I’ve had a bug for exploring since I was a kid in the San Francisco Bay Area: I’d wander for whole days, tracking streams or paths through the hills. In the summers we’d backpack in the High Sierra, where I developed a lifelong addiction to the widerness experience.

Europe offers other kinds of delights. On a long train ride through France and Italy one year, I was struck by the compelling combination of gorgeous landscapes and colorful old towns. Could you walk between these towns, learn their histories, discover their secrets? Perhaps enjoy good meals and cozy lodging along the way? And what surprises would the countryside hold?

Now every year I spend the spring in Italy, combing through libraries and maps, asking questions, walking. My point of departure was the famous system of Roman roads. Along the way I’ve discovered Etruscan roads, medieval pilgrimage tracks, rural donkey paths… forgotten pathways winding past castles, aqueducts, temples, walled towns, tombs.

The best part is sharing it all – the landscapes, the discoveries, the friendly people, the terrific meals. I hope you enjoy these pages, and that one day you’ll decide to join me for a walk.