New European walks for 2012 from On Foot Holidays

Jan. 3, 2012 - PRLog -- A Côtes du Rhône  trip introduces a different corner of Provence, while a Rhine Gorge tour provides an expert – and largely crowd-free – way to tackle the famous German waterway.  

NEW: Côtes du Rhône, France
Forget the crowd-infested Luberon – explore a more varied and interesting corner of Provence
Ignoring the busy Luberon area, the little-visited Provençal region around Gigondas is the focus of On Foot Holidays’ newest walking trip.  This seven-night, self-guided route circles around Mont Ventoux (the windy mountain), promising clifftop villages, strange conical hills, tiny Le Barroux’s impressive castle and gorgeous Roman bridges.  You can even stay in the former home of the Marquis de Sade en route.  And don’t worry: this being the Côtes du Rhône, food and wine are of primary importance to the walk .  Each hotel boasts a good kitchen, though nothing tops a five-course gourmet experience in Gigondas itself :  you can taste your way through tarte aux tomates, tiny quail, elaborate sorbets and a whole dairy's worth of cheeses.  
-- Available April–October, the trip costs from £840 pp (two sharing) including seven nights’ good-quality B&B, four evening meals and route information.  Travel extra.  Departure dates are flexible, but On Foot suggests timing your trip to finish in Vaison’s vast Tuesday market – and thus to stock up on delicacies to take home.  Graded medium-hard.  Call On Foot Holidays on 01722 322652 (www.onfootholidays.co.uk)

NEW: Rhine Gorge, Germany
A new Rhine Gorge walk – avoiding the crowds, not avoiding the beer gardens
Here’s how best to hike the 65km-long Rhine Gorge – and avoid its crowds as much as possible.  On Foot Holidays’ new self-guided walk focuses as much on the waterway’s lesser-known west bank (the ‘RheinBurgenWeg’) as on the well-trodden east side.  This makes for an altogether nicer way to see the Gorge’s 20 castles.  Perched high above the river, they bear witness to the waterway’s crucial role in European history, and to its iconic status for 18th and 19th century painters, poets and composers as a place of Romantic inspiration.  In between the castles, watch barges negotiate the sharp bends, potter around fortified, UNESCO-sanctified villages and then head for the lively  beer gardens and Riesling vineyards that make this route such fun.
-- Available May–October, the trip costs from £670 pp (two sharing) including eight nights’ good-quality B&B, one dinner and route information.  Travel extra.  Graded medium-hard. Call On Foot Holidays on 01722 322652 (www.onfootholidays.co.uk)

The company’s popular Amalfi Coast walk has also been perfected to cover the section between Positano and Sant’Agata to the north.  This renders On Foot Holidays as the only UK walking-holiday company to offer an itinerary along the whole of the Amalfi Coast.  If you want to hike this famous shoreline property, there’s only one company for you...

NEW: Along The Siren Coast (Amalfi)
New for 2012: walk the entire Amalfi Coast – including a section which no-one else offers
Amalfi walking trips are ten-a-penny, but – new for 2012 – On Foot Holidays is the only UK walking company which includes the strip in its entirety. The stretch that no other company offers, from Positano to Sant'Agata dei due Golfi, is initially very steep, but the views towards Sorrento and of Positano far below very adequately compensate.  From Monte Commune it’s then pretty much downhill all the way.  Now more than ever before, this self-guided ‘Along the Siren Coast’ trip succeeds in showing both faces of the famed peninsula – the craggy scenery of the eastern (Amalfi) end and the western promontories’ trendy towns.  Stops for bathing in little coves are factored in, as are trip notes advising on where to find great grub.
-- Available April–November, the trip costs from £710 pp (two sharing) including seven nights’ good-quality B&B and route information.  Travel extra. Graded medium. Call On Foot Holidays on 01722 322652 (www.onfootholidays.co.uk)

These new and improved tours fit snugly into On Foot Holidays’ portfolio of 20 routes in classic parts of Europe.  Above all else, On Foot Holidays boasts serious expertise: Simon Scutt, the company’s MD, has walked every route it offers, and his small office team have, between them, walked all the trips as well.  Painstakingly researched, some walks often come with the possibility of extensions, variations of pace and modifications to the level of accommodation.  They are, effectively, tailor-made holidays for walkers able to suit wide-ranging budgets and levels of fitness.

Luggage transfers between all hotels are included every day, so you’re carrying less and enjoying more.

On Foot Holidays also features routes in Austria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey and the UK. As a member of AITO (the Association of Independent Tour Operators), On Foot Holidays guarantees its customers’ financial protection as well as complying with AITO’s quality and sustainable tourism guidelines.

Call On Foot Holidays on 01722 322 652 (http://www.onfootholidays.co.uk).

ENDS – 3 January 2012
For press enquiries, press trips or photography, please contact Richard Mellor at Travel PR, tel: 020 8891 4440, email: r.mellor@travelpr.co.uk.

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