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About Us
Hidden Italy has been organising walking tours in Italy for 16 years and was one of the pioneers of small group active tourism. Our first guided walking tour was based in Montalcino in southern Tuscany. Since then we have taken people walking to many different parts of Italy, from the Lakes in the north to Sicily in the south and lots of places in between, including Liguria, Tuscany, Lazio, Umbria and the Amalfi Coast. The idea for Hidden Italy came during the six years I spent living and working in Milan in the 1980s, when, to escape the bustle and smog of that wonderful city, I went walking in the surrounding mountains, along the rivers on the Po plain and along the coastal paths of nearby Liguria.
For me there are still few greater pleasures than entering the walls of an ancient Italian town after a good day's walk, with the prospect of a fine meal and a warm bed in front of me. The original idea for Hidden Italy was to share this experience. Hidden Italy is based in Sydney, Australia, with our operational manager based in Tuscany. We have booking agents in Australia, New Zealand and the USA. We are very pleased with our 2010 program. We hope you l agree and you will join us in our adventures.
Simon Tancred
Director, Hidden Italy
Scroll down to meet some of the people who make Hidden Italy Walking Tours happen:
| Simon Tancred. I first went to Italy as a backpacker in 1980 and fell in love with the country. I returned in 1983, living and working in Milan until 1988. Afterwards I worked at the Institute of Languages, University of New South Wales (Sydney) taking guided tours to Italy annually. I spent two years with my family in Prato (Florence) in 2003 and 2004, working at the Monash University (Melbourne) Centre. Since then I have dedicated myself full-time to Hidden Italy. I love photography and writing and have had articles and photographs on Italy published in most major Australian newspapers and travel magazines. I speak fluent Italian, alas with a pronounced Australian accent. |
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Carolyn O'Donnell. Carolyn and Simon met at a presentation by the Director of the Uffizi Gallery at the Italian Institute of Culture in Sydney - it was love at first sight (at least for Simon, Carolyn took a little more convincing). At the time, Carolyn was working at the Banca Credito Italiano in Sydney. Her love affair with Italy had begun some years before in 1982 when she spent three months in Tuscany. Some time later she returned to Tuscany, working for three years on a wine and olive oil estate outside Vinci, 20 kilometres south of Florence. Carolyn is the backbone of Hidden Italy. She speaks fluent Italian (with a very good Tuscan accent) and has a passion for Italian textiles and furniture.
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| As anyone who has done a Hidden Italy self-guided walk will know, Anna, our Italian operations manager, is a remarkable woman. She was born and grew up in the Val d'Orcia in southern Tuscany, where she still lives with her young daughter and partner. She is a graduate in history and art from the University of Siena, has lived in the USA and Central America, speaks fluent English and Spanish and is a qualified and registered guide for Siena and Florence. Despite her tender age, she has lead walking tours throughout Italy for a variety of Australian, English, Canadian and American walking companies. |
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| We are very pleased to have Carmelina joining our team in 2010. Born in Sicily and raised and educated in Australia, Carmelina returned to Italy for a brief visit in 1992 and has been there ever since. After 15 years of working in tourism throughout Italy (including stints running boutique 5-star hotels in Tuscany and the Italian Alps as well as managing and tour-guiding for several American and English walking companies) Carmelina returned to her native Sicily, setting up home near Cefalu. Few people know the lay of this land, or are better able to share their passion and insights into this unique and complex island, as Carmelina. |
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| The Sicily Team. Nuccio (on the left) and Gandalfo are my dear friends and colleagues and are the backbone of Hidden Italy in Sicily. Both were born, raised and live in the small town in the centre of Sicily which is the base for the first part of Hidden Italy guided tours in May. As drivers of the two tour minibuses they accompany us throughout the tour (except for our time on the islands) but they are much more than this: they are fine examples of Sicilian grace and hospitality; Nuccio's picnics during the tour are legendary; while the visit to Gandalfo's family home in the country outside the town (a 19th century former baronial home built into the side of a cliff) is often considered one of the highlights of the trip. |
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| Nino and Matteo (father and son) are our guides during our visit to the Aeolian Islands. They are natives of Lipari, the largest island of the archipelago. Father Nino was a professional fisherman for over 30 years. Five years ago he converted his boat and has been taking tourists around the islands since, with Matteo following him from fishing to tourism. Few people know the beaches, coves and reefs of the islands better than Nino and Matteo and we are very fortunate to be onboard with them. |
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| Francesco is our man in the Cinque Terre. A Milanese lawyer, who spent many years working in London, Francesco splits his time between Milan and the Cinque Terre. He is an enthusiastic walker and a passionate environmentalist. |
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| Maurizio and Rita are our hosts at their family osteria in the Franciacorta wine district, where we have a long lunch on our way from Venice to Lake Como on the Hidden Italy September tour of the Italian Lakes. The osteria has been in Maurizio's family for over 100 years and he is the 4th generation of his family to run it. It's menu, which changes daily, is an anthology of traditional Lombard cooking, based around his grandmother's recipes. The osteria is listed as one of the 200 Locali Storici d'Italia (Historical Places of Italy) and is considered one of the finest of its category in Italy by the Slow Food Association. |
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| Signora Agnese is our host in Ticino, the Italian speaking region of Switzerland, which is one of the bases of the Hidden Italy tour in September. Signora Agnese, originally from Bern, moved to the beautiful Centovalli (the 'valley of one hundred valleys') above Locarno on the northern end of Lake Maggiore when she married, helping to turn her husband's modest family hotel into one of the finest in the district, particularly renown for its restaurant. Her son is also involved in managing the hotel and her daughter-in-law is the head chef. One of the highlights of our visit is Signora Agnese's animated and entertaining tour of her adopted town.
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| Exploring Puglia to research our new guided tour, I was very lucky to meet Giovanni. Criss crossed by country roads lined with dry stone walls and ancient pathways, Puglia offers wonderful walking but, unlike many parts of central and northern Italy, the walking routes have not been identified or marked. I went to the council offices of our host town to get some maps and get going. Fortunately, they put me in touch with their friend, Giovanni, Sports teacher at the local high school, a passionate walker and renowned local historian. I spent many fascinating days with Giovanni exploring the area and have been able to incorporate a number of these walks into the tour.
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What Makes Our Tours Unique?
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About Us
