Bologna City Add-On

We loved our walks in the Apennines and our short stay in Bologna as a great contrast. Both were very well organised, and all arrangements worked well. We found the walks very well structured with few other walkers on most days, a real variety of scenery and history. We were lucky with the weather only having rain on the day we transferred to Bologna so could do all the walk options we wanted. Like others we read "Love and War in the Apennines" for background and it helped bring home the difficulty of the terrain and the rugged life of those who lived and fought there. Bologna was a delight for architecture, history and food.

The scenery, accommodation , travel information were all fantastic and the food exceeded expectations. A lovely part of Italy to experience. You get immersed in the local culture!

We travelled to Bologna by train, starting our journey by walking to our local station near Glasgow. This required an overnight stop in Paris. The ride from Paris to Milano was particularly interesting, with the train racing through the countryside to Lyon before giving us a more leisurely view of the Alps and picking up speed again across the rice paddies of northern Italy.
Bologna was a delight – what a beautiful city! We followed Inntravel’s walking tour and found several interesting sights not mentioned in it: hidden canals, Roman remains under the glass floor of the Salaborsa, the raised tombs of medieval law scholars in Piazza San Domenico and the anatomy lecture theatre in the Archiginnasio. The two famous towers were closed for remedial engineering work so we viewed the rooftops from the clock tower of the Town Hall.
Moving on to the Apennines, we found the hotels friendly and the set meals excellent and varied. A minor problem was the weak internet connectivity in Pianaccio. I like to download a map to go with the gpx files but this was impossible in the evenings. Luckily I found sufficient bandwidth before breakfast. We bought a bag of the local chestnut flour from Hotel Montegrande in Vidiciatico and made some tasty shortbread (using half-and-half plain and chestnut flour) back home.
Our favourite walk was Monte Gennaio (Day 4 around Pianaccio), where we went over the summit. The views were brilliant and the ground spotted with numerous wildflowers. We were grateful that we had brought fleeces and gloves when we reached the windy ridge. The cloud never cleared from Corno alle Scale (Day 6 around Vidiciatico) but we were lucky to be able to do this walk at all, given earlier adverse weather forecasts. We experienced a few rain showers during the week but nothing more serious; the heavy rain fell overnight. The walk to Monte Belvedere (Day 2 around Lizzano) was notable for the flowers in the meadows: we saw several species of orchid and encountered the extraordinary tassel grape hyacinth. The view from Monte Belvedere itself was disappointing, obscured by trees. Many of the paths are in dense forest with no views; the shade might be welcome in the summer but we found the environment somewhat tedious, particularly on the walk from Pianaccio to Vidiciatico (Day 5). The occasional sighting of a hut for drying chestnuts was interesting, however; on the Porretta Terme to Lizzano (Day 1) walk we took a diversion (suggested by a notice on the side of the path) highlighting the traditional chestnut harvesting and drying processes.
The paths were clear and route-finding straightforward, with only a couple of minor exceptions. The grading of 2–3 felt appropriate. Conditions underfoot were good but might be slippery and muddy after rain. All the rifugios were closed but the cafés in villages were open. We met other inntravellers on the same holiday, a day on either side of us. This was enjoyable and we exchanged tips.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: This customer did our city add-on in Bologna, followed by our self-guided walking holiday 'Italy's Secret Apennine Mountains'

This was our first holiday in Europe for many years. We wanted to visit Italy, we didn't want to fly and we weren't too sure where to start, but InnTravel made it very straightforward. Your depth of knowledge was evident in the routes, the choice of hotels and the travel arrangements. We thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.

This is our first experience of using Inntravel and we will definately be using you again. Everything ran extremely smoothly from the first contact with yourselves right through to landing back in the UK again. All the pre-holiday information was received in good time and was clear, concise and comprehensive. The walking routes were perfect and provided a fantasitic overview of the Appennines. The city of Bologna was well worth exploring and two nights is plenty of time to see it all without rushing.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: This customer did our walking holiday 'The Secret Apennines' followed by our city add-on in Bologna.

A fabulous selection of walks through a lesser known part of northern Italy. We were lucky with the weather and got to see the spectacular viewpoints from the hills. The hotels all hit the spot; well chosen with great service and plentiful amounts of locally made food. The walks are challenging and rewarding in equal measure. We added on a couple of nights in Bologna at the end which was well worth it, a fantastic city. Great for wandering, soaking up the atmosphere and people watching from a street cafe. In the evening choose from one of the literally hundereds of amazing places to eat. A really great 10 days. Thanks to all of the team at Inntravel.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined our walk he Secret Apennines with our Bologna City add-on