1. Northern Italy: - Val d'Aosta, the Valley del Lys

This is a Grade 4 walk.  The hikes follow very well-maintained and well-marked trails that have been used by traders, farmers and travellers since the Middle Ages.  They take you through a variety of terrain (high mountain passes, ancient larch forests, the banks of the River Lys) all the time surrounded by breath-taking scenery.  There are some sustained climbs and descents, so you will need to have a good level of fitness, but your efforts are amply rewarded by the views and the warm mountain hospitality at the end of each day.  You will need to carry a change of clothes, pyjamas and a toothbrush on Days 2 and Day 4.

The accommodation is definitely one of the highlights of the visit.  You stay in a combination of beautiful boutique hotels set in restored Walser residences, one dating from the 16th century and, for two nights, two very comfortable 'rifugios' (mountain lodges) in spectacular locations, one in a hamlet that dates from the 12th century. 

All the accommodation is in small historic buildings mostly made local timber and stone and all run by proud local families.  All the rooms, in the hotels and rifugios, have private, en suite bathrooms.

The tour cost includes all breakfasts, a light lunch and dinners.  You will enjoy some of the finest food in northern Italy, proudly based on local and seasonal produce.  Polenta and hearty soups are the stalwarts of the local cuisine.  

Main courses may include carbonada (beef stew cooked with red wine), costoletta alla valdostana (a ‘schnitty’ served with fontina cheese) and local trout (generally cooked with fresh veggies, butter and sage).  The area is also famous for its cheeses (particularly fontina and toma) and its high altitude, cold climate wines such as Torrette, Fumin and Gamay.

The tour costs also include a transfer from Ponte-Saint-Martin (on the main Turin to Aosta train line) at the beginning of the tour and then back to Ponte-Saint-Martin at the end of the tour.  

Your luggage will also be moved between your accommodation each day, so you will only need to take a daypack on the walks.  

The exceptions to this are on Day 3 and Day 5, because of the rifugios’ spectacular car-free locations, you’ll need to take your pyjamas, toothbrush and a change of clothes with you on the respective walks.

Spring arrives late and autumn arrives early in the Val d’Aosta.  This walk is available between early-June to mid-September.  Because of its altitude, 2600 metres asl, the accommodation (a lovely, modern rifugio) on Day 5 is not always accessible so in these cases we have included alternative accommodation and two alternative lower walks.

To guide you through this wonderful walk, you will receive a briefing on your arrival on Day 1.  For the walks, you will have the Hidden Italy roadbook (an eighty-page A5 booklet that includes comprehensive daily walking notes accompanied by detailed maps, updated and revised each year);  access to the exclusive Hidden Italy App to complement the roadbook (the App is downloadable to Apple and Android devices and features information about the routes: maps, GPS tracks, altimetric profiles, etc; GPS navigation on all the routes; an alert function if you stray off the track; and an emergency function);  twenty-four-hour phone support from our local team as well as our Florence-based Operations Manager.