Walking Wild Tuscany Traveller Reviews

This was a wonderful holiday. The walks were beautiful, the mountains were spectacular, the food was excellent and the hospitality and guiding were both superb. I’d recommend this holiday to anyone who is a capable and fit hillwalker and who enjoys good food. Jamie and Ailsa (the hosts and owners of the farm at which we stayed) were friendly and helpful. The location of the farm is great, with mountain views, friendly goats, fruit trees – and probably the most spectacularly situated swimming pool ever, surrounded by a limestone crag, ringed by herbs and flowers and with mountain views. At sunrise and sunset, it’s a sublime place for a dip or a long swim. We were led on the walks by Stefano, with whom Jamie and Ailsa have a long-standing business relationship. Stefano (joined on one walk by his colleague Danielo) provided confident, well-planned mountain guiding on all five walks. Two were in the Appenines and three in the Apuane Alps. Both have very different characteristics, geology, landcapes and fauna. Stefano was just wonderful with the members of the party with slight vertigo (some parts of the paths were exposed, though any scrambling was easy). His knowledge of the area’s history was a real bonus, telling us of recent (eg wartime partisans) and more ancient history. Examples include the pagan importance of the rock arch (altars where double sunrise/sunset occurs), Italian Unification, former Princedoms, Hannibal’s Fields, the importance of the Appenines in Italy’s culture. He was also well versed in the mountain flora and fauna – including which mushrooms could be eaten and which not! The food at Col di Lavacchio (Jamie and Ailsa’s organic farm) is sublime. It was like going to a friend’s house where they had really pulled the stops out in cooking a meal. Ailsa is a professional chef – and it shows. Every evening meal was different and showed off local and home-grown produce. The pizza night (a wood-fired pizza oven) was great fun. Packed lunches contained gems like home-made pies and grain salads – no ham and cheese sandwiches! A leisurely breakfast, served outside, was granola, orange juice, eggs, toast and homemade jams. To be honest, the one improvement I’d suggest is so trivial that it shows how perfect everything was - a faster toaster! We’re now back at home and whilst some of the memories are fading with work pressures, the warmth of welcome, the great walks and the company stay with us. Highly recommended!

KE are well established and offer more adventurous holidays than most operators. I have travelled with them twice before and found the quality of service to be excellent. They choose good local agents and provide a more all-inclusive holiday than most competitors. In this case, we had chosen a different holiday, which despite being labelled 'guaranteed' was cancelled - we were told due to other clients cancelling. Although in the end KE resolved the issue and agreed to pay the price difference for the flights, this was preceded by attempts to 'upsell' much more expensive holidays, even though similar ones were available (we looked at the Website ourselves). In the end the holiday was just fantastic and I don't want the original upsets to overshadow this - but I feel that it's only right to post an honest review in relation to what happened and how I felt about it.

Reviewer's images:

An amazingly relaxing and healthy week trekking and hiking in Tuscany. Accommodated in a beautiful Tuscan Farmhouse, we were treated to the finest home grown food after exciting and challenging walks along dramatic Tuscan Alpine trails. A great guide, that inspired confidence and ensured every member of the group had a great day out, every day! I can't recommend this holiday enough. A luxurious and relaxing change for hardcore seasoned trekkers, or a great introduction to adventurous travel for the uninitiated.

KE Adventure were efficient and helpful. Good value for money and well organised.