Accessible tourist trails in Italy

Thanks to Italian Interministerial Decree no. 2508 of 1 August 2024, registered with the Court of Auditors on 19/09/2024, concerning ‘Criteria for allocation of a fifty million euro share of the Single Fund for Inclusion of People with Disabilities to the regions for 2024 for the financing of works and projects for accessible and inclusive tourism for people with disabilities’, various works for development of accessible tourism services, with particular regard to walking routes, have been carried out in Italy. First and foremost:

- Il Cammino Grande di Celestino, un Cammino di tutti!’ (The Great Way of Celestine, a path for everyone!), in Abruzzo, 1,742,529 euros;

- I AM FVG - Inclusione e Accessibilità per Montagne Facili da Vivere e Godere (inclusion and accessibility for mountains easy to experience and enjoy), in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, 1,706,171 euros;

- Turismo senza limiti (Tourism without Limits), in Lazio, 3,804,046 euros;

- Marche for all, 2nd edition, in the Marche, 1,847,658 euros;

- Metti in Comune l'inclusione - interventi per un turismo accessibile in Piemonte (sharing inclusion - works for accessible tourism in Piedmont), in Piedmont, 3,244,592 euros;

- Calabria inclusiva, un viaggio per tutti (Inclusive Calabria, a journey for everyone), in Calabria, 2,021,051 euros;

- Molise per tutti-turismo accessibile e inclusivo per le persone con disabilità (Molise for everyone - accessible and inclusive tourism for people with disabilities), in Molise, 1,261,869 euros;

- Turismo oltre le barriere (tourism beyond barriers), in Sicily, 3,494,243 euros.

All this has undoubtedly facilitated the implementation of services for accessible trails, although studies show that much remains to be done, considering that less than 3% of the trails reviewed by ENIT and the TCI demonstrate real services for accessibility for all.

To support development in this direction, the Umbria Region, for example, has introduced a handbook entitled 'accessibility and usability of walking routes: a working method’. Produced by the Italian Federation for Overcoming Handicaps (FISH), it is a further step towards inclusiveness, also attracting tourists, and is part of the national project Viaggio Italiano - Scopri l'Italia che non Sapevi (Italian Journey: Discover the Italy you didn't know) in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism and ENIT.

The European Association of Via Francigena Ways (EAVF) and the Lombardy Region have also produced a handbook on walking route accessibility as part of the project La Via Francigena in Lombardia. Verso il Giubileo 2025 (The Via Francigena Way in Lombardy. Approaching the 2025 Jubiliee). The EAVF, with the contribution of the Lombardy Region, has performed an innovative study giving rise to a project whose aim is to make the Via Francigena Way and other paths accessible to all by breaking down physical, sensory and digital barriers and undertaking strategic and targeted actions for correction and improvement.

The reason behind this is that a path is only accessible when accompanied by specific information and data. Indeed, accessibility must be addressed for all types of disability: mobility-related, visual, hearing, and intellectual and relational. Each person has different needs and levels of autonomy, and a truly inclusive path must be designed with this in mind.

Today, Italy has taken an important step towards a law recognising the importance of routes, giving the Ministry of Tourism a strategic role in actions promoting Italy's walking routes, also thanks to establishment of tools such as control rooms, data bases, permanent working tables and development programmes which will permit ongoing dialogue between the players involved, supporting slow and sustainable tourism and working towards rediscovery of the most hidden and authentic areas, also a key asset for deseasonalising tourism. In addition to more than 30 million euro already earmarked for this segment, a further 5 million are committed for the 2026-2028 period, plus 1 million annually from 2029 onwards.

This is an increasingly important tourist attraction for all Italian destinations, since all regions are crossed by regional or interregional walking routes (albeit with a concentration in Emilia Romagna, Tuscany and Lazio). 

According to a study by Terre di Mezzo, visitors’ motivations for using these paths are the sum of various wishes and interests, from immersing themselves in nature to having an inner experience (in search of mental and emotional well-being), or seeking physical well-being, getting to know the area and previously unseen places, meeting new people and experiencing new things. Twenty-six percent also walk expressly for religious or spiritual reasons.

When profiling walkers, it is found that 26% of those who walk a Way in Italy do so alone, 39% in pairs and the rest in groups. Women make up 51% of walkers while, in terms of age, 32% are under 45 (47.7% on the Cammino di Santiago (Way of Saint James), 53% are between 46 and 65 (compared to 40.5%) and 15% are over 65 (compared to 12%).

40% walk for 2-4 weeks and 23% from 3 days to 1 week. Of those walking for longer periods, 22% are on the road for one to two months, and a significant number of walkers (15%) say they spend more than two months on the road (walking several trails).

Before setting out, people buy books and guides (47%), clothing (40%), equipment (39%) and footwear (34%). In the evening, 77% of walkers stop to eat at a restaurant.

46% of walkers sleep in a B&B or flat, 26% in a hostel, 16% in a hotel or farmstay and 6% in religious accommodation (although 30% of those under 25 on the Via degli Dei (Way of the Gods) choose to sleep in tents).

16% spend less than 30 euro per day, 55% 30 to 50 euro, 24% 50 to 100 euro and 3% over 100 euro. On reaching their destination, 57% of walkers add on a few days’ holiday.

It is therefore increasingly important, today, to make these well-being experiences accessible to all, and walking routes are consequently being equipped with services.

To cite some recent examples, a project on tourist accessibility and inclusion was presented in 2025 envisaging implementation of a series of services on the Cammino di Celestino in Abruzzo, for people with disabilities.

The Via Francigena For All project has completed the challenge of making one of Europe’s most famous walking routes accessible to everyone, including travellers with disabilities. The initiative, launched by the Piedmont Region with a budget of 1.6 million euros, covered the section between Ivrea and Viverone, in the Canavese area, and the Susa Valley variant between Villar Focchiardo and Avigliana, removing architectural and socio-cultural barriers along 36 km of Piedmont’s Via Francigena Way. 150 points of historical, cultural and natural interest were mapped, with works aimed at improving accessibility including creation of three new rest areas in the municipalities of Villar Focchiardo, Avigliana and Bollengo.

In Lazio, the Cammino di Francesco, opened on 23 September 2025, also features an innovative plan enabling people with disabilities (and others as well) to visit the locations of the Sacred Valley route with a click, thanks to on-demand multimedia services, via an immersive virtual tour. The physical route among the places from Saint Francis’ life will be correlated with interactive visitor signage benefiting from new multimedia technologies such as a cloud-based web app, accessible via QR code or NFC chip for obtaining all information not on the signage, and will be accessible to people with disabilities thanks to a video guide in Italian sign language (LIS), with a video translation by a sign language teacher, and an audio guide useful for people with visual impairments. In addition, the signage will feature Braille writing and visitors will be have access to specific virtual tours designed both to showcase the area and illustrate places difficult to access.

The Via Matildica del Volto Santo from Novellara, in the province of Reggio Emilia, also welcomes people with mobility, sensory and intellectual disabilities, families with children, the elderly and walkers with special needs. 

In Trentino, the Cammino di San Vili, from Madonna di Campiglio to Trento, is an experience also accessible to people with visual impairments through an annual group walk in June, also open to blind and partially sighted people. At this time, the route is adapted and accommodations are selected according to their accessibility. The route may be travelled in its entirety or in selected stages.

Veneto also models the virtues of inclusive hiking. The route to Rubbio and Mount Caina (1002m) offers picturesque walks, both on clear days, with views of the entire plain, and with the characteristic local mist. There is a section suitable for people in wheelchairs, on the eastern tip of the Asiago Plateau, in an area of great scenic impact, where the path is not difficult, either on foot or in a wheelchair and the road is closed to traffic, almost entirely surfaced, slightly downhill or flat, particularly sunny and treeless.

Those who love the beautiful landscapes of the south can take part in tours organised in the Murge area by the Murgia Materana park authority, with hikes designed for people with mental and physical disabilities.

There are also specialist operators who organise epic and contemplative nature walks all over Italy, with trails suitable for people with and without disabilities wishing to reflect, along the way, on their identity; routes suitable for everyone but designed for with people with mobility and sensory disabilities.

With this type of accessible tourism service, the escorts on the walks are fellow travellers, sports guides and experienced volunteers, always in the spirit of sharing in an experience of well-being that is possible for everyone.