Abruzzo
Abruzzo is located on the Eastern Coast of Italy, about midway down the boot. To the North is Marche, and to the south Molise, and just 100 km away directly west on the other side of the Apennines, you will find Rome.
65% of the region is mountainous, sitting on the east side of the Apennines and rolling down to the Adriatic Sea. The distance between the two is never more than 40 minutes in a car.
A full 30% of the region is protected by parks, three of which are National Parks. There are mountain lakes, medieval towns, and the trabocchi fishing huts on the coast, many of which now are restaurants.
The mountainous part of the region is beautiful and has the “transumanza,” a route by which the Abruzzo shepherds take their sheep into the hills in the spring. They reverse this route in the fall as the weather cools.