Self guided walking holidays in Europe

“It is excruciatingly beautiful,” she adds. “Full of tiny cluster-nut villages that have pagan festivals that predate Christianity, such as the joaldun ceremonies of Ituren and Zubieta. The local festivals are not performed for tourists; they are enacted by the people for the people.”

These are the sorts of places that our self guided walking holidays in Europe explore. After all, like attracts like, so it’s really no surprise that independent hikers find themselves exploring independently minded places. These are regions populated by self-sufficient, pragmatic people who enjoy life and their home – and who love to share that passion with you. You’ll find plenty of like minds along the way.

Follow the Pyrenees south-east, and you’ll find yourself in Catalonia – a region that’s been increasingly vocal about independence in recent years. A self guided walking holiday here will reveal what the news reports miss, offering a more rounded view of a place.

Steve Clifford co-founded Catalan Adventures, running some of our most popular self guided walking holidays in Catalonia. “Some of our accommodations are pro-independence,” he says. “You stay at this farmhouse by a river – it’s really beautiful. The owners, Miguel and Anna, are very pro-independence… But then you’ll go to a lovely hotel in Cadaques and the manager there is very anti-independence. And any of these people, if you bring the subject up, they’re very happy to discuss it with you. So our customers do learn bits and pieces.”

Steve first fell in love with Catalonia 14 years ago. “It was Cadaques,” he says. “It’s a really beautiful, whitewashed seaside town. It has a bit of a bohemian feel to it – it had a few aging hippie types there as well… The light all along the coast there is absolutely incredible. One of the things Dali loved about this area was the light; it seems to lift people’s spirits.”

Peter Roche hosts walkers at Le Moulin du Chemin – a base for walkers exploring the Poitou-Charentes region of France. He says: “Few tourists have discovered this region of France as a walking venue and the local population is sparse. In some cases, local rural footpaths are used mainly by our guests. This encourages the local communes to maintain and keep open the trails.”

But just because you’ve got written notes, doesn’t mean that you can’t stray from them. Most self guided walking holidays are tailor made, so you can hike at your own pace – whether that’s a stroll through vineyards or a march up a mountain.

Adventures appear organically – perhaps you’ll be invited into someone’s home for a strong Italian coffee or get pulled along in a come-one-come-all village wedding procession. You’ll have restaurant recommendations in the route notes, but can ultimately choose to eat where you want, always knowing that there’s a bed and breakfast waiting for you at the end of the day. If you’re hiking point-to-point, your luggage will be transported to your next accommodation ahead of you.

Even getting a little lost can be a highlight – as one of our travellers Ma. Josefina Paguirigan-Kayaban found on her trip: “The most memorable part of the holiday was accidentally following a wrong trail which led to a more perilous, more insightful and spiritually uplifting hike/climb… Very exhilarating.”

Philip Jeffrey, who travelled on our Croatian coast self guided walking tour, had a similar experience: “Our day trip to the island of Lopud was both memorable and exciting. The ferry ride over was rough. The winds picked up in the afternoon and the ferry was cancelled, ‘stranding’ us on the island. The tour company (the best one ever) to the rescue! They arranged for a thrilling small boat taxi ride back to an unscheduled port drop off where we were picked up by one of their many terrific drivers.” And the best part? “We even arrived back in Dubrovnik in time for cocktail hour.”