Walking tours to cater for all tastes
TASTING local cuisine is an essential part of all On Foot Holidays’ inn-to-inn walks across Europe and, as more people turn to vegan diets, the walking tour operator has been working hard to improve dietary options.
Accommodation hosts on three of On Foot Holidays’ self-guided walks have committed to providing excellent vegan cooking or ensuring there are suitable restaurants nearby. The hosts are also able to supply suitable alternatives for vegetarian, gluten-free and lactose-free diets.
Many more will be added in the coming year but the three vegan-friendly routes so far are the Greek island of Andros, Italy’s Ligurian Hills and Lycia in Turkey.
“The dishes on offer for vegans can sometimes be uninspiring and repetitive,” said Simon Scutt, director of On Foot Holidays. “We don’t want any of our walkers to miss out on the wonderful variety of regional cuisines in Europe that make a holiday so enjoyable.
“Our local contact in the Ligurian Hills led the way by improving the options for vegan walkers in his corner of Italy and we have followed this up with two other routes in Greece and Turkey, which already have very good vegetarian cooking. We’ll keep working on it elsewhere.”
A coastal region in northwest Italy, Liguria is known for its rolling hills and seaside ports. The eight-night hike travels across the foothills of the scenic Apennine Mountains, beginning with two days walking through vineyards and woods, followed by high-ridge walking, before finishing at the picturesque fishing port of Camogli. Along the way, travellers will pass ancient market towns, meadows, castles and wild horses.
Guests will stay in small, family-run B&Bs and hotels, offering authentic Italian hospitality with sophisticated home cooking and local wines.
Vegan dishes available at hotels on the route include chickpea gnocchi with aubergines, polenta with vegetable ragu, grilled tofu with turmeric on chickpea cream, burgers made of seitan, legumes and vegetables, chocolate and avocado mousse and homemade lemon sherbet with fruit. The final destination, Camogli, boasts several restaurants that specialise in vegan dishes.
The eight-night, self-guided walk in Liguria, Italy, is available from about $1976 and includes accommodation, all breakfasts, five evening meals, six picnics and all luggage transfers. Payments can be made via Earthport FX transfer, a system which offers Australians the convenience of paying for walks in Australian dollars at a local bank, saving transfer charges and credit card fees.
Rated one of Europe’s leading self-guided walking tour operators, On Foot Holidays offers 32 tours in 12 countries across Europe.
Accommodation and information packs are provided for all the routes and optional guides are available on select itineraries.
Walkers select their departure dates, luggage is transferred between inns each day and all routes are designed by locals. Visit www.onfoot holidays.co.uk.