- self-guided hotel-to-hotel walking, luggage transported
- learn to cook Italian food with professional chefs
- beautiful, little-known mountains
- sweeping views from the peaks
- excellent walking
- warm, genuine hospitality
The Apennines, stretching from Liguria to Umbria, form Italy's spine and offer some of the country's best walking. Our chosen area is the Alto Appennino Bolognese between the great cities of Florence and Bologna and close to the Tuscan border. Here, traditional villages cluster on the lower slopes of dramatic peaks rising to nearly 2,000 metres, and inviting paths lead up through thick, majestic woodland of beech, oak and chestnut to the high mountains. Much of the walking occurs in the protected area of the Corno alle Scale Regional Park, rich in wildlife and flowers, and named after the area's imposing highest peak.
In this relatively little-known region of Italy, the art of cooking and the importance of good food is as much a part of everyday life as the warm hospitality and friendly welcome reserved for visitors.