To debut in 2014, both tours are self-guided hikes, with walkers spending each night in local B&Bs where they meet up with their luggage each day, leaving just a day pack to carry on the track.
A new walking tour through the world’s deepest gorge and the pillar-top monasteries of Meteora in northern Greece and a hike through the spectacular mountains of Mallorca are the latest routes to be offered by European walking tour company, On Foot Holidays.
To debut in 2014, both tours are self-guided hikes, with walkers spending each night in local B&Bs where they meet up with their luggage each day, leaving just a day pack to carry on the track.
The new seven-night Corfu and the Vikos Gorge tour starts on the Greek island of Corfu, with guests enjoying walks along the picturesque coastal paths before catching a ferry to the Greek mainland to start a walk through the world’s deepest gorge, Vikos Gorge, a spectacular canyon 900m deep and stretching for 17km in the Pindos Mountains of northern Greece. Graded medium to hard, with three to seven hours of trekking each day, the walk includes a hike to the breathtaking Dragon Lake and around Mt Astraka as well as stays at B&Bs and restored houses including the charming home of the Papageorgiou family in the old stone village of Kapesovo where guests can help gather mushrooms and herbs and learn age-old local crafts.
A two-day extension will take walkers to the world-famous monasteries of Meteora in central Greece where remote retreats for Greek Orthodox monks and nuns were built from the 14th Century atop soaring, sandstone pillars, once climbed by ropes and ladders but now accessible via steps cut into the cliffs.
Available from May to November, the seven-day Corfu and the Vikos Gorge walk tour is priced from £725 per person, twin-share, including seven nights’ accommodation, two dinners, three picnic lunches, transfers, daily luggage transfers and local support. The longer nine-night tour, including the Meteora extension, is priced from £840 per person, twin-share, including taxi transfers.
Meanwhile, the new eight-night Tramuntana Mountains walk on the Spanish, sun-drenched island of Mallorca leads from the city of Palma through the fertile Galatzo Valley and up into the beautiful mountains, with guests spending each night in boutique hotels and deluxe townhouses – some former palaces dating back to the 16th century. Graded medium to hard with three to six hours of walking each day, the tour is priced from £855 per person, twin-share, including eight nights’ accommodation, one dinner, daily luggage transportation and transfers on Mallorca. The route is open in 2014 from March to June and from September to December and also in 2015 in January and February.
Based in the UK and specialising in the ‘art of slow travel’, On Foot Holidays offers walkers around the world more than 20 self-guided tours across unspoilt areas of Europe for independent travellers who prefer intimate encounters with destinations. Walkers can select their own departure dates and all routes are designed by locals and tested by staff from On Foot Holidays.
Photo caption: Meteora, Greece.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
