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The SICAI

Our Project

Today, efforts are focused on ensuring that the Sentiero Italia CAI is fully marked and accessible.

Our goal is to restore, reorganize and promote the Sentiero Italia CAI route, connecting Italy through its approximately 8,000 kilometres and nearly 400 stage locations, crossing often undiscovered and little-known places rich in charm, natural beauty and local traditions.

The work carried out by CAI members and local Sections is invaluable, as they continuously walk, monitor and maintain the accessibility and trail markings of each individual stage.

We experience the mountains with an awareness of our environmental, social and economic impact. Our vision looks to the future, balancing the needs of travellers with those of local communities, territories and businesses, fostering a dialogue between tradition and innovation.

Tourism or Hiking?

Tourism is the temporary movement from one place to another in order to engage in one or more activities for leisure, recreation, culture, wellness, sports, food and wine experiences, and other purposes.

According to the Treccani Encyclopedia, hiking is an activity carried out systematically, both in the mountains—excluding sections requiring mountaineering skills—and in other environments, for recreational and tourism purposes, while also promoting physical and cultural development.

The Italian Alpine Club (CAI) further defines hiking as a form of tourism inspired by a love for the land and nature, expressed through the commitment to discover, experience, protect and care for them. These four principles—experiencing, understanding, protecting and caring—are not subordinate to one another but together form the foundations that support hiking as an activity.

The Protected Areas Network

The Sentiero Italia CAI interacts with the Protected Areas Network, with which the Italian Alpine Club maintains an ongoing operational dialogue.

Enriched by the natural and cultural values of the territories it crosses, the Sentiero Italia CAI is woven like an endless thread into the network of Protected Areas that make up the Natura 2000 Network. It passes through 16 National Parks and 60 Regional Parks and Nature Reserves. Each Italian region also hosts numerous Natura 2000 sites of Community importance established under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, as well as UNESCO MAB Biosphere Reserves, recognized for their significance and extent.

The environmental, natural and cultural resources found in mountain areas—and especially within protected areas—provide outstanding opportunities for outdoor experiences, integrated with and promoted through the local tourism offerings.

History and Spirit of the Project

Born in the 1980s from the vision of Teresio Valsesia and a group of hiking journalists, the SICAI is today the most ambitious project of the Italian Alpine Club (CAI). Its philosophy is based on the rediscovery of historic trails and the promotion of a conscious and responsible approach to the mountains. Every step along the route contributes to environmental protection and the development of local economies, transforming hiking into an act of active citizenship and the preservation of historical memory.