Apennine webcams
The Apennine webcams look at six places: Abetone, Monte Cimone, Sestola and Cerreto Laghi in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, Campo Felice and Campo Imperatore in Abruzzo.
They show the snow, the weather and the visibility up high before you set off.
Places
The mountains
The Apennines are the range that forms the backbone of the Italian peninsula: they begin north-west of Savona, at the Colle di Cadibona, where they join the Alps, and run to the Strait of Messina, for more than a thousand kilometres. Their highest peak is the Corno Grande, in the Gran Sasso d'Italia, which rises above 2,900 metres. The webcams on this site cover two areas. The first is the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, between Tuscany and Emilia: here are Abetone, a pass between the provinces of Pistoia and Modena, Monte Cimone, which at 2,165 metres is the highest peak of the northern Apennines, Sestola at its foot and, further west, Cerreto Laghi, in the province of Reggio Emilia. The second is the Abruzzo Apennines, in the province of L'Aquila: Campo Felice, a plateau at about 1,500 metres between Lucoli and Rocca di Cambio, and Campo Imperatore, the great plateau of the Gran Sasso.
Getting there
- By car
- You drive up to Abetone on the SS12 road: it is about 50 kilometres from Pistoia, 90 from Florence and 85 from Modena. Sestola is about 70 kilometres from Modena and 85 from Bologna; from the village a road climbs to Passo del Lupo, below Monte Cimone. Cerreto Laghi is reached on the SS63 road over the Cerreto pass, from Reggio Emilia or, on the Tuscan side, from Aulla. In Abruzzo the road is the A24 motorway from Rome to L'Aquila and Teramo: for Campo Felice, about 115 kilometres from Rome, you leave it at Tornimparte; for Campo Imperatore you leave it at Assergi and drive up to Fonte Cerreto, about 130 kilometres from Rome, where the Gran Sasso cable car starts. From 15 November to 15 April winter tyres or snow chains on board are normally compulsory on these roads.
- By train
- None of the six places has a railway station: you take the train to a city and continue by bus. For Abetone the station is Pistoia, on the Florence-Lucca line; for Sestola and Monte Cimone it is Modena, changing buses at Pavullo nel Frignano; for Cerreto Laghi it is Reggio Emilia, with the bus for Castelnovo ne' Monti and the Cerreto pass. Campo Imperatore and Campo Felice are reached through L'Aquila, which has a station on the Terni-Sulmona line and direct buses from Rome; from L'Aquila a city bus goes up to Fonte Cerreto. Buses to the mountains are few: check the timetables before you leave.
When to go
In the Apennines the ski season is shorter and less certain than in the Alps: the mountains are lower and the snow varies a great deal from one winter to the next. As a rule the lifts open in December and close between the end of March and early April; in the larger resorts snowmaking covers a good part of the pistes, but it only works when it is cold. That is why the webcams matter more here than elsewhere: they show whether the snow is really there, how far down it reaches and whether there is fog up high. In summer people come to walk, on the ridges and the plateaux: the weather up high changes quickly, and it is worth looking at the picture before setting off.
What to do
Winter
- Skiing at Abetone
- About 50 kilometres of pistes between the pass, Monte Gomito and Val di Luce; three are named after Zeno Colò, the Abetone skier who won the Olympic downhill in 1952.
- The Cimone ski area
- More than 50 kilometres of pistes, all linked, between Sestola, Fanano, Montecreto and Riolunato; the best-known way in is Passo del Lupo.
- Campo Imperatore
- The Gran Sasso cable car climbs from Fonte Cerreto, at 1,115 metres, to 2,130: it is the highest ski resort in the Apennines.
- Campo Felice and Cerreto Laghi
- The first is among the Abruzzo resorts closest to Rome; the second lies at the foot of Monte La Nuda, beside the Cerreto pass, in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines National Park.
Summer
- To the summit of Monte Cimone
- From Passo del Lupo the cable car goes up to Pian Cavallaro, at over 1,800 metres; from there you walk to the highest peak of the northern Apennines.
- Esperia garden and Lago della Ninfa
- At Passo del Lupo, at 1,500 metres, the alpine botanical garden of the Modena section of the Italian Alpine Club; not far away is the lake, among the beech woods.
- The castle of Sestola
- The Este fortress on the spur above the village houses a group of museums, including one of mechanical musical instruments.
- The Corno Grande
- From Campo Imperatore starts the normal route to the highest peak of the Apennines: a route for experienced hikers, inside the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park.
On the map
Open the full mapFrequently asked questions
Which webcams are there in the Apennines?
On this site there are six: Abetone, from Val di Luce, Monte Cimone, from Passo del Lupo, and Sestola, from the village centre; then Cerreto Laghi in the Reggio Emilia Apennines and Campo Felice and Campo Imperatore in Abruzzo. They update every few minutes.
Is there snow at Abetone right now?
Look at the Abetone webcam: every picture carries the time of the latest snapshot. The camera is in Val di Luce, at 1,650 m, higher than the village, which is at 1,388 m: if the pistes are white there, the pass may still not be.
Is the Abetone webcam in the village?
No: it is in Val di Luce, one of the valleys of the Abetone ski area, about 8 km by road from the pass. It shows a chairlift and the pistes, not the houses of the village.
Which is the highest ski resort in the Apennines?
Campo Imperatore, on the Gran Sasso, in Abruzzo: the cable car arrives at 2,130 m and the lifts climb further, to about 2,200 m. Above it stands the Corno Grande, the highest peak of the whole Apennine range.
How far are the Apennine ski slopes from Florence, Bologna and Rome?
From Florence to Abetone it is about 90 km. From Bologna to Sestola, below Monte Cimone, about 85. From Rome it is about 115 km to Campo Felice and about 130 to Fonte Cerreto, where the cable car for Campo Imperatore starts.
When can you ski in the Apennines?
As a rule from December to the end of March or early April, but it depends on the snow, which is less certain here than in the Alps. Before you leave, look at the webcams and the resort's snow report.
