Abruzzo: bears, high plateaus and stone villages.

Which part of Abruzzo should you choose?

Abruzzo is the mountain Italy that few people know: less than two hours from Rome, between the highest Apennines and the Adriatic, with three national parks, stone villages on hilltops, flocks of sheep and a shepherds' cuisine. It's a quiet, little-touristed and inexpensive region, best explored by car and on foot.

Gran Sasso is the highest massif in the Apennines. Gran Sasso is visited from the Campo Imperatore plateau, which a cable car climbs to from Fonte Cerreto: a vast treeless plain with horses and flocks, nicknamed Little Tibet. At its foot are the ruined fortress of Rocca Calascio, perched on a ridge, and Santo Stefano di Sessanio, a medieval stone village partly turned into a hotel spread through its houses. This is the area for walking and photography.

The Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park, to the south, is one of Italy's oldest parks and the refuge of the Marsican brown bear, a subspecies found only in these Apennines, as well as wolves and chamois. Pescasseroli, Civitella Alfedena and Opi are its base villages, with visitor centres and trails that start from the village itself. Nearby, Scanno is a stone village beside a lake, famous for the traditional costumes of its women.

The Majella, in the centre, is another great massif and national park, with hermitages carved into the rock and Sulmona at its foot, the town that makes confetti, the sugared almonds given at Italian weddings.

The coast changes the plan. South of Pescara, the Trabocchi Coast has pebble beaches and the trabocchi, wooden platforms over the sea from which people fished with nets and which today are partly restaurants. A cycle greenway runs along that coast on the course of an old railway.

For five days, a good split: two nights near Gran Sasso, in Santo Stefano or Castel del Monte, and three in the bear park or between the Majella and Sulmona. With a week, add two days on the coast.

How do you get there from Spain?

By plane, the most practical option is to fly to Rome, which has many flights from Spain, and hire a car: the A24 motorway crosses the Apennines to L'Aquila and Gran Sasso, and the A25 continues towards Sulmona and Pescara; both are tolled. Pescara airport, on the coast, has direct flights from Valencia and Girona.

By car from Spain, you cross France and northern Italy by motorway, or take the ferry from Barcelona to Civitavecchia and from there, via Rome, reach Abruzzo in about three hours.

How do you get around Abruzzo?

By car. It's essential for the mountains: the villages and trails are spread across valleys with few buses. Mountain roads are good but winding, and the highest ones, such as those at Campo Imperatore, can close with snow in winter. The A24 and A25 motorways get you quickly from one massif to another.

Without a car, only the coast works well: the Adriatic railway line links Pescara with the villages of the Trabocchi Coast, and the greenway can be ridden on a hire bike.

When should you go and what does it cost?

From May to October. June and July are the months of flowering meadows and flocks on the high pastures; September and October bring autumn colours in the beech woods of the bear park and the rutting of the deer. July and August are also beach season on the coast. In winter there are ski resorts, such as Roccaraso, and snowy landscapes, but many high roads close.

Abruzzo is one of the cheapest regions in Italy. You sleep in farm stays, village houses and hotels scattered through the villages at reasonable prices, and eat very well for little in the mountain trattorias.