Chianti Rufina is one of the seven subzones that fall under Italy's famous Chianti DOCG. The wine-growing area is one of the smallest in Chianti, concentrated in the foothills of the Apennines to the east of Florence. The vineyards have a more continental...
One of the most memorable visits we make on our Slovenia and Friuli tour is to the clandestine Franja Partisan Hospital, buried deep within the Pasice gorge. It is a collection of wooden cabins, the first of which was built in 1943, which housed...
Finding ourselves with a couple of days between tours in the north of Italy we decided to spend 24 hours in the small town of Cremona, which lies south east of Milan between Piacenza and Mantua. The name may not immediately ring any bells but the town has a unique...
Anyone spending a few days in Southern Italy might like to take some time to visit the impressive Greek temples at Paestum. This remarkable archaeological area is a UNESCO World Heritage site and lies about a mile inland, on the Mediterranean side, south of...
The people of Italy, along with many of their European neighbours, have long enjoyed a pre-dinner drink known as the "aperitivo". Typically these drinks are low in alcohol, which helps to stimulate the appetite, and prepare the consumer for the meal which lies ahead....
The Secret Splendours of the South The southern part of the Italian peninsula, even in 2017, is much less visited by tourists than the north and remains mysterious and often misunderstood. People might assume that there is not much there to attract the modern-day...
Many people, on booking tours with us, ask if they really need to buy Travel Insurance and our response is always yes. In fact it is a condition of travel with Hedonistic Hiking and we always ask you for your insurance company details. See our full Terms...
Rotonda is a small medieval town located in the heart of the Pollino National Park in Basilicata, with a population of around 3,500 people. In 2017 a change to the accommodation on our Southern Italy tour means that we will have the chance to spend more...
The first stop on our Wilds of Abruzzo tour is Tivoli, just on the eastern side of Rome, and a visit to the world-famous Villa d'Este and its astounding gardens. A UNESCO world-heritage site, this former palace of Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este...
We have updated the itinerary for our Medieval Umbria tour in 2017 to include a guided visit to one of Italy's most famous fresco cycles, painted by Renaissance artist Piero della Francesca. The tour will now start and finish in the attractive town...
On a sunny day in September 1991, two German hikers enjoying a walk in the Ötztal Alps, close to the border between Italy and Austria, decided to take a short cut. They left the marked path and continued past a rocky gully filled with meltwater. Noticing something on...
These tiny pasta parcels are a traditional dish from Piemonte and something which we learnt to make in our cooking class in Cuneo, as part of our brand new France & Italy tour. Cuneo is a wonderfully elegant city lying to the south of Turin and here we...
Our brand new 2016 tour in France and Italy has got me thinking about salt! This is because our route takes us along some of France's ancient salt roads from the Mediterranean over the Maritime Alps and into northern Italy. Since its discovery...
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 1,960 square kilometres and has the richest collection of flora and fauna in the whole of Southern Italy....
Hikers on our 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 from the word "Hellenic" or Greek, as this...
Whenever we are hiking on our Abruzzo tour, we spend an evening with the chef from the wonderful Locanda Sotto Gli Archi in the Sextantio hotel to learn how to make traditional Abruzzese dishes. One of these is the very special spaghetti alla...
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. It is well known that the most highly prized artisanal buffalo...
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...
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...
As we head back to Piedmont for our June Jewels of Piedmont tour much of our attention will be focussed on the celebrated Barolo and Barbaresco wines of the area, made from the famous Nebbiolo grape. But the region has another native red grape,Barbera,...