A Stroll through History

A wonderful holiday - the Podere Santa Croce is wonderful: evenings with vineyards and olive-groves.

We would have liked more to explore Orvieto and Bolsano as they both seemed to have a rich history and sites of interest.  Choices for vegetarians were limited.

Highlights of the holiday were: Arrival in Bolsena and the view over the old town and lake. The stay in Hotel della Fortezza in Sorano and the walk through the via carva the next day. Good views over Tuscany on the day walking to Santa Croce.

Our first trip with Inntravel and everything exceeded our expectations. Everything came together perfectly for a memorable vacation. This is now our favourite way to travel. We will be back. Thanks.

La Pergola in Orvieto was an excellent restaurant and Trattoria Del Moro in Bolsena by the lake was great. The roman remains closed 20 minutes after we arrived (13.30 on a Sunday). The tasting menu at Sorano‘s Hotel della Fortezza was excellent. Trattoria Mario and Angelo in Sovana was good - the via cava were the real highlight along with the Etruscan tombs and Necropoli.

Highlights were the profusion of wild flowers everywhere in the fields. The view from Hotel de la Fortezza Sorano was spectacular. We loved Pitigliano and can recommend Trattoria San Rocco in Piazza Republica for lunch. In Rome, Ristorante Rossini just down the road from Hotel Modigliani was good value as an alternative to Osteria Barberini which was fully booked on our arrival night. We also tried La Scala nearby on our second night as recommended by Hotel Modigliani

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined our A Stroll Through History walk with a stay in Rome.

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our walk through Umbria and Tuscany with Inntravel.  We soaked up the history and reveled in the gorgeous views.  Highly recommended!

Amid the ancient fascinating towns and the memorable food we were continually amazed by the accomplishments of archaic Etruscans many centuries before Rome rose. And the villages between which we walked were each ancient, picturesque, welcoming, and possessed of great food and wine.

Lovely countryside - great shame we left the road so little - some days more than half the walking was on road which was very disappointing. Would not recommend this holiday for that reason. Hotel rooms also very cramped. Some overgrown paths may leave you very wet from surface water if it has rained, so you may want to consider carrying spare clothes. Spring flowers were very pretty. 

We had the time of our lives doing the two walks. Inntravel's organisation and partners in Italy were superb and everything ran like a well-oiled machine. Inntravel really took us off the beaten track - usually you only know about those trails thanks to the insider knowledge gained by spending a lot of time in a region. We loved every aspect of the holiday - the walking, the accommodation, the towns and villages, the food, the countryside, the Italians. Mille grazie.

Highlights of a extremely enjoyable holiday included the view of Sorano perched on a hill as we approached the town, all the hilltop towns, wading through a warm stream near Saturnia, eating picnics in the middle of nowhere and the feeling of satisfaction on completing all the walks on our first hotel to hotel holiday. The week flew by too quickly.

If time had permitted, we would have extended to have extra nights in Orvieto and Bolsena.

We ate at restaurant Duca D'Orvieto Via della Pace,5 in Orvieto and would highly recommend it. They had recreated some very old recipes. Also had lunch at "Dal Moro" Via Giovanni Conti, 3 in Montemerano, again good food and fantastic views from the terrace.

This was our second trip with InnTravel and was as delightful as our first one.  We love that the walking takes us through so many changes of scenery each day.  Each village that we visited was different from the one before and had its own charm.  The combination of walking and eating makes for an ideal vacation.

We enjoyed all the holiday. The walking, the accommodation and the food. We saw some wonderful places. The weather was mainly good and just right for walking. If anything Rome was a bit of a culture shock after such a quiet week of walking. We needed stamina in Rome as it is so busy after a quiet week when we hardly saw another person until we reached our accommodation.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers added on a stay in Rome to our A Stroll through History walking holiday

I've left this a little too long since we had to immediately delve back into fall planting and olive harvesting on our farm after taking October off!  We just want to say that you are the best thing that ever happened to us and we're currently debating where we want to go next.

Overall, the walk has far too many km on public roads and agricultural 'SB' strada bianca, which tends to overide some of the enjoyable aspects.  

Orvieto- underground experience very interesting and informative. Try to see the views from the perimeter walls. Cathedral gets busy with day visitors, would suggest leaving it till about 16.00 hours when all the tourist day visitors have left and you will get it to yourself.

Lake Bolsena- hotel restaurant appears to be closed for evening meals. We went to trattoria del Moro, good food, excellent service.

On way to Sorano- Vittoza large rock settlement in wooded valley and river was interesting and shaded!

Sorano- much enjoyed walking around the medieval quarter both at day and night. The meal at Il Filema was excellent.

Solvana- No mini market, so limited, e.g cannot buy fruit or odds and ends, although there a van visits selling fruit for a short time.

The Sovana necropolis we thought was disappointing and didn't enjoy walking on public road, particularly the tunnel.

The Montemerano church was spiritual, atmospheric and interesting frecoes. 

We can only reiterate other reviews, accommodation was amongst the overall best we have had with Inntravel. Lovely pool and room at the Hotel Holiday in Bolsena. Food was excellent especially the meal at Ristorante Fidalma Sorano (one of two the hotel can send you to).

Tips: Either, due to the very hot and humid weather for September or other factors biting insects were a problem so take a good insect repellent.

Also, we changed the taxi time from 1730hrs to 1530hrs at the sulphur springs Le Cascatelle, which was quite crowded as notes did indicate and rather a culture shock after the quiet of the countryside. This meant we spent more time at the lovely and scenic Agriturismo which itself had a very inviting pool.  

Highlights:
This was a fascinating insight into a previous civilisation unknown to us.
The Etruscan Via Cava were a highlight. Incredible to experience these ancient ways alone with light and vegetation variations.
The rock settlements and Necropoli were fascinating.
Trattoria del Moro in Bolsena has a great location to watch the sunset over the lake and the best food of the holiday.

Of all the Inntravel walking holidays we have done so far we both agreed that this one is going to the top of our list. The history of the Etruscans added an extra special something to the walks. Sorano to Savana and the caves at San Rocco was especially good, possibly our favourite day. All the places we stayed were simple, clean and welcoming. The food was cooked with the flavours and love of the local ingredients: homemade pasta, wild boar and rabbit, beautiful cheeses and good local wines. Our upgrade to the beautiful Villa Acquaviva at the end was a real treat. We had a beautiful room in the grounds with complimentary bottle of their own wine in the fridge on arrival. Our last day we spent swimming in the pool with the backdrop of Montemerano and walking up to the village for a fab lunch at Dal Moro. We were sad to leave; the food was superb and definitely the best breakfast in Italy so far. It was a very good way to finish this superb holiday worth the extra ££. Thank you to all the team, we shall be back.

Highlights? Wonderful holiday from A to Z. Would have loved to have spent two nights in Pitigliano instead of just a day hike, so much to see.

Fantastic country and the scenery on the walk was beautiful and so much history. Would highly recommend but you need to be aware that you must be fit enough to walk 10 miles and also with quite a few uphill sections but well worth the hard walking in some places.

Villa Acquaviva was outstanding & a freak end to the holiday.

Highlights in this walk were the excellent food, the Etruscan history and also the beautiful villages which were full of history and surpassed our high expectations. The necropolis outside Sorano is a definite must and should not be missed.  On the last day we combined the two walks in a figure of 8 which was excellent.

This was an amazing trip! Even though it rained five days out of six, we enjoyed lush forests, farmland, and flowers, fields of sheep, and non-stop birdsong. Walking on pathways and vie cave made by the Etruscans 2500 years ago was a moving experience. The hilltop towns, with fortresses, castles, and panoramic views also took us into the past. We are glad we took the time to explore the Jewish quarter and synagogue in Pitigliano. 

We chose the last week of April for our holdiay and were delighted with the abundance and variety of wildflowers (including Lady and Monkey orchids) on the walks. Thanks to warm and sunny weather butterflies were everywhere and at this time of year the birdsong, particularly by nightingales, golden orioles and hoopoes, was a joy.

We were glad we had opted for an extra night in Orvieto.  We particularly enjoyed "Il Pozzo di San Patrizio" (St Patrick's Well), Orvieto Underground and the view from Torre del Morro (worth the steps!).  We had a very good meal at Trattoria del Moro-Aronne, Via San Leonardo (not to be confused with the delicatessen/cafe in front of it).

As we have come to expect from Inntravel, all the accommodation was very comfortable and the evening meals, where provided, were excellent. For our night in Bolsena we had dinner at Trattoria del Moro on the lakefront, which was very good.  Following the recommendation of a previous reviewer we had lunch at the excellent Trattoria il Nibbio on our day in Montemerano. Our host at Podere Santa Croce kindly reorganised the "included picnic" for the following day for our journey home. A fair amount of the walking is on farm tracks (Strada Bianca) but we found these quiet with only the very occasional vehicle and sheep!  We did, however, find the tarred road sections busier than we had expected but there were two national holidays during our stay.

As well as the flora and fauna our other highlights would be walking the unique Vie Cave and exploring the beautiful hilltop towns, especially Sorano.

Excellent organization. Glitch-free. Nice accommodation. Flawless instructions.  

This was our third walking holiday in Italy with Inntravel and we had another great time. To experience the beauty of Italy and the friendliness of the people we came across made this another memorable holiday and we would highly recommend it. Difficult to chose which is our favourite holiday of the three we have taken as they have all been great. The advice to have an extra day in Bolsena was spot on. We hope to be able to visit Italy with Inntravel again next year.

What are you highlights? This is difficult. All the individual places visited were special. After all there were no less than 3 "borghi più belli d'italia" plus Orvieto and Bolsena. All the vie cave count as highlights of course and the walk alomg the River Lente (day 2) and the woodland walk towards Montemerano (day 6) made me happy. On the other hand, the long stretches of tar lane and SB were not to my taste. Overall it was a great holiday, outstanding in most parts but with reservations. 

Tips: make sure you have some time to do some practice walks first. Unfortunately we didn't and my husband paid the price!

Highlight - the walk From Sorano to Sovana was beautiful. Definitely my favourite day. And the courtyard at La Fortezza was a wonderful place to relax after a day of walking. The staff there were particularly lovely and we were treated to the suite in the tower. 

The scenery in this part of Italy was magnificent. We really enjoyed the opportunities to visit the hilltop towns in this area.The added aspect of learning about the Etruscans made this holiday varied and interesting. We were pleased that we had opted for the extra day to look around Orvieto. The evening meals were delicious! The weather in mid September was very pleasant for walking.

This was our second walking holiday with Inntravel and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. We were blessed with warm sunny weather, beautiful walks, fabulous food and wine. It was great to learn about the history of this region. We would highly recommend this holiday and we are looking forward to booking our third.

This was our 5th holiday with Inntravel and was one of the best. Our highlights were: spending an extra day in Orvieto, which is well worth exploring; waking up to lake views at the Holiday Hotel Bolsena; the amazing castle Hotel della Fortezza in Sorano; bathing in the warm volcanic springs at Saturnia; and finally, the last 2 nights we spent at the fantastic Podere Santa Croce, which was perfect.

We stayed an extra day in Orvieto at the beginning of the holiday as there is so much of interest to see there. The walk took us to some amazing hill top medieval villages, and Lake Bolsena is a delightful surprise. Not too many tourists anywhere we went and peaceful places to stay. And now we know something about the Etruscans, definitely recommended.

This was a wonderful holiday through beautiful unspoilt countryside off the usual tourist route. The small places we stayed in were truly Italian and we were able to practise our Italian conversation. A highly recommended holiday and extra nights should be considered to make the most of the area.

Shops and attractions tend to be closed between midday and 3pm so best plan your day accordingly.

A holiday of contrasts, from ancient history to modern architecture, the cool of the via cava to the heat of the plains, from humble cafe snacks to beautfully presented meals. Another Inntravel classic. 

If you have never visited this area, it's not to be missed! The walking, the unspoilt rolling countryside and the uniqueness of the tufa landscape and antiquities made it unforgettable.

This walk was perfect for us as a family of 4 with two children aged 9 and 11. The distances each day were well within their capability; and they loved the opportunity to explore the caves around Sorano and Sovana and to bathe in the hot springs at Saturnia.  The hotels in both Bolsena and Montemerano opened their swimming pools especially for us, although it was early in the season (and cold!) - this was very much appreciated.  All the practical arrangements throughout the holiday worked like clockwork, and the walking directions could not have been clearer.  Many thanks!