Italy's Spring Larder
There are certain fruits and vegetables which truly herald the start of the warmer seasons and the markets from April onwards on are piled high with beautiful asparagus, globe artichokes, apricots and cherries.
Italian UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Italy has the largest number of Unesco World Heritage sites of all countries in the world, just ahead of China, Spain and France. Many of our hikes in Italy include visits to Unesco World Heritage sites, as we are as fascinated by the cultural heritage of Italy as we are by the landscape,...
Pollino National Park
The Pollino National Park is the largest in Italy and straddles both the regions of Basilicata and Calabria, in the instep of the foot of Italy. It covers around 1960 square kilometres and has the richest collection of flora and fauna in the whole of Southern Italy.
Anyone for Grappa?
Many Hedonistic Hikers who have travelled with us in Italy will have happy memories of the famous after-dinner drink known as grappa! It is a strong grape-based brandy usually taken at the end of a meal as a digestive and usually served in small decorative flute glasses or classic shot...
Aglianico - an ancient grape
Hikers on our new Southern Italy tour will have many opportunities to taste a wonderful local wine made from an ancient grape variety known as Aglianico. It's origins are a little unclear but the name probably derives...
The Via Francigena - Walking to Rome
This ancient pilgrim path is one of Europe's most famous routes dating back to the early Middle Ages - a trail which connected Canterbury in England, via France and Switzerland, to Rome and the Holy See.
Hiking in France and Italy
Our brand new tour for next year explores two stunning National Parks which are home to a unique European cultural and natural heritage. On the French side is the Mercantour National Park...
Spaghetti alla Chitarra
Whenever we are hiking on our Abruzzo tour, we spend an evening with the chef from the wonderful Locanda Sotto Gli Archi ...
Mmmm - Mozzarella!
The first stop on our new Southern Italy tour is a visit to the Barlotti cheesemaker, famous for producing buffalo mozzarella in the shadow of the ancient Greek temple at Paestum...
Meet the Team: Tansy Bjorklund
At Hedonistic Hiking we are lucky to have a great team of Tour Managers who support us on the tours in Italy. They are all friends of ours who have worked in the tourism and hospitality industries for many years and we thought it would be interesing for our guests to get to know each of them a...