Our tailormade trips: travelling Italy, the SloWays way

Crafting Your Ideal Holiday: Personalized Adventures with Us
What comes to mind when you think of the “ideal holiday”?

For everyone, it’s a bit different: a full-on, two-week hiking trip, a hike-and-taste foodie tour, a museum-hopping expedition through the most beautiful art cities, an immersion in Italy’s iconic beauty—these are just a few of the holiday themes our travelers have requested over the years.

Hiking, fun, culture: you can have it all 

We also believe that a walking holiday can be much more than just staying active. While we love walking and hiking tours might be our favorite way to spend our holidays, that doesn’t mean all we want to do is keep moving. When we travel, we strive for a perfect balance of walking, exploring, savoring, basking in the sun, relaxing, and much more. We firmly believe you don’t have to choose between an active holiday, an explorative one, or a relaxing getaway—you can have it all in one perfectly tailored trip. That’s how we like to travel, and that’s what we want for our curious, discerning travelers.

A Trip That’s Truly Your Own
Think of our catalog as a starting point to build your perfect vacation. To make it truly your own, it might just need a few tweaks—like adding a few rest days in particularly charming spots along the route, relaxing on the beach, exploring the countryside on a winery tour, or maybe upgrading your stay to make your holiday even more special. Ever wondered how it feels to sleep in a castle? Love Agriturismi? Dream of staying at wine estates? Prefer characterful B&Bs and boutique hotels? Let us know, and we'll do our best to include some extra-special nights.

If you have a specific passion—a wine connoisseur, a contemporary art aficionado, or anything else you love—let us know when booking. We can tailor your trip to include your interests, like reserving a special restaurant, adding an extra day at a museum, or finding a couple of great wineries to visit along the way.

Tips for Long-Distance Travelers

If you're coming from far away, like Australia, we recommend planning a rest day around the third day of your holiday. That’s typically when the initial excitement starts to wane and jet lag kicks in. A day devoted to relaxing and exploring at your own pace can help you overcome the third-day slump, so you can continue your trip well-rested and ready for more adventures.

The Perfect Itinerary Off the Shelf

Don’t let our catalog limit you—part of our expertise (and one of the things we love most) is creating the best trip for you by combining several of our pre-made itineraries.

Our Caminos are a great example of our flexibility. Take the Via Francigena, our top itinerary, a 1000-kilometer route to Rome that can be walked in sections of any length, from a couple of days to an unforgettable adventure covering the entire route. Let us know how many days you have and what you’d like to see and experience, and we’ll suggest the stages you should walk. We can tailor your trip to include the staggering Alpine peaks of the Saint Bernard Pass, the scenic routes through Tuscany, or the last 100 kilometers to earn the Testimonium certificate. These distances can often be covered with high-speed trains—our country's frequent, easy-to-book public transportation makes it all possible.

We can combine a couple of days from different trips to create the perfect blend—sea and mountains, art and outdoors, fresh mountain air and warm southern sun—or suggest you combine two trips from our catalog, one after the other.

If you like what you are reading and need some inspiration to start planning, here are a few of the fun options that we have offered to our travellers!

• Hiking in the Italian’s Art Cities: after walking Via degli Dei from Bologna to Florence, add a few fun days in Florence before hopping on a train to Viterbo; you can then walk the last section of Via Francigena through ancient Etruscan roads, enchanted forests and waterfalls to Rome, where you can spend extra days to explore the Eternal City.

• A trip for wine lovers: our trip under the Tuscan Sun crosses the Brunello vineyards and is perfect to taste the most cherished Italian wines; you can then head via train to the Langhe area –a heaven for wine-lovers - for a hiking trip from Barolo to Barbaresco, the royalty of Piedmontese wines.

• Classic Italian Beauty: enjoy a hiking trip among the multi-colored coastal villages and sinuous roads of Cinque Terre, before heading to Tuscany to fill up on beauty along the Heart of Via Francigena, the most beautiful section of the Camino to Rome. If you have an extra few days you can add a post-trip in Rome, or explore Tuscany even further.

• Exploring the North: land in Milan – the fashionably hectic capital of the North, and then head to the Lake for a haul of glamorous villas and beautiful views. You can opt for the Como and Lugano lakes trip, or the lesser-known (but more authentic) eastern side of the Lake with the Sentiero del Viandante. Finally, top it off with a few days on the border with Switzerland, walking the Via Spluga (soon to be online!)

Another option is adding some more art and culture–focused days after your hiking trip: if you have reached Rome walking, we suggest taking the high-speed train (not even 5 hours!) to Naples to explore a completely different vibe and include Pompeii, easily reachable with a short ride from Naples.

Have you walked the Coastal Walk of Puglia? Why not cross the ‘boot-sole” of Italy and head to another coast – Amalfi is the perfect destination to add a few hikes or just bask in even more Italian beauty. And while you are going, stop in Matera for something completely different from anything else you’ll ever see, or add a stop on the way to taste the incredible wines of Sannio, a little-known foodie hub that the world has still to discover!

Once you have made up your mind – or if you really can’t - shoot us an email at info@sloways.eu - we will connect all dots and create the “ideal holiday”, uniquely tailored for you!