The Secret Apennines

Overall a very enjoybale trip. We had to take low level options on 2 days because of the rain and wind, but the views on day 6 were spectacular.

This was an exceptionally well-planned holiday. The walks were very varied and explored different aspects of the region; the accommodation and food were excellent. The weather in September ranged from hot sun by the pool in Lizzano (followed by spectacular thunderstorms) to snow and fierce winds on the Passo de Cancellino. I regretted not packing a pair of gloves. 

We thoroughly enjoyed this holiday, our fourth with Inntravel. It is in a beautiful part of Italy, the scenery was stunning and the walks varied and interesting.  Each hotel had it's own bonus, the Hotel Il Fondaccio has a lovely pool and garden area, the Antica Locanda Alpina has wonderful food and picnics, the Hotel Montegrande also serves lovely food and without exception we received a warm welcome in all of them.

A bit of advice is that if you go in September there is no heating on in the hotels which if the temperture drops, as it did with us, the rooms were a bit chilly as were the dining area so we recommend taking some warm layers. Don't let this put you off as we also had some really lovely warm weather and it is a great holiday.

Excellent routes with stunning views and surprise vistas.  Much of the climbing has tree shade so this is a good tour even in the height of summer. 

Great walks, great accomodation, lovely authentic Italian food. It was just wonderful.

This is our first experience of using Inntravel and we will definately be using you again. Everything ran extremely smoothly from the first contact with yourselves right through to landing back in the UK again. All the pre-holiday information was received in good time and was clear, concise and comprehensive. The walking routes were perfect and provided a fantasitic overview of the Appennines. The city of Bologna was well worth exploring and two nights is plenty of time to see it all without rushing.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: This customer did our walking holiday 'The Secret Apennines' followed by our city add-on in Bologna.

Overall a challenging hiking holiday set in amazing mountains and wooded areas. Such friendly locals. Always welcoming. Fabulous rustic hotels and food. Would highly recommend.

Absolutely fabulous walking in this region, the hotels Il Fondaccio, Locanda Alpina and Montegrande all having individual charm, very warm welcomes and wonderful meals!

A glorious series of walks though beautiful woodland full of birdsong breaking into wondeful views across the green hills and to the various peaks as we gained height.

Excellent and varied hikes with a few spectacular ridge walks. All hotels very welcoming, with great hospitality and delicious meals.

Useful to note: During summer months there is also a bus available from Bologna airport to city centre. It terminates at a piazza about a 15min walk from hotel. 

The Secret Apennines is among our top 5 Inntravel walks. The food (especially the pasta) and the hospitality in Emilia Romagna are outstanding. The walks were challenging but very doable. The weather was mostly fine in early June and the wildflowers were a delight. We would have skipped the Dardagna Falls if doing over, especially on a weekend as the area gets very crowded. Monte Gennaio circuit was our favorite (such variety) with Corne alle Scale a close second.

Bologna is a real treat, much nicer and less touristy than Florence. Bologna to Florence made for some long days but a real sense of accomplishment. If the weather had not been fine, the stones underfoot could have been treacherous. A rest day or two worked for us. San Piero a Sieve provided a nice respite in a welcoming hotel and an interesting town. In Fiesole, Bistrot al5 is terrific for lunch and dinner. Not inexpensive but worth it for the food and service. The restaurant at Bencista was also very good with an excellent view. For us the room with a view of Florence was not worth the additional price. We ended with two nights in Florence and wished we had gone to Siena or back to Bologna instead. Florence is magnificent and terrible. Perhaps it was the contrast between the idyllic and largely empty countryside and the overwhelming tourism and art in Florence. If you are going to Florence, book early for the Academia especially. Luckily I had seen Michaelangelo's David before since I couldn't get in with a few days notice.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined our walks The Secret Apennines and From Bologna to Florence

We loved this holiday, and it was interesting for us to travel in May--earlier than usual--because the temperatures were far more manageable. The one downside was that there was an increased threat of rain, which was significant on this trip because it would have been so much more dangerous if the trails had been wet. But we lucked out, and it was glorious.  The food was delicious, and the staff at the various Inns very accomodating and friendly! 

Thank you!

Definitely a hidden treasure, perfect time of year to visit. Do check your expectations for exertion and terrain!

This was a culinary delight of regional Italian food with daytime walking to redress the balance. Very quiet as we were only guests in 2 of the hotels. The walks I would grade as moderate to strenuous, especially for a couple in their late 70s.

Being able to tackle some challenging walking with confidence, with the highlight being to stand on the top of Monte Grande, and knowing that the hospitality we would return to at the end of the day was of such a superb standard, made for a relaxed and stress-free experience. This was our first trip booked through Inntravel, we would certainly recommend and look forward to our next adventure.

We loved the adventure of moving around with every day looking different and bringing different challenges. We appeared to have the hills to ourselves most days enabling us to feel as if we really were secretly enjoying the Apennines. The wild flowers were amazing, clumps of hill top gentians were such a reward for our efforts. All good food for our souls. There was a warm welcome at the end of each day. Beyond our delicious meals notable treats were the swimming pool at Hotel Il Fondaccio, cold beer and crisps sitting outside at Antica Locanda Alpina and the home made liquers that rounded off our excellent meals at Hotel Montegrande. So many golden moments. We were extremely fortunate that conditions allowed us to reach all the tops giving us such a great sense of achievement at the end of each day and feeling rather pleased with ourselves by the end of the week.

Monte Gennaio day was our highlight; Monteacuto on walk to Pianaccio is well worth a stop; the high level walk Corno alle Scale was excellent too (we did not do the waterfalls, dropped off at Cavone). Excellent food, picnics and lovely hosts. A great first trip with Inntravel.

HIGHLIGHTS: Apennines walk was super. Il Fondaccio was our favourite hotel there. So lovely to have such a spacious comfortable room. Linda is a lovely host and it was a charming village. Everywhere we went we received the warmest welcome and the generosity of the local people was exceptional. On the Lake Iseo walk, our favourite hotel was Il Due Roccoli. Again the warm welcomes, beautiful rooms with views and stunning food in the restaurants made the whole experience so memorable. We highly commend Inntravel for the choices of hotels in every case. 

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined our walks The Secret Apennines and Secret Lake Iseo with our City add-ons in Bologna and Verona

Some of the views were glorious and the villages and countryside we walked through were peaceful and attractive. Go to Mt Belveder, maybe miss out climbing up to Monte Grande as you can see very good panoramas from the path along the ridge. There was never a problem with water as most villages had water fountains available. Walking poles very helpful on some of the ascents/descents. Finally, if time allows stay a few days in Bologna - it's lovely.

All hotel hosts were welcoming and the food very good, particularly the dinners at Lizzano. All the walks were challenging but manageable and highly satisfying, passing through glorious scenery with hardly another soul around. Overall I would rate this as one of the best Inntravel walking holidays I have been on. Perhaps worth mentioning is that while I'm not a massive sufferer from vertigo the downward views into open space at the high points of days 4 an 6 did affect me quite a bit to the extent that we avoided the high ridge on day 6, altering the route slightly. It may be worth a warning to customers who have any fear of heights.

Excellent itinerary in relation to walking and hotel accommodation - hotel owners at Lizzano, Pianaccio and Vidiciatico were all very friendly and helpful, especially Carmen at Vidiciatico when our flight was cancelled and Pianaccio when Jim's leg was troublesome. The food was outstanding. We particularly enjoyed Monte Gennaio and walking around Corno alle Scale (we omitted the waterfalls section as this seemed too long a day).

A good trip. Organisation was very good throughout. All connections and accommodation happened as planned. The hotels were very accommodating and welcoming. The walk was pleasant, with some challenging stretches more than made up for by the surroundings and the hotel waiting for you at the end.  The various villages were lovely. All round, very enjoyable.

A fabulous selection of walks through a lesser known part of northern Italy. We were lucky with the weather and got to see the spectacular viewpoints from the hills. The hotels all hit the spot; well chosen with great service and plentiful amounts of locally made food. The walks are challenging and rewarding in equal measure. We added on a couple of nights in Bologna at the end which was well worth it, a fantastic city. Great for wandering, soaking up the atmosphere and people watching from a street cafe. In the evening choose from one of the literally hundereds of amazing places to eat. A really great 10 days. Thanks to all of the team at Inntravel.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined our walk he Secret Apennines with our Bologna City add-on

HIGHLIGHTS: Very well organised. Beautiful scenery. Good Accommodation and Great hospitality. Excellent Meals and Picnics.

My personal highlight was acheiving the ascents and descents each day through the national park, and particularly the 970m ascent to above the tree line from Antica Locanda Alpina. The food was also a highlight, really felt like we experienced good local cuisine. Suggest this is not a walking holiday for people who are not reasonably active in their everyday lives and willing to sweat more than just a little. Only minor issues were the smell of cigarettes in the morning at Antica, the very flat pillows and the 7:30 pm evening meals. We understand this is the Italian style but found it pretty hard to stay awake until 7:30 when we finished our walk each day at 4-4:30 pm.  

Everything about this holiday was fantastic. Beautiful locations and scenery, great walks, top hotels all serving gorgeous food. Dinner at 7.30pm was a standard in the hotels and was a bit late after a day walking, but we understand and accept that's just how it's done in Italy.

In our opinion we would class this walk as 3 boots or maybe we are just too old.

Excellent food & accommodation throughout, walking spectacular, especially The Dardagne Falls & the Corno alle Scale walk.

This was definitely one of our best holidays! Excellent service from Inntravel, with good accommodation and meals. Recommend walking poles as some of the uphills were more challenging than anticipated and the gradient profiles on route notes suggested. Highly recommend this trip for those keen to walk 'off the beaten' track and experience rural Italy.  

This was our first walking holiday, so we didn't know what to expect in terms of the walking or the hotel and travel arrangements. Everything went very smoothly and although some walks were more challenging than we were expecting, we coped and had enough time to rest before the next day! Being in the rural areas of Italy was very special and if anything, returning to Pisa was more of a shock to the system than the week's walking!

The Monte Gennaio circuit was our highlight for walking scenery. We had perfect weather and the views and terrain along the ridge were stunning. Discovering ancient fountains running into stone troughs, and small villages perched on hillsides, learning about the historical chestnut harvest, history and the wonderful food were all highlights. We felt like each of the hotels went out of their way to highlight local food specialities and we thoroughly enjoyed every meal. Unfortunately due to weather we were unable to do Option A around Vidiciatico.

All four of us very much enjoyed the trip. The 2-night at a hotel format was good and the hosts were all charming and welcoming. The Apennines was new to all of us and we are now fans and can't imagine why (but are selfishly rather grateful) that it isn't a more popular area. Much of the walking is in the woods which is a relief when the weather is hot. Having the short city-break in Bologna afterwards was also an enjoyable contrast.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined our walk The Secret Apennines with our Bologna City add-on

The scenery was beautiful and I would recommend this holiday for the seasoned walker, although none of the days were heavy on mileage they were quite challenging. However it was all really enjoyable. As the meals are provided each night comprised a four course meal, which we would never usually eat. It was also quite late when we had finished the meal so less time to digest before needing to go to sleep. 

The Apennines: This was a great holiday. We enjoyed the remoteness of the walking (rarely met anybody on the trails), the hospitality of the hotels and friendliness of the locals. We read the book Apennines Love and War by Eric Newby and that added a special understanding of the WW2 memorials we saw and the atmostphere when we were walking through the heavily wooded landscape.

Tuscany: Volterra was a delight and worth extra nights. It was quiet and less touristy than the other towns. We enjoyed the walking.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined our walks The Secret Apennines and Hill-Top Towns Of Tuscany

Thank you Inntravel for another 2 memorable walking holidays and 2 city stays. Yet again the choice of hotels was excellent, transfers easy and the choice of walking routes great. We love the combination of track notes, hard copy map and GPX files. We had to change some of the walks because of the weather, but with suggestions from hotel staff, and the information we had, it was easy. Our only regret is that we didn't have any 'down' days - our legs were tired at the end of our second walking holiday! 

INNTRAVEL NOTE - these customers combined our Through the Soca Valley and The Secret Apennines holidays.

Without Inntravel we would not have considered exploring the "Secret Appenines". We thoroughly enjoyed the trek. This is a lovely and very quiet part of the country. The paths were really good and well waymarked. On most days, we met very few, if any, other walkers. Every 3 years, in early June there is a week-long series of events to mark the US-led liberation of the area in WW2. We arrived the week before, and were welcomed on the summit of Mount Belvedere by some locals preparing for the events, who were only too happy to share their food and wine.

Overall we enjoyed our holiday, despite some of the challenges. The food, in particular, was excellent and the friendliness of the hoteliers and standard of accommodation couldn't be faulted. Lunches were enormous in some cases and we had to save food for later!

We met some lovely people on our travels, and being able to speak some Italian (with one fluent Italian speaker in our party) made this all the more enjoyable. People were very helpful and we had a lot of laughs. Other walkers we met of various nationalities doing the same itinerary were also very friendly.

One thing I'd stress is that the walks are not easy, with some steep and sometimes tricky terrain, so time estimates could be amended. I'd recommend early starts!

A great adventure for us, despite being in the Apennines during a 100 year storm and flooding in Bologna. We had rain 4 of the 6 days. Was still fun, though sad we missed out on the great views from the mountain tops. Part of what made it fun were the other hikers staying at the hotels - for the most part other Inntravelers. Appreciated the warm welcome as we arrived at each hotel wet and bedraggled. Linda (Hotel Il Fondacio) and Carmen (Hotel Monte Grande) were exemplary. Route instructions and GPX easy to follow on our phones. Lots of food, but we burned lots of calories on the hikes. The wine was a great value at all 3 hotels!

Personal highlights included:

• seeing a whole herd of wild boar, running in a straight line away from us through the field, including baby boar. 
• the thermal spa at the first hotel after a long day travelling
• warm Italian hospitality and great food 
• monte belvedere summit was very poignant reminder of the war
• the dardagna falls which were very full after all the rain

HIGHLIGHTS: Irene's cookery lesson. The dinners, especially Antica Locanda Alpina and Hotel Montegrande. Carmen at Hotel Montegrande. 

We thoroughly enjoyed this walking holiday. It is the third we have done with Inntravel. The Apennines were the most wonderful mix of shady beech forests and heathered high plains. Wonderful walking, some steep climbs but always rewarded with magnificent views and, in one case, a sleet storm - all part of the adventure! The hotels, as always, were welcoming, the food beautiful and the comfy rooms most welcome after a long walk. The hotel I'll Fondaccio was a standout for us.

Lovely walking, with fantastic views (when not raining; visited in late September) and very friendly and welcoming hosts at 3 small family run hotels.  Food and wine, as always in Italy, was simple but very tasty. We had lunch on arrival at hotels in Pianaccio and Vidiciatico and would thoroughly recommend their a la carte menus. Finally, it was a simple matter getting to and from Bologna airport at the start and end of holiday, which made transfers stress free.

The view from the summit of Monte Grande with the clouds below us was terrific.

Whilst it was very exhilarating walking on Monte Gennaio and Corno Alle Scale the mist obscured the undoubtedly splendid views. On both occasions we walked with a second couple.

Monte Belvedere and Monte Grande were highlights for us. We also greatly enjoyed the lovely ecosystem around the pilgramage church. We saw wild boar, deer, lizards, and lots of Fire Salamanders!

Inntravel should make it clear that there is a great deal of walking in trees with no distance views.

The hotels were well chosen and, other than a few comments, we were very happy with them.

The walking, the food and the scenery were excellent. Unfortunately we were not adequately equipped for the coldness of the September weather in this area, so it may be worthwhile mentioning this in your notes.

My personal highlight was getting to the top off corno scale; four attempts two succeses!

This was our first trip with Inntravel.  It was first class in that all the arrangements, bookings and information seemed seamless.

We were really impressed by the scenery and the warm welcome we received at the smaller hotels. The food at these hotels also exceeded our expectations...including the very welcome picnics! We walked through beautiful woodland with the sound of running water...and stunning viewpoints as a reward for some quite steep climbs. The walk to Porta Franca and Passo Cancellino was the hardest...but maybe because we did it on a day when the weather changed and visibility on the ridge was poor. However, we did feel a sense of achievement! The villages are lovely...just as described. The travel arrangements from Bologna are very easy and the whole week was meticulously organised. A wonderful opportunity to see a region of Italy which is not well known in this country...it should be! 

We had a wonderful introduction to this part of Italy combining great walks and scenery with warm, welcoming hospitality.

This was our first time with Inntravel and we thoroughly enjoyed our holiday and appreciated the level of customer care that was provided both by the company and the hotels we stayed in. An example was there was a road closure that affected one of the walks. The hotel contacted the company who passed this on to us offering alternatives. The company obviously know the hotels well and the description of their features were accurate. The food was excellent and the walking fantastic.

This is an excellent walking holiday in (to us!) an unknown region of Italy. There are memorable views along the way - especially from the ridge walks of Monte Gennaio and the final "breath-taker" of the Corno Alle scala - and many beautiful locations, such as the villages of Monteacuto and Tresano. Hard to pick out a favourite! The gradation of this holiday as a challenge of 2-3 felt about right - there are certainly some long steep climbs, but all worth it for the views.

This was just the perfect way to explore the history and culture of the Apennines. Every walk gave a different "peek into the past" and a real sense of the link between the people, land, water and the rich forests. An absolute gem of a week!

A wonderful week of walking. Wonderful, varied scenery. I would happily do it all again.

The Secret Appenines is an almost archetypal Inntravel holiday, made up as it is of characterful, off-the-beaten path, walks through beautiful rural and forested scenery, stays at several charming family run pensions offering staggeringly good meals, and a brief stay in a lovely and not-touristy spa town.  Walks are varied, and some really seem to have been created and curated by Inntravel in conjunction with several of the hoteliers.  Most days' walks were challenging in some aspect but none required special skills or inordinately high levels of fitness.  In addition to beautiful natural scenery - waterfalls, rocky crags, dense chestnut forests - one passes through fascinating and picturesque hamlets and villages.

We would return in an instant to this area and most of these accommodations.  The Bolognese Apennine is a region that deserves to be better known.  Selfishly, we were pleased it remains rather undiscovered by all but Italians.

Our stay at Il Fondaccio in was a personal highlight, both for the step back in time feel of this characterful pension, also for the warmth of Linda and her family and especially for the absolutely outstanding meals we had there.  We stayed three nights and had three miraculous dinners, each with four courses in addition to a full side board covered in cooked vegetable and salad accompaniments.  This was Emilia Romagnan cooking at the highest level, albeit in a rustic style, all prepared, amazingly, by Linda's rather elderly father.  One smelled delicious cooking from early morning until dinner time.  The pool and stunning views from Il Fondaccio were the cherries on the cake.

We also especially loved Antica Locanda Alpina, understanding that its rather spartan rooms and extremely rural aspect might not be to everyone's taste.  Again, we felt we had stepped into a past era and were charmed by the whole experience.  The welcome there is less polished but none the less warm and hospitable.  We were lucky in being given a room with a huge corner terrace that overlooked the waterfalls to the side of the albergo.  Perhaps this was because we stayed an extra night there as well?

All other aspects of the walks and arrangements were excellent.  I highly recommend this itinerary.

We throughly enjoyed this walking holiday in the Apennines and were impressed with the walks in the area. Very clearly marked and the notes with the added GPS made this a stress free walk which my husband and I could both enjoy. The history of the area was known to us through reading Eric Newbys 'A Walk in the Appenines' but actually being in the area of Mount Belevedere brought the images to life. Made us feel very humble that so many sacrificed themselves in WW2.

The walk from hotel to hotel was also a wonderful experience as the greeting from the hosts was so genuine. Nothing was too much and the food and beverage offering was always a delight. Not one meal was inedible and the wines and cheeses  were incredibble. It was so good to feel part of a 'family' and even though English was nit widely spoken we did get by by using Google translate which made us all laugh. It certainly broke the ice.

The picnics were able and welcome as some of the walks were challenging and long but we always wanted more and could wait to start again the next day. It was a testament to the area and walks that we wished we coild,have continued as by the end we had just got into our stride. Needless to say the scenery is stunning and I don't think I have taken so many photos of a walk before. Highly recommended and please go and support the area, you won't be disappointed.

Beautiful, quiet and unspoilt area of Italy with some glorious scenery - ideal for hiking. Not overly long walks, but some challenging terrain at times. Highly recommended, but be prepared for some hearty meals! 

This was our first holiday with Inntravel and we loved it. The region was stunning, the walking magnificent and the organisation was efficient and friendly from first to last. We look forward to booking with you again.

If our only criticisms are that a small hotel has small rooms and there was too much food, then I think you can conclude that we were very happy.

This holiday exceeded my expectations. The hikes were wonderful, through beautiful countryside and although we only covered a small area there was something different every day. The guest houses were all comfortable and the owners were all so friendly and helpful. The food was of very high quality and the picnics were also varied.  Really enjoyed the whole trip and I was glad to have the extra day at the end to do some lower level hiking and get another different impression of the area.

We have been on many Inntravel walking holidays and enjoyed them all but the Secret Apennines holiday was exceptional. The scenery is spectacular and the walks through the shade of the chestnut and beech forests were fabulous. As always, Inntravel has picked out some rather special places to stay on this holiday. The accommodation in each hotel is simple, even basic, but comfortable and very clean. More importantly, perhaps, the hosts without exception offer an extraordinarily warm and friendly welcome and the local food is delicious!

We very much enjoyed this walking holiday. We were blessed with excellent weather which added to the enjoyment. There is no doubt that some of the climbs and descents are quite strenuous but we thought the views made all the effort well worthwhile. All the hotels were good - we were warmly welcomed by our hosts. The food was exceptional. The wonderful wildflowers were a highlight - with many varieties of orchid. We took every advantage of filling up our water bottles in the local springs - lovely water to drink. (Thanks for the location tips!)

I was particularly struck by the strong personal and working relationship between yourselves and your three hotels deep in the hills. I even learnt of Inntravel's role in setting up these walks and associations back in the 1990s. The women who now run these hotels are the most welcoming of hosts as well as superb caterers and managers. It was a particular pleasure to experience their hospitality. Your expertise in arranging these walking holidays kept shining through, itself a strong commendation for holidays arranged through you in the future. 

Linda (H. Il Fondaccio) & Irene (Anica Locanda Alpina) were just brilliant, & made the holiday special with their friendliness, local information & help they gave us; we can't thank them enough.

Also, Carmen (H. Montegrande) was a super host, especially at meal times. Meals at all three hotels was exceptional & a main feature of the holiday. 

This is a delightful and quiet area to walk in with stunning scenery. We felt we were getting to know a special part of Italy 'off the beaten track'. Enjoyed all the walks and all the hotels. There were easier walking options available for a couple of the days. Inntravel staff were helpful and very pleasant to deal with throughout. Now looking for other Inntravel Italian walking weeks for next year!