This year hiking enthusiasts Martina McGinn and Pedro Geleris from Australia booked three back-to-back tours with Hedonistic Hiking. We were interested to discover their impressions of each of the three tours and to see if sharing their experiences could help to inform future guests to choose the best hike for them. They joined us on our Wilds of Abruzzo, Slovenia and Friuli and Best of Italian Alps tours, and Annabel spoke to them at the end of their HH adventure.
How did you first hear about Hedonistic Hiking?
Through friends in Canberra – they were very enthusiastic about their experiences with HH.
You were courageous to book 3 tours together. What made you take the leap?
We had one done 1 HH tour before (Austria and the Dolomites, in 2023) and we had enjoyed it immensely. We thought that hiking in beautiful mountains, enjoying wonderful regional food and wine, learning about the history and culture of that part of Europe while staying in lovely, authentic hotels for 2-3 days at a time was the type of tour that suited us perfectly. And we had found that the other participants were like-minded people who were fun to spend time with.
After that experience, we knew we wanted to focus on the Level 5 and 4 hikes while we are still fit and active. So we initially booked to do the Wilds of Abruzzo and the Best of the Italian Alps in 2025. We were discussing what to do between the two tours and we thought, “Well, we really like hiking and we know how good the HH tours are, so let’s just add in Slovenia and Friuli.” And we are very glad that we did!
How well did you know Italy before joining the first tour?
We had both travelled to Italy when we were young but that was mainly to major cities like Rome, Venice and Florence. We had done a Cinque Terra trip in the early 2000s and, in 2023, we had spent a few weeks travelling around Puglia after completing the Austria and the Dolomites tour. That trip, especially, had confirmed for us that we really enjoyed the smaller Italian towns and villages where we could have a more authentic experience, away from the tourist masses.
What were your personal highlights of each of the three trips?
Wilds of Abruzzo
– The magical town of Santo Stefano: staying in the beautiful albergo diffuso; enjoying an aperitivo with our fellow walkers after a day walking in mountain meadows and forests; and learning to make pasta with the chitarra.
Slovenia and Friuli
– So much history, wonderful walking and great food and wine on this trip but two things that stand out are the visit to the neanderthal cave where the world’s oldest musical instrument was found and the incredible mosaics in the Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta in Aquileia.
Best of the Italian Alps
– Incredible alpine walking. Seeing Mont Blanc up close and taking the gondola up to the top station was a once in a lifetime experience. And, of course, some fantastic lunches and dinners and wines. There is nothing like coming to a mountain refugio after a tough hike and hearing Mick say “Can I get you a beer?”
Did you enjoy the differences in the regional cuisine of each area?
Yes, we very much did. Jackie, Mick, Tansy and Anthony went to a huge effort to ensure that we were informed about and provided with regional specialties everywhere we went. Each place was so proud of the local food and wine they could offer us and obviously appreciated that HH was keen to celebrate regional cuisine.
We find that our groups usually gel together very quickly – having many shared interests. Was this your experience?
Yes, that was our experience. They are generally people with similar interests: hiking and being outdoors; having authentic experiences and learning about the local culture and history; and appreciating good food and wine. But everyone has had different life journeys so there was always something new to talk about and share with each other.
If you were to recommend to a friend one of the three tours which you have completed, which one would it be?
That’s like asking which is our favourite child! We would recommend to friends that they consider primarily what level of hike they will be able to do comfortably – is it a 5 or a 4 or perhaps a 3? The hiking is amazing on all three tours. Here’s our attempt at recommendation based on other things:
– Wilds of Abruzzo – if you want to experience smaller, very authentic Italian villages and go to a region of Italy that is primarily still undiscovered by tourists but probably for not too much longer.
– Slovenia and Friuli – if you want to discover the incredible history of this part of Europe (from neanderthal all the way through to the world wars) and visit incredible boutique wine and food producers.
– Italian Alps – if you want to see the undying influence of the Roman empire, get up close to Mont Blanc and enjoy the après hiking vibes in the very sophisticated towns of the Aosta Valley.
Do you have plans for another HH trip in the future?
We have booked the France and the Maritime Alps for 2026. This is part of our aim of completing the Level 5 hikes, and it was highly recommended by the some of the other Hedonistic Hikers.