luckregg

I have been reading this board for about a year now, but just registered. It is so informative. I am interested in taking a European hiking trip next year. Does anyone have any suggestions or recent experiences on hiking? I can not find out much information about any companies except Backroads. They are sort of expensive.

luckregg

Sorry, walking and/or hiking specifically in Italy.

harzer

If you are going to Italy then you simply must spend four or five days in the Dolomites.

A very good map, the one I use, is the Kompass series. Each one comes with a detailed guide to its particular area and costs something like 7 Euros.

The one I have is No 59, for the Sella Group of mountains, and covers the region around Canazei and the Portnoy Pass, my favourite hiking territory.

Enjoy!

Harzer

nibblette

Try hfholidays, a British walking company. They are well-priced and include all meals. They tend to stay in small, simple inns and guesthouses. make sure you look at their GUIDED tours if that is what you want.

Also look at rei.com. It has reasonably priced hikes in Italy. Some meals are included. Alcohol not included.

If you want to go more luxurious, try Wayfarers. The places they stay and the meals they have are usually spectacular. Wines are included with dinner.

I have never used hfholidays but heard good things about it (search the Fodors forums).

Used rei once but it was in the US and a less than spectacular trip. I think that was related to the inexperience of the guide and rei's sub-contractor cutting corners (moldy food, stale breads among other things). Others on that trip who used rei before said it was the worst trip they ever had. Their other experiences were much better. Age range on my trip early 30's-late 40's.

The Wayfarers does a really nice job. They look after all the details and usually have special additions (lunch at a farm with freshly picked ingredients, wine tasting, special concerts, etc) which I think helps justify the higher costs.
The participants are usually 40's to 60's, and usually quite fit. I was always the youngest (30's) but always had a good time.
Rec the Umbria walk. Gorgeous scenery in a less visited part of Italy. Nice wines too. And being Italy, wine was available (and included) at lunch and dinner.

Hope this helps some.

elnap29

My neighbors had a fabulous experience last summer with Girasole. You can chose your accommodation level in order to lower the expense. Check their website. I would like to use them also in the future. They offer guided or self-guided tours, either walking or hiking, in all areas of Italy.

Cicerone

I have taken walking tours in with ATG Oxford Tours, a UK operator who are generally very well regarded. Some of their tours have lectures for sights or special interests, like cooking. I have found the groups are small and congenial. You can also use one of their self-tour options and hike on your own while they move your luggage and take care of hotel bookings. Take a look at http://www.atg-oxford.co.uk.

JudyC

Several of my friends have tried Ramblers- an U.K. company, quite reputable and inexpensive, For details, please check: www.ramblersholidays.com.

olijoc

luckregg,

We returned last month from a hiking tour with NEHH (New England Hiking Holidays), which was unsatisfactory. The guides were very disorganized and there were 2 (out of 3) rather awful hotel choices. They were dirty and one hotel actually had 4 dozen members of a motorcycle group at the hotel while we were there. It was a small hotel, so needless to say, they overan the place. There was alot of screaming, food fights while dining and late night partying, all of which was condoned by the hotel staff. Obviously NEHH doesn't look too closely at their hotel selections, or chooses to "go Cheap."

I have not been on a Backroads tour, however, one of the women on the tour had been on several and was quite pleased with them, so I think if you can afford it, they would be a better choice for a quality hiking tour. I'd NEVER use NEHH again, not even for free!

P_M

I did a hiking tour of Switzerland in 2004 with Guerba tours and it was fantastic!! If you live in the US, check out http://www.adventurecenter.com/index.php

Adventure Center handles Guerba tours as well as tours offered by other companies. There are different levels of difficulty so you can choose what's best for you. Most tours are reasonably priced and a good value for the money.

ron

I did the one week Ramblers Holiday guided walking holiday "Francavilla in Sicily" back in March. And I am considering doing either their Campania & Basilicata or Apulia & The Trulli walkk in October.

While I did have some issues with the Sicily walk, I put that down to the specific walking leader rather than the company. If you are interested in that walk and have any specific questions, I'll be glad to try to answer.

JudyC

To Ron, sorry to hijack the thread, but if I may mention that you had left your fodors screen name on the computer of Larpool Hall, I had taken the liberty to logout for you.

ron

Thanks, Judy. I guess I hadn't used a public Internet service in a couple of years, it never occurred to me to log out.

P_M

This scares me--I wonder how many times I've done that while traveling??

luckregg

I have been looking at these, and some of them are a little pricey. OLIJOC,I looked at New England and it looks like an interesting tour, however, dirty hotels and Hells Angles put me off. I can not do that. I have contacted some of the other hiking tour groups that are listed in this thread, and have positive comments. I'm looking for positive feedback on-line. Thank you all.