Hiking from Fonte Cerreto by Johan Wikström

Part 2 in our series of car-free travels when having a break in  L’Aquila!  Much is made that you need a car to explore Abruzzo, but you can conveniently take a bus from L’Aquila to Assergi for a 35-minute journey to Fonte Cerreto. Here sits the base of the cable car, to whisk you up the Corno Grande on the western side of Campo Imperatore where you can pick up numerous trails. There are restaurants and a refuge for a quick sausage panino or more if all the Gran Sasso range vistas and fresh mountain air leave you feeling peckish.  This is the centre of ski-ing for this area, so you won’t go hungry or thirsty!

Click on the map to be taken to a to zoomable 3d map of the summer trails from the cable car.

Fonte Cerreto in Assergi is a must for nature enthusiasts seeking breathtaking views and a breeze as well as anyone wishing to see the real Abruzzo, it really provides something a little different on a typical urban stopover in L’Aquila.

Bus Routes

From the centre of L’Aquila take the regular 1, 14D or 15 bus to S. Salvatore Hospital which sits opposite the University.  From here take the M6 bus that takes you all the way to the base of Funivia, see here for the M6 bus timetable so you can plan your day.  If you are coming for the day from Rome look for any of the buses that stop at Assergi and where you will be able to pick up the M6 bus to then take you to cable car.

 Opening Hours

Always check the website for the opening hours (do not go by Google which shows it is temporarily closed!)  Over the summer it runs from Monday through to Sunday, 07.30-19.00 every 30 minutes.  The distance is 3,173 m and costs €11 or €13 at weekends and national holidays

Over the summer 2023, the Observatory will be running events over the weekend that can be accessed by taking the ‘Funivia Gran Sasso’.

Author: Sam Dunham

Sam is a very lucky midlife 'mamma' to A who is 12 and juggles her work as a self-employed freelance SEO food and travel copywriter and EFL teacher. She is the founder of the Life In Abruzzo Cultural Association, co-founder of Let's Blog Abruzzo. she is the founder of the 'English in the Woods' initiative, teaching English outdoors in a forest style school.