National Parks Atlas

National Parks Atlas · Country · checked 4 Oct 2026

National Parks in Italy

25 national parks according to the Ministry of the Environment, from the high Alps to the islands. Our first Italian park guide takes you to the Ligurian coast: the Cinque Terre.

Photo: Luca Aless ↗ · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗

1Park guide

Cinque Terre in full, with card prices, trails, Via dell'Amore and trains

42Official sources

park authorities, operators and transport providers

25National parks

according to the ministry since April 2025; its list has 27 entries

1922The first

Gran Paradiso, in the Aosta Valley and Piedmont

Last checked: 4 Oct 2026

Italy has 25 national parks according to the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security, from Gran Paradiso, founded in 1922, to the Matese, delimited in April 2025. This atlas covers Cinque Terre National Park in full: the 2026 prices of the Cinque Terre Card, which sections of the Sentiero Azzurro are open, how the time slots on the Via dell'Amore work, and how to get there by train from La Spezia, Florence, Pisa or Genoa.

All other parks are listed in the directory with their founding year, area and official page.

01 · Park guides

Park guide: Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre Card, Sentiero Azzurro, Via dell'Amore, footwear rules and the 5 Terre Express.

Photo: Massimilianogalardi ↗ · CC BY-SA 3.0 ↗

02 · Directory

All national parks in Italy

The list of the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (MASE), as of 4 October 2026; founding year and area from the ministry's park pages.

Photo: СССР ↗ · CC BY-SA 2.5 CA ↗

The ministry lists 27 entries. Since the decree of 22 April 2025 it calls the Matese Italy's 25th national park. The list also contains the park of the Gulf of Orosei and Gennargentu, which according to the ministry never became operational, and Portofino, which so far has only provisional boundaries. The largest entry is Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni at 178,172 hectares, the smallest Cinque Terre at 3,860 hectares.

National parkRegionFoundedAreaOfficial page
Gran ParadisoAosta Valley, Piedmont1922710.4 km²Official page
Abruzzo, Lazio and MoliseAbruzzo, Lazio, Molise1923496.8 km²Official page
CirceoLazio193456.2 km²Official page
StelvioLombardy, Trentino-South Tyrol19351,307.3 km²Official page
Dolomiti BellunesiVeneto1990150.3 km²Official page
Val GrandePiedmont1992113.4 km²Official page
Foreste Casentinesi, Monte Falterona and CampignaTuscany, Emilia-Romagna1993310.4 km²Official page
Monti SibilliniMarche, Umbria1993697.2 km²Official page
PollinoBasilicata, Calabria19931,711.3 km²Official page
La Maddalena ArchipelagoSardinia199451 km² (Land area; plus 15,046 ha of sea according to the ministry.)Official page
AspromonteCalabria1994641.5 km²Official page
Cilento, Vallo di Diano and AlburniCampania19951,781.7 km²Official page
GarganoApulia19951,181.4 km²Official page
Gran Sasso and Monti della LagaAbruzzo, Lazio, Marche19951,413.4 km²Official page
MaiellaAbruzzo1995628.4 km²Official page
VesuviusCampania199572.6 km²Official page
Tuscan ArchipelagoTuscany1996– (Sea area 57,766 ha according to the ministry.)Official page
Tuscan-Emilian ApenninesEmilia-Romagna, Tuscany1997261.5 km²Official page
Gulf of Orosei and GennargentuSardinia1998739.4 km² (Formally founded in 1998, but according to the ministry never operational.)Official page
Cinque TerreLiguria199938.6 km²Official page
AsinaraSardinia200251.7 km²Official page
SilaCalabria2002737 km²Official page
Alta MurgiaApulia2004680.3 km²Official page
Lucanian Apennines – Val d'Agri-LagonegreseBasilicata2007690 km²Official page
Pantelleria IslandSicily2016– (Founded by presidential decree of 28 Jul 2016.)Official page
MateseCampania, Molise2025879 km² (Provisional boundaries by decree of 22 Apr 2025; the 25th national park according to the ministry.)Official page
PortofinoLiguria–– (Provisional boundaries since the ministerial decree of 6 Aug 2021.)Official page

03 · Good to know

What is different about national parks in Italy

In the Cinque Terre you pay for a trail, not for the park — and the train matters more than the car.

Photo: Timothy A. Gonsalves ↗ · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗

A card instead of a park entrance fee

Cinque Terre National Park itself is open to everyone. You pay with the Cinque Terre Card for the Sentiero Verde Azzurro and the Via dell'Amore: from €10 a day, from €22 with trains. According to the park authority the money goes into maintaining the trails. See card prices.

Footwear rule and weather warnings

Flip-flops and smooth soles are banned on the Cinque Terre trails, penalised under protected areas law 394/1991. At an orange or red warning from the Liguria region the park closes all trails. See the rules.

Train instead of car

The 5 Terre Express links the villages about every 30 minutes between La Spezia and Levanto. Only permit holders may enter Riomaggiore's traffic zone, and the large car parks are mainly in Monterosso, at €3 per hour. See how to get there.

04 · Editorial

Sources and last checked

Every fee, date and rule on this page comes from the park guides below, each linked to the official source.

Photo: Tangopaso ↗ · Public Domain ↗

Fees, opening times and reservation rules change. Check the official page before you travel.