The Dolomites offer dramatic snowshoeing, trekking around glacial lakes and white woodlands of the South Tyrolean region, with belly warming stops at one gorgeous trattoria after another. You can also go snowshoeing on the steamy slopes of Mt. Etna. Always go with a qualified guide: you don’t mess with the mountains in winter.

Italy is falling down with history. On every hike be it an ancient mule path, Etruscan trade trail or Roman road, you will strike some sort of treasure. In Sicily alone, the Valley of the Temples is a paean to classical Greece, Palermo oozes Arabic style, while Siracusa and Noto are Baroque gems. And Sardinia alone boasts 7,000 sites linked to the mysterious Nuraghe dating back 6,000 years.

The medieval and Renaissance fabric of Florence is complemented by other Tuscan wonders: Gothic Siena, Renaissance Lucca and San Gimignano’s high medieval towers - rivalled by lovely Alba, Piedmont's 'town of 100 towers'. Amid the jagged rose-tinted peaks of the Dolomites, enjoy a unique blend of Austrian and Italian culture and architecture in towns like Bolzano and Merrano. And on the Amalfi Coast you have Pompeii and Herculaneum, or the stunning remains of a Greek city at Paestum. Take a walking holiday that includes cultural stops along the way, or just wander and see what you fall upon. Because wherever you walk in Italy, you’ll constantly be reminded of one thing: it wasn’t built in a day.

Head to Sicily for a truly ‘active’ Aeolian archipelago experience. Stay in a mountain hut on the slopes of Mt. Etna, explore Lipari’s dormant volcano, hike to Vulcano Island’s crater to see the 'Fumaroles' (vents of volcanic gas), and enjoy its hot thermal springs. It’s even hotter on Stromboli, where you can see 'Sciara del Fuoco', a fiery channel where the lava outflows plunge directly into the sea.

In Italy, people truly live to eat rather than eat to live. And on our walking holidays, you will fill your boots again and again. From basic mountain rifugi, Tuscan trattoria or Alpine agriturismi, feasts await. Try fresh pesto sauce in its Ligurian birthplace or a pizza in Naples. Explore the HQ of the Slow Food movement in Piedmont, sampling its specialities: arborio rice, white truffles, Castelmagno cheese and Barolo wine.

In Umbria, try norcineria (cured pork produce) or warming spelt and barley soups. In Sicily, tuck into Arab-infused delights or discover new seafood flavours on Sardinia: sea urchin, salty botarga (dried roe) and tart scabecciu fish dishes. Toast it all in atmospheric bars serving tempting nibbles (aperitivi), while sipping superb artisan grappa or a glass of Franciacorta – Italy's fine riposte to champagne.