Arezzo to the Adriatic, that’s the plan. Which means crossing the Apennines, Italy’s mountainous spine. Most hikers walk these hills in the other direction, using the Via Francigena, the ancient pilgrim path from northern Europe to Rome. But when we made this trip, we were following in the footsteps of the Risorgimento hero Giuseppe Garibaldi as he tried to march 4,000 men from Rome to Venice after the fall of the Roman Republic in July 1849.
If our route sometimes seems eccentric, that’s because Garibaldi was trying to dodge five Austrian armies. In any event, the trip should take about a week. Your hour in the train from Florence will give you a glimpse of picturesque Chiantishire: hilltop clumps of cedar and cypress, terraced vineyards and terracotta tiles. This is not what you’ll be seeing on your hike. Quaint Tuscany ends in Arezzo. Likewise the region’s great art.
