Italy’s first king created the Gran Paradiso royal hunting grounds to protect endangered alpine ibex. Eventually, those grounds became Italy’s first national park, set today primarily within the Aosta Valley region. The park is a paradise of hiking trails, mountain villages, and protected wildlife. In summer, visitors can see native flora and butterflies on guided walks through the Paradisia Alpine Botanic Garden (Giardino Alpino Paradisia).

Named after the asini bianchi (white donkeys) that call this island park their home, Asinara is a former quarantine station and maximum security prison that’s now a national park and marine reserve. Reach Asinara on boat charters or private catamaran cruises from the Sardinian coast to explore its protected beaches, historic ruins, and hiking trails. Once on the island, visitors have limited transportation options but can explore independently or with guided tours organized by the park itself.

Abruzzo is relatively untouched by tourism so it's home to what some call true wilderness. Endangered Italian (or Apennine) wolves, Marsican brown bears, and native chamois prowl through the park, which, together with the nearby Gran Sasso and Maiella parks, comprise more protected land than anywhere else in Italy. Tours of Abruzzo from Rome tend to visit the park, but travelers are better served by posting up in L’Aquila or near the park headquarters in Pescasseroli to explore independently.

Gargano is the “spur” on the “boot” of Italy, a peninsula that juts out into the Adriatic Sea. The area’s secluded beaches and coves are best explored by boat, but the main draw is the Umbra Forest, complete with millennial beech trees and a deer reserve. Hiking trips depart from Foggia or Bari, while wine-tasting tours cover vineyards in Vieste at the foot of the forest. Travelers interested in easing off hiking can explore the streets of Vico del Gargano, known as the village of love.

Straddling the Pollino massif between Basilicata and Calabria, this park is a sanctuary to the eldest tree in Europe, a Heldreich’s pine thought to be roughly 1200 years old. A UNESCO-listed geopark and World Heritage Site, Pollino is a playing field of gorges, waterfalls, and rivers perfect for canyoning and river rafting. Civita is a lovely hill town within the park founded by 15th-century Albanian refugees, and it's also home to a one-of-a-kind falconry center.

Established in 1996, this national park comprises seven islands and a handful of islets off Sardinia’s northeastern coast. Outside of the stray resort and minor settlement, La Maddalena is the only inhabited island in the archipelago—the park’s last remaining resident was famously evicted in 2020. Beaches and watersports are the games in town here: snorkeling, sailing, and boating trips depart in droves from Palau across the water on the Costa Smeralda.

Bordering Switzerland to the east and the Dolomite Mountains to the west, Stelvio covers roughly 1,400 square miles (3625 square kilometers) of the Trentino-Alto Adige region (and some of Lombardy), making it one of the largest protected areas in the Alps mountain chain. Laced with marked trails, sentieri, between mountain huts, rifugi, the park is popular with hikers looking for alternatives to the strenuous Alta Via trails in the neighboring Dolomites.

Halfway between Sicily and Tunisia, the island of Pantelleria is home to Italy’s youngest national park. Agricultural traditions like vite ad alberello (special grape vine cultivation methods for harsh climates) have earned the park UNESCO World Heritage status. Traverse the windswept landscapes dotted with terraced vineyards and dammusi, lava rock houses erected for millennia. Hike along old donkey paths, tour local produce markets, and explore Bronze Age funereal archeological sites.