Untrodden Peaks and Unfrequented Valleys

In 1872, Edwards and a female companion set off on a “ramble” through the nearly impassable Italian Dolomites, where food and shelter were chancy propositions but the scenery was gorgeous and the people friendly and welcoming. Edwards approached the expedition with humor and enthusiasm, and she regales us with the tale of the journey with the generous, vivacious spirit that made her one of the her era’s most daring women.

The district of the Dolomites, a mountain range adjacent to the Alps often over-looked by many, occupies the South-Eastern Tyrol, between Botzen, Brunecken, Innichen, and Belluno. Amelia B. Edwards winds her way through the peaks of these Northern Italian mountains, stopping in local inns and villages and experiencing a warmth and hospitality in the people that seldom is seen in this day and age. Edwards wrote this book more than century ago in 1873, when tourism has yet to taint this landscape with its crowds and hotels, leaving South-Eastern Tyrol for “those who love sketching and botany, mountain-climbing and mountain air, and who desire when they travel to leave London and Paris behind them.” Edwards even goes on to argue that the Dolomites “offer a playground far more attractive than the Alps.”

Not all is full of carefree pleasantries, as Edwards encounters everything from exhausting mule rides up steep slopes to nights in “the worst inn’s worst room”. Nonetheless, all of this only merely contributes to the sincerity of Amelia B. Edwards’s travel log. Written by a female traveller, this take on trekking in the Dolomites is particularly unique for its time. For instance, she reiterates the indispensable need for women to ride sidesaddle while crossing the peaks on mule back. Edwards gives an honest impression of the country, leading the reader through every detail of her journey.