

Winter Hiking and Wolf Tracking in Italy
- Italy
- 3 nights
A rewilding adventure through the Abruzzo Mountains, created in partnership with local wildlife trackers and conservation experts
What's Included?
Activities & Certified Guides
All itinerary activities with expert, local. English-speaking wolf tracker and rewilding guideGuesthouse
3 nights in a charming, locally owned guesthouseMeals
All breakfasts and dinnersTransfers
Airport transfers and everything in betweenEquipment
Snowshoes, poles, binoculars, spotting scopes and use of a thermal cameraSmall Like-minded Groups
Solo-friendly by design, join our small n’ sociable groups of up to 8 like-minded, active and outdoorsy people
What's it like?
Highlights
Clip on snowshoes to search for the elusive creatures of Italy's Central Apennines Rewilding Area
Eyes peeled for the ultimate apex predator, the wolf: this keystone species is an iconic symbol of rewilding efforts in this part of Europe
Head out on twilight hikes to hear the wolves howl before tucking into classic Italian food in family-run guesthouses
Keen to track wolves and bears at a warmer time of year? Check out our summer edition of this adventure
Itinerary
Day 1
To the Abruzzo Mountains
Hiking1-2hrs · 2km · 150m up · 150m downGuesthouseTwin shareDinner includedShow Day 1 detailHide detail
Meet your host at Rome Airport, hop in the van and drive through rural Italy to the town of Pescasseroli – your base for the weekend. Check into your guesthouse and meet up with your guide, who will give you the lowdown on the rewilding efforts in the area and brief you on the adventure to come. Head out for an easy afternoon hike to get your first taste of Abruzzo National Park and catch the sunset, before tucking into an Italian feast for dinner.
Day 2
Wolf tracking
Wildlife Tracking5-6hrs · 8km · 400m up · 400m downGuesthouseTwin shareBreakfast and dinner includedShow Day 2 detailHide detail
Wake for a sunrise hike along the southern slope of the mountain, through an area frequented by wolves. Whilst you cross your fingers for sightings, your guide will talk you through the history of the wolves in the area and the role they play within the rewilding of ecosystems as a keystone species. Wolves have been making a steady comeback in this part of Italy, thanks in part to the creation and ongoing management of the Central Apennines Rewilding Area. After lunch, you'll take a short drive to Civitella Alfedena to visit the Apennine Wolf Museum, before some afternoon downtime at the guesthouse. Later, you'll head out for a torchlight hike and listen for the unmistakable howling of wolves.
Day 3
Winter hiking in the Apennines
Hiking5-6hrs · 8km · 400m up · 400m downGuesthouseTwin shareBreakfast and dinner includedShow Day 3 detailHide detail
After breakfast you'll head off to explore the magnificent mountain chain of Mainarde – one of the least frequented and wildest areas of the Abruzzo National Park. The landscape here is stunning, especially in winter, with woody slopes giving way to snow-covered rocky hills. Keep your eyes peeled for endemic Apennine chamois and golden eagles soaring overhead. Hike along ridges and valleys overlooking the main mountain ranges of the Apennines – on clear days you can see all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. Head out for dinner this evening to a cosy, local pizzeria in the village.
Day 4
The wilderness of Pianoro Le Forme
Wildlife Tracking4-5hrs · 6km · 350m up · 350m downBreakfast includedShow Day 4 detailHide detail
Begin the day at dawn again, as you set out into the beautiful scenery of Pianoro Le Forme at the foot of Mount Meta – eyes and ears open for deer, chamois, and hopefully wolves, if you're lucky. Hike on through beech forest and mountain pastures to Passo dei Monaci. Warm up with a cup of rich Italian hot chocolate (the best kind) and a final taste of local delicacies, before bidding farewell to the Abruzzos and heading back to Rome.
Getting There
- Nearest airport
- Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport (FCO)
- Pick up
- Leonardo da Vinci International Airport, Rome
13:00 on Day 1 - Drop off
- Leonardo da Vinci International Airport, Rome
17:00 on Day 4
What is and isn't Included?
What's included
- A series of guided wildlife tracking wintre hikes in the Central Apennines Rewilding Area of Abruzzo National Park, across 4 days
- Visit to the Apennine Wolf Museum in Civitella Alfedena
- Expert, local, English-speaking wolf tracker and rewilding guide
- 3 nights in a charming, locally owned guesthouse
- 3 continental breakfasts
- 3 Italian dinners
- Group arrival transfer from Rome Fiumicino Airport on Day 1
- Group departure transfer to Rome Fiumicino Airport Airport on Day 4
- All transfers during the trip
- Snowshoes, poles, binoculars, spotting scopes and use of a thermal camera
What's not included
Our trips do not include flights, trains or other travel to the start point and back from the end point.
Tips are not included in the trip cost and are not deemed compulsory in Italy. If you feel you received exceptional service from your guides then you are free to tip them at the end of your adventure, we suggest 10-15% of the trip cost would be a guideline figure in this scenario.
Travel insurance is compulsory for all of our adventures, and you'll need to provide your policy details before departure. Your insurance should offer adequate cover for overseas medical treatment, evacuation/repatriation, your baggage and equipment, and the specific activities involved in your adventure. We also recommend ensuring your policy includes cancellation and curtailment cover, in case you're unable to join your trip due to unforeseen circumstances such as illness.
Standard travel insurance may not cover all the activities included in your adventure, so it's essential to check the details carefully. There are adventure-specific providers that many travellers have used in the past, such as True Traveller (opens in new tab) (for those based in the UK or Europe), or Rise + Shield (opens in new tab), both of which offer cover for a wide range of adventurous activities.
Please make sure your chosen policy meets your individual needs and covers all aspects of your trip.
Visa requirements often change, and you are responsible for obtaining any required visas for this trip. Please check with your nearest embassy or consulate for up-to-date advice.
You know your own spending habits best, so please budget an appropriate amount for things like optional meals and drinks, shopping, optional activities, and laundry.
Where You'll Stay
Looking for a private room? See Optional Extras for details and pricing.

Pescasseroli
What You'll Eat
Breakfast at your accommodation is a classic international affair with cereals, bread, pastries and homemade cakes. Lunches are not included - you will buy packed lunches from the guesthouse or local shops and bakeries each morning to take with you o…
Optional Extras
Pre/Post Trip Accommodation
- Pre/post trip accommodation in Pescasseroli (single room) From.
- …/per night
- Pre/post trip accommodation in Pescasseroli (twin/double room) From.
- …/per night
Upgrades
- Optional Private Room Upgrade - From.
- …/per person
For solo travellers looking for their own space, an optional private room can be booked for an extra charge (subject to availability). See Optional Extras for the price.
Transfers
- Private airport transfer - each way (1-4 people) From.
- …
To request any extras, message your host via your Much Better Adventures account once you have booked your trip.
All extras must be paid before your trip starts.
This Trip is Graded Level 3
Ratings & Reviews
This trip is brand new!
So new, in fact, that it's not got any reviews yet. But rest assured, it's been designed with the same care, quality and attention to detail as all of our highly rated adventures.
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Departure dates
Thursday 26th November 2026
to Sunday 29th November 2026
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Got a Group of 6 or More?
What to Pack

Know before you go! Some stuff we'll provide, other things you'll need to bring.
FAQs
What is a rewilding adventure?
Our Rewilding Adventures take place in areas that are actively undergoing a process of ecological restoration known as rewilding. Increasingly, scientists and environmental activists see rewilding as a key solution to the ecological crises facing the planet. At Much Better Adventures we have followed this youthful movement closely, and it is clear that tourism has a role to play in helping to fund rewilding projects and show our adventurers the ecological transformations happening on the ground. Our trips explore these areas and particularly the species which are coming back to the returning wildernesses.
On any of our Rewilding Adventures, you'll be guided by expert wildlife trackers with a deep understanding of the rewilding efforts and the ecological improvements occurring in the areas they live and work in. You will search for and learn about keystone species such as wolf and bison which are either expanding from small historical numbers or being actively reintroduced. You'll see up close returning tree coverage and wildflower meadows, and even witness rivers running clearer due to the land growing wilder and withholding sediments. We aim for our Rewilding Adventures to instil a sense of hope that the damage which human activity has caused to the wild places on our planet can be reversed.
How does going on a rewilding adventure help wild places?
Every booking we take on a Rewilding Adventure directly supports and positively impacts the area in which your adventure takes place. Tourism provides a sustainable revenue stream to the local community, boosting the social and economic benefits from conservation and rewilding work, and therefore the incentives to support it.
Included in the trip cost is also a Rewilding Levy of 5% which goes directly to the rewilding project connected to the trip. On top of this, the Much Better Adventures Foundation channels an additional 5% of our revenues (not profits) from every booking to support reforestation and rewilding projects that advance our goal to protect the worlds wild places, one adventure at a time.
While we acknowledge that our Rewilding Adventures have a carbon footprint due to the need to travel to them. For all bookings with Much Better Adventures, 5% of our revenues (not profits) go in to our Foundation, primarily focussed on supporting World Land Trust to ensure our trips achieve Net-Zero emissions.
We also support their Buy an Acre programme, helping local communities to buy and protect natural habitats in perpetuity, ensuring the protection of the reserve and its wildlife.
What is snowshoeing?
Snowshoeing is a type of hiking that uses a special type of footwear - a snowshoe - to spread your weight over a larger area, allowing you to move easily across powdery snow-covered terrain. While today's snowshoes look modern, snowshoeing has actually played a vital role in Arctic life for centuries, with traders and trappers using wooden versions to move freely through the wilderness.
Snowshoeing is incredibly easy, comfortable and safe. You simply clip your snowshoe to the outside of your hiking boot and off you go. You'll be in the hands of local, experienced, and trained guides who know the area intimately and will guide you safely throughout the hike.
What do I do about drinking water?
The tap water in this part of Italy is safe to drink. Please bring along a reusable bottle or two to take with you on the wildlife tracking excursions.
Can I leave my excess luggage somewhere?
Yes, you can leave your main luggage in your room at the guesthouse or hotel in Pescasseroli.
Can I book on my own?
Sure can! Over 70% of our travellers travel solo, it’s a great way to meet like-minded people.
Who is running the trip?
Our team of Adventure Hunters co-create exclusive adventures which are run by highly vetted, specialist hosts. The trip is run by our trusted host partner in the destination. We only work with independent, local, in-destination experts who know the very best places to explore and how to stay safe. Read more information about the local teams we partner with. You’ll be introduced to the host straight after making a booking via the Much Better Adventures platform.
What is the official travel advice?
Much Better Adventures refer to the UK Government’s official travel advice when designing trips and monitoring trip operations. We recommend that all customers are familiar with the practical information provided on the Government’s FCDO website, where current travel advice can be found by searching for the applicable destination(s).
For customers joining this trip from other international destinations – please also read the official travel advice applicable to your country of residence/origin, as this may differ.
What vaccinations do I need?
We recommend checking out the country-specific information and also talking to a travel nurse.
How are the trips priced?
We automatically convert prices from the local currency that a host receives to your chosen currency. We update our exchange rates on a daily basis so this does mean that prices displayed on the site are subject to currency fluctuations, which is why you may see them change over time.
If you wish to change the currency you pay in, head to the bottom of the page.
Why are your adventures only for adults?
All of our group adventures are specially designed for adults to enjoy as we want these adventures to bring together outdoorsy people who are truly like-minded. You must be over 18 to join one of our trips.
Who else will be on my trip?
You're always in good company on one of our adventures.
Our trips are typically made up of a mixture of solo travellers and small groups of 2 or 3 friends, with most in their 30s-50s.
Our sociable adventures are solo-friendly by design and naturally attract outdoorsy people with a shared mindset; a love for adventure, a desire to push themselves and meet awesome, like-minded people along the way. Check out our Community Values – a shared code to make sure that everyone's experience is safe, inclusive and brilliantly unforgettable.
It’s this camaraderie that has so often turned a great adventure into a life-changing one.
Don't just take our word for it:
- 95% of people rate the group dynamics on our trips 5/5
- 90% of people recommend joining a trip to make new friends
- 75% of people have met people on our trips that they would now consider friends
See here for more info about the Much Better Adventures tribe.
What's the carbon footprint for this trip?
We partner with the World Land Trust to ensure this trip achieves Net-Zero emissions. We also support their Buy an Acre programme, helping local communities to buy and protect natural habitats in perpetuity.
What's the number?
It works out on average at 88kg of CO2 emissions per person, including all local transport, accommodation, food, activities, guides, staff and office operations.
The only thing it doesn’t include right now is flights and travel to the destination. We do make an overall estimate across all our customers separately, but as we don’t book flights, have customers from all corners of the world, and no way of reliably knowing their travel plans, we simply can’t include an individual number in the figure on display here. We’ve got a goal to fix that, so that when you book, there is a way to measure and mitigate the carbon emitted by your flight too.
But what does the number mean?
Yep, hard to picture eh? To give you an idea:
- Driving 1000 miles/1609km would be approximately 281kg of CO2 in an average car (or 140.5kg per person, if there were two of you in it).
- A return economy class flight between London and New York would be approximately 1619kg (1.66 tonnes) per person.
- 10 trees in a temperate forest are estimated to remove approximately 250kg of CO2 from the air in a period of 5-10 years.
What are we doing about it?
Our trips are relatively low-carbon by design, and we're working with all our hosts to develop long term carbon reduction plans. We partner with the World Land Trust to ensure this trip achieves Net-Zero emissions. We also support their Buy an Acre programme, helping local communities to buy and protect natural habitats in perpetuity, ensuring the protection of the reserve and its wildlife.
Want to know more?
Amazingly, no international travel company has ever publicly published their carbon measurements before, as far as we know. We believe that must change, quickly. So we’re openly sharing the method we used in the hope that other companies will be able to more easily follow suit and build on what we've done so far. You'll find it all here.
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