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Sicily walking holiday

COUNTRY:
Italy
LOCATION:
Sicily
HOLIDAY TYPE:
Strenuous walking holidays
DEPARTURES:
2012: 19 May, 26 May, 15 Sep, 22 Sep, 13 Oct, 20 Oct
PRICE:
From £1192 - £1232 (8 days) including UK flights
MORE INFO:
From £939 - £1017 excluding flights. Single supplement £205.
VOUCHERS:
Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday
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Sicily walking holiday

Sicily walking holiday

How this holiday makes a difference

We use a local guide and local Tour Leader on this tour, as well as a special mountain guide, who knows the region very well, having been leading tours up the mountain for 20 years. Our Tour Leaders are trained by us in the importance of responsible tourism with guidance given on how they can make a difference.

All accommodation is locally owned and in which you experience great food, most of which is sourced locally, and lovely Sicilian wine. This not only provides direct employment within the hotel, but also has the effect of percolating money beyond to small businesses that supply the hotel and in this way money is spread throughout the region we visit.

Both Etna and Stromboli are both protected sites, and so we ensure we follow our responsible tourism policy of keeping it clean and having minimal impact on the environment here. When visiting Stromboli, there are no cars permitted in the region and so instead, electric cars are used to help prevent pollution and preserve the environment.

As well as the above, we support a variety of charities and projects worldwide which support vulnerable communities and habitats including Friends of Conservation, Hope Worldwide and Send A Cow. We are also actively engaged with UK travel industry bodies which promote best practice in responsible tourism, such as Tourism Concern, The Travel Foundation and AITO. Our commitment to responsible tourism is not limited to our overseas operation and we have measures to ensure our UK office operates according to our responsible tourism policy. Carbon offsets for all flights booked with us are included in the tour cost.

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Story of the holiday provider

This small group operator is just celebrating its 30th year and its activity holidays are very popular. Arriving at a village by bike or on foot immediately fascinates the locals and offers you an opportunity to interact as well as being great exercise and allowing you to reach far flung areas. Activity holidays are a great way to escape, get some fresh air and take life at a slower pace, allowing time for thought and reflection. In completing an active holiday, there is an element of personal development and improvement which can really help travellers focus on doing things differently or better.

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Holiday provider no: 276

Sicily walking holiday

Reviewed 23 Oct 2008 by Fiona Paterson4 star rating

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?


Being on Stomboli while the volcano rumbled and spat - being so close to lava fountains.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?


Go for it.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?


Not really, it didn't detriment them, and it did use local companies where relevant. It also highlighted the effect of an active and unpredictable volcano on the people who live under/round it.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?


5 * - It was fantastic from start to finish.

Reviewed 29 Oct 2005 by Sydney Fremantle4 star rating

A summary of my impressions:

Hotels: 4 of them, only one of any size, others quite small; all locally owned, not chain. Comfort, moderate, not always with reliable hot water.

Food: 4 out of 5.

Guide very knowledgeable, a good guide of pace and safety conscious.

Planning: days full of walking or travelling between islands.

Walks interesting, varied and demanding enough without imposing too much strain for those who like walking/scrambling holidays.

Subject matter: fascinating for those who like the opening lines of Paradise Lost: Programme consisted of 21/2 days on Etna, day visiting Stromboli, including an evening ascent of the volcano - alas, mist and a rather somnolent crater reduced the excitement - a day visiting and staying in Lipari, archaeological museum in the Citadel well worth a visit, a day visiting the crater in Vulcano, a final day returning to Sicily and ascending a low mountain - we could not reach the rocky summit because of danger from high winds. The lateness of the season put us, of course, at risk from high winds.

On this type of holiday there is always a risk of disappointment from incompatibility, either mental or physical, with fellow holiday makers. The former was dealt with by a certain identity of interest that attracted all to that holiday. The latter is largely a matter of luck as individuals' criteria for their fitness vary widely; the party has to go at the pace of the slowest and wide differentials in fitness make for impatience in the fitter and anxiety in the less fit. We were lucky and all had more or less the same pace.

Difficult to give an environmental rating. No obvious waste of energy given that the trip required a fair amount of travel.

Food and wine (varied and mainly good value) local. Apples in the shops nearly all Golden or Red Delicious in spite of having truly delicious local varieties falling off the unpicked trees - how much the American breeder of those two former varieties has impoverished the world. We kept to the trails: wandering off would risk geological damage as well as danger.

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Holiday Reviews

We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!

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