In January 2025 the New York Times published the annual list of the 52 destinations to visit during the year, called 52 Places to Go in 2025. At number 15 (first place overall among the hiking routes in the entire ranking) was Italy with the Rhaetian Way, a walking route between the Belluno area and Trentino which until a few months earlier was practically unknown outside the Feltre valley.
The name refers to the Raeti, a pre-Roman people who inhabited these lands before Pliny the Elder defined Feltre as a “Rhaetian city”. The path pays homage to them by retracing the roads that that ancient culture had opened in the mountains, and was inaugurated on May 25, 2024, almost simultaneously with the American candidacy.
How many kilometers, exactly
Here it is worth clarifying, because the figures circulating online are not in contradiction with each other, given that they refer to different paths of the same project, which has grown over time in a complex system of variants. The official website distinguishes three walking itineraries:
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Added to these is the Rhaetian Bike Way, approximately 185 km that can be covered by mountain bike, e-bike or gravel. The 170 kilometers cited by the NYT and many outside sources are presumably an estimate of the total route in its original configuration, before the project was split into separate variants.
Those who have little time choose the classic, or the Southern, those who want to get serious go for the Grand Tour.
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A project born from the bottom
The Rhaetian Way was not born from a regional announcement nor from a ministerial campaign, given that the idea came from Francesco De Bortoli, a trekking enthusiast, made concrete by the social promotion association Carpe Diem with the explicit aim of counteracting the depopulation of areas remaining on the margins of the large flows of the most popular Dolomites. Along the route you come across silent woods, almost forgotten villages, Lake Corlo, the slopes of Monte Grappa and the municipality of Feltre. At each stage the travelers receive a stamp on a passport of the journey, a system which, in the intentions of the organizers, will open up discounts and dedicated initiatives in the future.
For information and registration: camminoretico.it — email: info@camminoretico.it
