops, Brooms, French honeysuckle, Juniper, lawns with orchids but also woods containing Oak, Ash, Elm, Hawthorn and Dog roses, water streams and hills characterize the Park area of Monteveglio Abbey. Nearby there are the mountains Gennaro, Freddo and Morello (up to 300 meters in height), with natural woods and local cultivations, most importantly grapes. A big part of the park area is covered by calanchi (prehistorical hills of clay) with not so much plant life, but an important shelter for animals.
A number of streams, located between the Bologna and Modena provinces, make up the park borders. The most important stream from a naturalistic point of view is the Ramato Stream that signs the hart of the Protected Area with its narrow and deep valley, thriving with nature.
The rich territory of the park is also home to reptiles, amphibians and many species of birds. Many mammals live between the woods, lawns and calanchi, some of them easily visible, while others can only be identified by their traces (footprints, leftovers of meals or droppings). Some animals you can spot are hedgehogs, squirrels, various mice and voles, hares, foxes, badgers, weasels and beech martens. Since a couple of years also deer and boars have been sighted.
A specialized and certified guide will accompany you to discover these beautiful and evocative areas.

Excursions

A hike through time

Duration: half day
Difficulty: medium
Height difference: 150 m
You will start the walk from the old and traditional rural area of San Teodoro and you pass through extended lawns and woods until you climb Monteveglio. This easy to climb path used to be the only way to reach Monteveglio castle and abbey. The landscape is characterized by spots of shrub, flaky clay, marl and calcareous rocks. After you arrive at the main old entrance, you will visit the Monteveglio cottage and the monumental roman Abbey of Santa Maria Assunta. Following a small path through the wood of Downy oak, Ash trees and protected orchids in the spring, you will reach the old vineyard on the top of Cucherla hill (296 m).

A landscape that tells you tales of people and places

Duration: half day
Difficulty: medium
Height difference: 150 m
Walking trough spots of shrub and following an easy climbing path, you will arrive at the Monteveglio castle and abbey. After visiting the medieval cottage, the walk continues through a small ground path along the steep slope of Cucherla hill. You will the arrive at the basin from which the Rio Ramato has it's origin. A ruin dating back to the 1900s and a small wooden ladder mark the entrance to an enchanting wood filled with precious orchids and rare protected plants. Exiting the woods the landscape opens up with lawns, old cultivated grounds and a pond containing plants and animals typical to humid areas.

Water that flows, water that shapes

Duration: half day
Difficulty: medium
Height difference: 150 m
Over centuries the water shaped the hills forming great badlands basins. Even today the raining water is collected at the feet of the hills giving origin to the Rio Ramato. A pleasant temperature drop signs the passage from the sunny badlands to the narrow shadowy valley of this stream. It's rust-colored water, due to the presence of iron oxide, is surrounded by Black poplars, White willow, Hazel and Elder trees. This mythical landscape also contains European Hornbeam, typical plants of humid areas and blooming Snowdrops at the end of winter.

Two mountains, two Captains of the guard and their woods

Duration: half day
Difficulty: medium
Height difference: 150 m
Following an asphalted road in the shadow of lemon and oak trees, passing along the historical Monteveglio chapel, you will climb Monte Gennaro. From the top of Monte Gennaro, a beautiful landscape opens up showing the hills of the Park. From here you can admire the Abbey, the valley of the Rio Ramato and the Pan Perso calanchi. Continuing on the asphalted path you will arrive at the Mount Morello woods.

In the hart of the park between history and nature

Duration: one day
Difficulty: medium
Height difference: 90 m
This tour combines some of the half day tours described above. It touches the most enchanting areas of the Park, the climb to Monteveglio castle, the medieval cottage of Monteveglio, the badlands and the Rio Ramato valley. During this walk you will encounter a big diversity of environments and species, typical of the Bologna hills.

From path to path, from Zola Predosa to Monteveglio

Duration: one day
Difficulty: medium-high
Height difference: 400 m
Fom Lavino Park the tour will bring you to the ridge between Lavino and Samoggia valley. After a short stop at the small church of San Lorenzo on the hill, you will continue past the old village of Oliveto, the Samoggia valley and Monteveglio village. By walking up and down through the hills you will experience the time and labor it takes to cover this area, nowadays so easily travelled by car. These old paths are still surrounded with beautiful nature, much more than the modern asphalted streets.

Following the Ghiaia stream banks

Duration: one day
Difficulty: medium
Height difference: 100 m
A long, exciting (but not very difficult) walk that follows the Ghiaia stream banks. You will walk through the hills between Castello di Serravalle and Monteveglio, experiencing the beauty of the Bologna hills’ landscape, characterized by cultivated grounds, emerged rocks and woods .