Once, swimming in the river was the most loved popular activity of summers for young people who could not afford seaside vacations. Then it became only a sporadic, rare, residual thing. But in recent years the rediscovery of river tourism is advancing at full speed: wild swimming is taking an important place in the summers of many people, more and more.
Living in Italy helps. With over 1,200 rivers and streams that run along the Italian boot, numerous hilly and mountainous areas with limited urbanization, and a natural beauty heritage among the most stunning in the world, the Bel Paese is a fantastic destination for all those who love a dip in crystal-clear waters, surrounded by nature, without crowds and in harmony with the surrounding environment. From the purest Alpine torrents to the natural pools hidden among the woods of the Apennines, to the undervalued freshwater wonders of Sicily, Italy is a treasure chest for all freshwater lovers.
Friuli, the land of rivers
In the far northeast of Italy, Friuli represents a true paradise for wild swimming, moreover a activity quite widespread in the mountainous areas.
Tourists arrive from Austria, Slovenia, and Germany to spend a day on the Palar stream, in the Carnic Prealps, about half an hour from Udine. An incredibly crystal-clear watercourse that crosses an unspoiled valley until it flows into Cavazzo Lake. The most frequented area is near the dam, an artificial barrier in the riverbed a little over ten meters high, from which local youngsters dive into the large pool below. The beauty, however, is to go upstream beyond it and explore the stretch just above to discover wild and pristine nature, with numerous natural pools where you can swim.
A little further west the Arzino torrent draws a short valley before plunging into the Tagliamento River. Local people seize the opportunity in summer to dive into its turquoise waters. Countless beaches of small white pebbles invite you to relax and sunbathe before cooling off in the fresh currents of the stream.
Almost at the border with Slovenia flows the Natisone, dotted with emerald-colored natural pools. Between Cividale del Friuli and Vernasso lie the most beautiful spots, all easily accessible and not very crowded.
On the western side of the region, instead, in Val Tramontina, lie the so-called Emerald Potholes, a series of crystal-clear natural pools, surrounded by very white beaches, so much so that they resemble a Caribbean postcard moment. Reaching them requires a short excursion of just over half an hour through a spectacular natural setting, among the peaks of the Friulian Dolomites.
The natural pools of the northwest
Even the northwestern region of Italy wants its share. The Mastallone and the Stura di Lanzo are splendid torrents in the heart of Piedmont: the former flows through the valley of the same name, a side valley of Valsesia, in the province of Vercelli, in a mountainous area characterized by unspoiled nature; the latter reaches the Po near Turin, but its landmark place is near the Devil’s Bridge of Lanzo Torinese, where it forms splendid natural pools thanks to a particular geological formation of its bed.
Moving further south, at the border between Lombardy, Emilia, and Liguria, the Trebbia river valley offers dream spots for all those who love a dip in freshwater. Ascending from the splendid village of Bobbio upstream, the river makes wide meanders through gentle forested hills, forming broad pools to dive into and beaches of white and fine gravel. A tip? The natural pools near the tiny village of Ponte Organasco, near the Lombardy border.
In the provinces of Parma and Reggio Emilia flows the Enza. Following its course up to the foothills of the hills and the Apennines from which it originates, you enter a splendid valley made of woods and wide pastures, where the river winds sinuously and gives rise to several spots ideal for the wild swimming. The best are near Vetto.
The Enza originates from the Lagastrello Pass, the Apennine pass that separates Emilia from Lunigiana, a border region formally in Tuscany, but with broad Parmense and, above all, Ligurian influences. In the valley where the Magra river flows, Lunigiana is one of the most beautiful areas in Italy for freshwater swimming. The aforementioned watercourse and its numerous tributaries indeed sketch an incredibly rich territory of natural pools.
Wild swimming on the Tuscan-Romagnolo Apennines
From the Apennine crest that divides Tuscany and Romagna arise a series of rivers and streams that flow toward the Adriatic coast, in a sequence of parallel valleys, each marked by its own spots for wild swimming.
Among these waterways is the Santerno, which rises on the slopes of the Futa Pass, north of Barberino del Mugello. It descends in a vortex through a mountainous valley dotted with rural houses, small hamlets and a few villages, immersed mainly in the silence of the forests and the perpetual watch of the peaks, until it flows into the Reno, not far from Bologna. On the Santerno lies the famous Cascata di Moraduccio, a spectacular natural fall opening onto a large natural pool that is very popular in summer.
The Zerbale, on the Bidente river, is another special place: three giants’ baths, large natural pools that are very deep and are generated by the erosive power of the watercourse, follow one after another. Dives and long swims in the cool waters are a real balm for summer.
On the Montone river, which also flows from Tuscany toward Romagna, lies the spectacular Ponte della Brusia, a medieval crossing over a stunning waterfall with a beautiful and very deep natural pool at its foot.
In Premilcuore, a small town in the heart of the Parco delle Foreste Casentinesi, the Rabbi river gives life to two small natural wonders such as the Screaming Caves and the Saw Waterfall. The former are two interconnected caves through which the river runs, whose echo resembles, when the water is more impetuous, sinister cries, but the place is far more heavenly than the metaphor tied to the name suggests. The latter is a double waterfall from the top of which it is fantastic to dive into the beautiful emerald pool that opens at its foot.
River bathing in Central Italy
The southern part of Tuscany, Umbria, and Marche reserve not a few surprises for freshwater lovers.
Between Siena and Grosseto, near Roccastrada, the Farma torrent runs through the so-called Canaloni, a zone with a particular geological formation characterized by large smooth stones, capable of forming small waterfalls and natural pools ideal for a dive. Shielded by the canopies of the woods of the Farma Nature Reserve, the Canaloni are a perfect place for a day by the river.
Further south, the third longest river in Tuscany, the Albegna, winds into a splendid canyon of white rock, giving life to the Strette dell’Albegna. To reach them, you must go to the town of Rocchette di Fazio and undertake a short but steep descent toward the pristine banks of the river, where you can then enjoy an unfiltered nature.
In Umbria the Nera river is perhaps the most well known for river tourism. In the picturesque village of Stifone there is a nice beach on packed earth from which you can dive into the turquoise and very deep water of a wide stretch of the river. Despite the great depth, the transparency of the currents is incredible, enough to see the bottom.
Even the Marche are no less. Three rivers in particular deserve to be explored in depth. North, in the province of Pesaro-Urbino, the Metauro forms a series of little pools not far from the village of Mercatello sul Metauro. Cascades, pools, clear water and the shade of dense vegetation are the ingredients of a popular spot, but where one always manages to carve out a quiet space. The Bosso river, near Cagli, offers an endless sequence of waterfalls, cascades, natural pools, and stretches of river where you can swim. Its distinctive feature is the blue of its waters, of rare intensity. Almost at the Abruzzo border, the torrent Castellano deserves a dip, as it also passes through Ascoli Piceno. Just outside the city of the Hundred Towers, near an ancient bridge, there is Paradise, as the locals call it: here the water turns turquoise due to some thermal springs and large natural pools form in a truly wild setting.
Sicily, freshwater
Thinking of the island of Sicily as a place of freshwater requires some imagination for most, but the truth is that beyond the obviously splendid sea, the Trinacria offers, in its inland areas, some incredible pearls for wild swimming.
There are several of them, moreover, that have something in common: besides being very beautiful river sites, they have a strong link to ancient history. Cavagrande del Cassibile and Pantalica are two places where the rivers running through create natural pools of rare beauty, in wild settings reachable only through short hikes, but that also host ancient necropolises and millennia-old tombs.
Cava Carosello, a small watercourse in a deep valley characterized by a couple of deep natural pools where to dive and by lush vegetation, ideal for hot summer days, is reached by a path from Noto Antica, the ancient settlement of Noto, destroyed following an earthquake at the end of the seventeenth century.
