The Italians are a nation of walkers: it is estimated that there are over 200,000 Italian travelers walking along various paths around Europe. Last year, for example, 24,000 Italians hiked along the Santiago di Compostela...

A place that produces “an absolutely astounding effect and has something improbable and exciting about it”: the comment is by the great German writer Herman Hesse and refers to Gubbio, the medieval town in Umbria,...