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Hiking tours in Italy
Italian group walking tours, hiking trips, and trekking vacations
A local hiking group from Siracusa, Sicily takes a rest at the remains of a 9th-century church and village high in the hills.It may be slow going, but there's no way to see the Olde World like a walking or hiking tour through Italy.
For millennia, this is how anyone not rich enough to afford a horse got around, and Italy is still very much built to a human scale, crisscrossed by ancient pathways and pilgrim's routes scattered with tiny villages and hamlets with welcoming inns each within a day's walk of the last.
Walking tours & resources
Intrepid Travel 2011 Italy trips
Self-guided walks:
• Amalfi Coast-5 days
• Amalfi Coast-8 days
• Cinque Terre-5 days
• Cinque Terre-8 days
Tours with hiking component(s):
• Highlights of Italy (8 days; Venice, Cinque Terre, Florence, Rome)
• Best of Italy (15 days; Rome, Florence, Pisa, Lucca, biking Tuscany, Cinque Terre, Portofino/Italian Riviera, wines of Piemonte, Milan, Lake Como, Venice)
• Italy Experience (15 days; Venice, Modena, Cinque Terre, Pisa, Florence, Perugia, Spello, Naples, Pompeii, Sorrento, Rome) *
• Classic Italy (21 days; Rome, Florence, Lucca, Pisa, Cinque Terre, Portofino/Italian Riviera, wines of Piemonte, Milan, Lake Como, Venice, Gubbio, Assisi, Spello)
• Italy Family Adventure (14 days; Rome, Lucca, Pisa, Florence, Levanto, Cinque Terre, Lake Maggiore, Venice) *
* Also available as GLBT OUT trip
Intrepid Travel (www.intrepidtravel.com) - This fantastic Australian company marries an independent travel style (staying in cheap guesthouses, traveling by public transport) with the expertise of truly knowledgeable guides.
Intrepid has a larger than usual commitment to sustainable tourism, and travels in tiny groups, often limited to 8-12.
Intrepid is a bit less about the physical activities and more about the cultural experiences. There are usually around 30–35 Italy trips on tap each year—though half of those will be longer overland treks across Europe and/or the Middle East (with Italy making up just a slice of the two– or three-week trip), and a handful are self-guided walks (no group to follow, just you, your itinerary, and your pre-booked accommodations).
Intrepid really does run a different breed of group tour. Let me put it this way: When my parents—who travel widely and on their own and normally would never have even considered taking a group tour—suddenly found themselves with airfare to Japan but no time to plan a trip, I suggested they try booking with Intrepid. They did—and they have raved about it every since. Nearly seven years later, they still keep in touch with their guide via email.
One drawback: no airfare.
G Adventures 2011 Italy trips
• Cinque Terre Coastal Walk (5 days)
• Northern Italy Escape (Lake Garda, Laghel, Verona; 8 days)
• Trekking Mont Blanc (10 days)
• Sicilian Volcano Trail (Aeolian Islands [Lipari, Vulcano, Stromboli], Catania, Mt. Etna; 8 days)
G Adventures (www.gadventures.com) - A variety of Italian adventure trips, including several hikes and multi-sport active vacations.
The offerings range from saunters along the Cinque Terre Coastal Walk, to Trekking Mont Blanc
, and from the Sicilian Volcano Trail
to an Amalfi Coast
trip that includes several walks from town to town and up to visit isolated sights and viewpoints.
iExplore Italy walking trips 2011
Walking tours:
• Walking in Tuscany (hikes in the Garfagnana and Apuan Alps near Lucca/Pisa; 8 days)
• Walking the Italian Lakes (8 days; Lake Orta, Val Grande, Lake Maggiore, Lake Como)
• Mont Blanc Highlights (walks and hikes from Courmayeur and Chamonix; 8 days)
• Chianti: Walking & Wine (8 days; Chianti, San Gimignano, Siena, Monteriggioni, Florence, Volterra, Pisa)
• Colors of Tuscany (8 days; Florence, Siena, agriturismo, San Gimignano, Colle di Val d'Elsa, Volterra, Calanchi, Montecatini, Monte Voltraio, several country walks)
• Tuscan Trails (self guided) (8 days; following the Via Francigena, staying in agriturismi; Colle Val d'Elsa, Bibbiano, San Gimignano, Monteriggioni, Siena, Asciano, Monte Oliveto Maggiore, Chiusure, Buonconvento, Montalcino, San Quirico d'Orcia, Montepulciano, Monticchiello, Pienza)
• Introduction To Via Ferrata (8 days; Milan; Lake Como: Como, Menaggio, Bellagio, Villa Carlotta, Varenna; St. Moritz; Bernina Express train; Lake Garda: Riva del Garda, Limone, Singol Valley, San Vigilio; Verona)
• Jewels of Liguria, Cinque Terre & Portovenere (7 days; Levanto, Monterosso al Mare, Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, Campiglia, Portovenere, Palmaria)
• Pathways of the Amalfi Coast (8 days; Self-guided walks around Ravello, Atrani, Amalfi, Scala, Positano, and Capri)
• The Amalfi Coast (8 days; Amalfi, Positano, Pompeii, Valle del Ferriero park, Bomerano, various hikes, optionals: Mt. Vesuvius, Capri, Naples, Ravello, Herculaneum; 8 days)
• Colors of Amalfi (8 days; Naples, Pompeii, Mt. Vesivius, Agerola, Sentiero degli Dei, Positano, Amalfi, canoeing, Ravello, hiking, Atrani)
• Amalfi Coast & Capri (7 days; Naples, Pompeii, Ravello, hikes, Amalfi, Sentiero degli Dei, Positano, Capri, Sorrento, Colli di San Pietro)
• Spirit Of Amalfi (11 days; Naples, Pompeii, Conca dei Marini, hike to Positano, Amalfi, Atrani, hike to Ravello, Capri, Valle dei Mulini)
• Umbria Unveiled (self guided) (8 days; Spoleto, walk on Monteluco, walk the Alberina, Abbey of San Pietro in Valle, Marmore waterfalls, Poreta, walk the "Olive Trail," Clitunno River, Trevi, Spello, Assisi)
• Walking In Sardinia (8 days; Dorgali, Monte Tului, Serra Orrios, Gorroppu Gorse, Tiscali, Gulf of Orosei, Cala Luna)
Hiking/Trekking tours:
• Alta Via Trek (8 days; Dolomite trek/Via Ferrata in the Alta Pusteria)
• Classic Dolomites (8 days; Villabassa, Fanes-Sennes and Dolomiti di Sesto National Parks)
• Tour Du Mont Blanc (8 days; A clockwise route around Monte Bianco from Col de Forclaz to Chamonix, staying in family-run accommodations)
• Mont Blanc Hotel Trek (15 days; classic inn-to-inn treks from Chamonix to Courmayeur and back around)
• Mont Blanc Circuit (15 days; Crossing 7 valleys and three countries from Chamonix all the way around)
• Sicilian Volcanoes (8 days; Aeolian Islands: Lipari, Vulcano, Stromboli' Catania' trek to Mt. Etna crater)
• Walking In The Western Dolomites (8 days; Val di Fassa between Marmolada and Catinaccio)
• Via Ferrata In The Dolomites (8 days; Trekking in the Val di Comelico from Santo Stefano di Cadore)
• Via Ferrata Tour (8 days; The Brenta range of the Southern Dolomites)
• Winter Walking Dobbiaco (8 days; Dobbiaco, Verscaico, Villabassa)
iExplore (www.iExplore.com) - The number one–ranked website for adventure and experiential travel—and it provides the adventure tour booking engine for everyone from Expedia to the Travel Channel to Frommer's and Lonely Planet's websites. (Given its excellent catalog, it's also a ReidsItaly.com partner.)
It's been around for more than a decade now and was recently acquired by TUI, which owns more than 30 major travel brands. That means iExplore incorporates all the tours from sister company Adventure Center, a major player able to maintain low prices on hundreds of adventures on all seven continents by contracting with expert local outfitters and other specialist operators.
Around 40 Italy trips each year, with a nice spread of styles. There are both more moderate, easy-going walking tours as well as more strenuous hiking and trekking adventures. The box on the right highlights walking and hiking trips from the 2010 catalog. They also do biking, snowsport, and more general tours.
Country Walkers (www.countrywalkers.com) - High-end (and hence pricey), but impeccably credentialed, with around 20 guided and self-guided walks in Italy and another dozen private and custom tours available.
Wilderness Travel (www.wildernesstravel.com) - Specializes in walking tours, treks, and inn-to-inn hiking tours of Europe, as well as less strenuous walking tours. About a dozen Italy options.
The Wayfarers (www.thewayfarers.com) - Top walking tour outfit for nearly three decades, offering eight classic Italian itineraries.
Butterfield & Robinson (www.butterfield.com) - Long-established, upscale walking tour outfit with a half-dozen Italy walks (and about 10 bike rides, a few designed for families). Top notch. Not cheap.
Sherpa Expeditions (www.sherpa-walking-holidays.co.uk) - British company offering mostly self-guided (about a dozen Italian walking and trekking itineraries) and group treks (a handful in Italy).
Club Alpino Italiano (www.cai.it) - The premier Italian association geared toward aiding hikers and walkers. Membership also usually gets you discounts at Italy's network of mountain huts.
InfoHub.com (www.infohub.com) - Hundreds of hiking, trekking, and walking tours throughout the world offered by dozens of tour operators and guides.
When you want just a day of hiking, not a whole tour
Even if you don't want to walk from town to town through the countryside, you may be happy to spend a day walking around town with an experienced guide. There’s no better way to bring a city’s culture and history to life than through a professional guide’s anecdotes, character sketches, jokes, and tons of background details. And the easiest (and cheapest) way to get one is to sign up for a guided walking tour (or group bike or Segway tour).
Guided specialty walking tours can run the gamut from a spin through the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel to a private tour of the art & architecture of Venice to a stroll through Bologna's gourmet side of pasta, mortadella, and chocolate.
For some walks, you must reserve in advance; for others, you just show up at a specified place and time and pay the guide the fee (might be anywhere from $10 to $60). You can pick up brochures on guided walking tours at local tourism offices in Italy
ReidsItaly.com has partnered with Viator, which provides a variety of walking tours you can sign up for ahead of time (there are direct links to a few in the last paragraph), as well as advance booking for skip-the-line tickets to major sights in Rome, Florence, and Venice. Here are some of their guided walks in major Italian destinations:
- Rome
- Florence
- Venice
- Milan
- Naples Bay - Pompeii & Mt. Vesuvius
- Pisa
- Bologna
- Turin
Related pages
- Italian rifugi (mountain huts)
- Other active vacations (bike, horse)
- Tours FAQ (what questions to ask, are tours right for you, etc.)
- Educational tours (cooking, language, art/history/cultural, study)
- Special interest & niche tours (family, seniors, student, women, gay/lesbian, religious, handicapped, singles)
- Escorted group tours
- Design your own group tour
- Private guides
- Vacation packages (air-hotel, air-car, untours)
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This material was last updated February 2011. All information was accurate at the time.
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