Piedmont holds many treats in store for visitors: first-class wines, a gastronomy to match, enchanting landscapes and timeless medieval villages. Our self-guided, hotel-to-hotel walking break is indulgent on many levels, featuring hotels of character and an included wine-tasting (with opportunities for more).

Discover iconic Provence on this varied journey from the ochre cliffs of Roussillon to the pale flanks of Mount Ventoux. Walk through honey-coloured villages and past crumbling châteaux into the heart of the region, where vineyards and lavender-scented fields bask in glorious sunshine.

Many a great journey has started beneath Oxford’s aspirational spires. This is another, which focuses on the beauty of the city and its bucolic surroundings, following the Thames Path through peaceful water meadows and quintessentially English villages to end in the famous foodie town of Marlow.

Journey to the remarkable ‘hanging town’ of Rocamadour, a place of pilgrimage since medieval times. Undulating across wooded slopes, river gorges, and the Dordogne’s high golden grasslands, you enjoy a walk that follows the natural rhythms of the land, revealing quiet, understated beauty, and classic regional cuisine.

This leisurely walk, perhaps the most relaxed and enchanting of all our short walking breaks, follows attractive paths through these most Mediterranean of landscapes, where the air is perfumed with the scent of herbs, and buzzards and falcons soar overhead. To discover this secret region on foot is a delight, all the more so when you stay in high-quality hotels throughout.

Starting in Porto, take the scenic train upriver for a few days of self-guided hotel-to-hotel walking amid the vineyards that produce the much-loved port wine. As well as enjoying opportunities for wine-tasting, immerse yourself in the glorious views over the richly coloured landscapes.

Set in the charming seaside town of Moneglia, away from the Cinque Terre crowds, this holiday blends laid-back Italian Riviera style and gourmet cuisine with days spent exploring the beauty and drama of the Ligurian coastline. From your elegant hotel, enjoy thrilling coastal trails to the region’s remarkable villages.

In the upper Dordogne, early morning mists dissipate to reveal a rich tapestry of wooded slopes, rolling farmland, and thick orchards, heavy with ripening fruit. It’s a place of idyllic villages, and natural abundance – celebrated at each hotel with flavoursome dinners, featuring duck, truffles, and wild mushrooms.

Follow attractive paths across the undulating, sun-drenched hills of western Provence. Passing through quiet stone villages and medieval Uzès, your route slips across the herb-scented Gardon plateau to arrive at the astonishing Pont du Gard, the arched Roman aqueduct that spans the river’s tranquil waters.

Fairy-tale scenery, heavenly cuisine, and a superb network of walking trails – this alluring walking holiday has everything you’d expect from the Black Forest. Local travel is also included, meaning it couldn’t be easier to explore this vast, mystical swathe of bewitchingly beautiful woodland.

Follow ancient trails between timelessly pretty villages to discover the Aracena Sierra: a landscape that is unspoiled, tranquil, and as bounteous as it is beautiful. Leading you across the Sierra from west to east, from historic Almonaster to tiny Alájar to vibrant Aracena, this rewarding walking holiday unveils all that is special about the region.

Walk the acclaimed Fife Coastal Path and discover the region’s exquisite eastern corner on this very leisurely holiday. The many delights that line the way to your final destination – the ancient university town of St Andrews – include a constantly shifting seascape, wealth of marine life, and postcard-pretty fishing villages.