A mountain walk on our first full day was a great idea for working off the effects of our first taste of the local cuisine the previous evening – a succession of pastas, a red-wine risotto, pork and lamb, strawberries and naturally, Italian wine.

Our guide was Sonia Caponecchi, a walking encyclopaedia on her native Norcia and the mountains with all their flora and fauna. With cycling expert Sauro Topini, she runs Il Perugino, an agency which offers walking and cycling and historical, gastronomical and artistic tours all over the region.

We were bound for Monte Vettore, at 2,476 metres high the tallest peak in the Sibillini range. At the top is Lago Pilato (Lake Pilate), which is home to a unique species of minute prawn. The lake owes its name to a strange legend – the area could fill a book with wonderful tall tales.

The story goes that Pontius Pilate, filled with remorse after he conspired in the crucifixion of Jesus, decreed that when he died, his body should be placed on a cart and sent wherever the horses chose to go. They chose Monte Vettore and as the horses stooped to drink from the lake at the top, Pilate’s body slipped off the cart into the water.

We didn’t reach the top as the clouds rolled in and our guides said it was too risky to continue. However we enjoyed a picnic of local parma ham and cheese on the mountainside and took time to study the rare flowers and hunt for mushrooms. The region is famous for these. Looking at the hillsides from a distance you can see darker green rings imprinted on the fields. These are the mushroom sites.

We were told we would be able to see the whole of Italy from a particular vantage point on this trip. And indeed we could. It is a plantation of trees set out as an outline of the country. It was planted by Benito Mussolini who wanted to be able to view his empire at a glance.

Rising between the plains by the mountains, like an illustration from a book of fairy tales is the village of Castelluccio. It is perfectly placed as a refreshment stop for walkers, cyclists, motorcyclists, skiers in winter and dare-devils using the gliding school, which has its nursery slopes for hang-gliders and paragliders in the foothills of Monte Vettore.