The Brigand's Trail: Three Days on Foot Through Calabria's Wildest Heart
120 km on foot between Aspromonte and the Serre mountains, tracing outlaw routes through ancient forests, suspended borghi and zero tourists.
The Sentiero del Brigante is a trail of roughly 120 kilometres connecting Gambarie d'Aspromonte to Serra San Bruno, crossing the most untamed interior of Calabria. It takes its name from the brigands who, after Italian Unification, took refuge in these impenetrable mountains — and walking it today makes clear why no one could ever find them.
The trail begins at Gambarie, a ski station above Reggio Calabria, and heads north through the Aspromonte. The first days are the hardest: steep paths, dense beech and fir forests, streams to ford. The landscape belongs to a mountain unlike any other in Italy — pink granite outcrops, giant ferns, trees draped in moss. You walk through something close to primordial forest, the sea hinting at itself in the distance but never quite appearing.
Intermediate stages pass through borghi that time has left behind: Samo, Mongiana — where the Bourbons built their ironworks, now magnificent ruins swallowed by forest — and then the Serre calabresi, a mountain chain running parallel to the Aspromonte but far less known and far less walked.
Arriving in Serra San Bruno comes as a surprise: a mountain town with a Charterhouse still in active use, founded by Saint Bruno of Cologne in 1091. The monks live in seclusion and are never seen, but their presence is felt in the ordered silence of the monastery and the surrounding woodland. It is a place that demands respect and slowness.
The trail takes 5–7 days to complete. Accommodation is sparse: unstaffed shelters, the occasional B&B in a village, the option to camp. You carry food for the more isolated stages and fill your water bottle at mountain springs. This is not a trek for beginners, but it requires no mountaineering experience — only stamina, a sense of direction, and the ability to be alone.
The best seasons are May–June and September–October. In summer the heat at lower elevations is oppressive; in winter snow can block the higher passes.
The Sentiero del Brigante is one of Italy's great long-distance trails and almost no one knows it exists. It has none of the fame of the Via degli Dei, none of the infrastructure of the Camino de Santiago. It has only mountains, forest, silence, and the rare feeling of walking where no one walks.
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Practical info
When is the best time to visit The Brigand's Trail?
The recommended time is May, June, September and October, when it is less crowded.
Is The Brigand's Trail crowded?
The Brigand's Trail is a almost deserted destination compared with the more touristy ones.
Where is The Brigand's Trail?
The Brigand's Trail is located in Aspromonte and the Serre, Calabria, Italy.
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