We’re calling out to both the lazy and dynamic people, to singles and couples, to young and old, to culture lovers and to those who read, at the most, the Instagram noticeboard. Yes, because a holiday in the countryside is for everyone!
The ideal solution not only for lazy, but also dynamic people
Let’s start with those who are lazy, by definition the hardest to convince: even moving from one opinion to another, for the truly lazy, can be quite a headache. But in this case, it’s actually quite easy. In fact, couch potatoes shun the stress caused by ‘overcrowded’ beaches, slaloming among the umbrellas and beach volleyball, which is tiring even to just watch.
Well then, here’s the gentle slopes of hills; relaxing in an enveloping hammock in the shade of the dense foliage of a tree and the chirping of birds becomes the most inviting solace. And the memory of the previous year’s grueling climb in an attempt to reach that high peak slowly dissolves.
The dynamic person, on the other hand, will have quite a bit to keep them busy, taking long and potentially endless walks, discovering the medieval villages, and trekking which, in the rural areas, varies in intensity and height differences. After all, the countryside, found on medium-size hills, offers routes with varying difficulties, aimed at discovering natural reserves, lakes, springs, glimpses of unspoiled nature, where one can literally reconcile with the world.
Holidays in the countryside, even in the winter
These surroundings appear to reopen to the visitor only during spring – summer, at most in autumn, weather permitting. In fact, it is scientifically proven that trekking at low temperatures, in winter, is good for both the mind and the body. Because it takes you out of the home environment, when instinct would rather you stayed on the sofa, soaking in that little bit of winter sun, and vitamin D. Which then goes to produce serotonin, or the happiness hormone, that fights depression and stress.
And, if you’re in the first category we mentioned above, the couch potatoes, and you have no intention whatsoever to do any trekking, a stroll in a village full of art will certainly do you no harm.
The countryside isn’t just nature
There are, in fact, those who adore the cities of art. And if the attractiveness of Rome, Florence and Naples is beyond any discussion, the small villages that dot the provincial roads and our countryside can reserve unexpected treasures for visitors. They can be visited without the long queues that separate visitors from accessing, for example, the Vatican Museums and the Uffizi during the high season. The charming alleys, the stones, smoothened over time, with which alleys and buildings are built, take visitors to another dimension, and one would almost expect to see a woman emerge heading for a well, or a soldier going to guard the tower near the access gate of the walls.
The countryside is something else
An ideal location, the countryside, for photography enthusiasts, holidays for children, who can run freely, finally far away from stress and commitments, for romantic couples, because, as well all know, “the countryside is something else” as Achille Campanile tells us in the title of one of his novels. It seems, paraphrasing the writer, that there is more pleasure in falling in love here, and that here, even the most beautiful feelings, as he states in the usual irony that characterizes his writing, become even more so.
For all tastes, for all budgets
We mentioned various human types: each with potentially very different characteristics and budgets. Similarly, the range of accommodation solutions that the countryside has to offer is quite diversified and broad: agritourism, with or without swimming pools and educational farms for children; affordable or pricier sleeping facilities, Bed and Breakfast facilities; hotels, or single apartments obtained from typical lodgings, campsites and stations for campers. Anyone who tells you that the countryside is always the same story, is lying!
You eat a lot in the countryside, but you have fun doing so!
It might be a bit of a cliché, but fresh air is good for one’s appetite. Genuine products, that tell of and offer the taste of the land that produces them. Then, during the summer, they become the protagonists of festivals and fairs that give that liveliness and joy which, perhaps, up to now, we have neglected.
Yes, because it’s not that in the countryside you either rest or go hiking, you can’t count on having only peace and quiet. Far from it: fairs and concerts in the square, group and couples dances under the stars, musical bands with their folk music and much more create a rather lively soundtrack.
The Sabina is all of this and much more
There is so much more that sketches the portrait of Sabina. The Poggio Sommavilla necropolis from the 7th century BC, the archaeological excavations of the Roman villa in Cottanello and the ancient Roman city of Trebula Mutuesca tell the story of the Sabines before and after their merging with the Romans.
The castles in Montenero Sabino and Nerola, and the small village of Cicignano illustrate, in an optimal state of conservation and in their solemn magnificence, castles dating back to the Early Middle Ages.
The sixteenth-century urban layout of Leonessa and the noble palaces of Collevecchio, instead, lead us straight into the Renaissance. And museums, even the most original, such as the one dedicated to olive oil in Castelnuovo di Farfa, complete the cultural variety that the Sabina offers along with the naturalistic value of the area, undeniable with its natural reserves, ecosystems made of a very rich biodiversity, in settings ranging from numerous lakes, typical mountains, naturalistic wonders and festivals and fairs that satisfy all tastes, not just the palate.
