Food and Wine

Guests on Hedonistic Hiking tours finish their holidays with memories of the food and wine being just as important as their memories of the hiking. Regional dishes, traditional recipes and seasonal ingredients are of paramount importance to us and our tours give guests a unique opportunity to taste the very best of what is on offer.

Picnic Lunches

We are often quite literally walking through the menu each day as we pass vineyards, orchards, wheat fields, alpine pastures or fishing villages. Our talented Tour Managers set off each morning to local markets and producers to bring together a fabulous al fresco lunch for the hikers to enjoy. Typically this will include locally cured meats, fresh cheeses, seasonal salads and fruit, freshly-baked bread and maybe a sweet treat which will be a speciality of the area. Italy of course is a country whose population loves to eat and every region has held on to its tried and tested recipes and traditional dishes. We usually have a couple of easy-drinking wines to go with lunches. We also always carry hiking snacks for the group, so walkers can boost energy levels with nuts, seeds and dried fruits. Many of our picnic ideas can be found in our Recipe Section.

Dinners

On all our tours we offer a variety of dining experiences, from small characteristic osterias to restaurants of renown and, on occasion, award-winning establishments with big reputations. We work hard to plan menus which celebrate the best local ingredients and which showcase the traditions of the regions where we are hiking. We also seek to balance the evenings so that dinners with four or more courses are interspersed with lighter meals, and we always take into the account the amount of walking completed on a given day. It goes without saying that all courses are matched with excellent regional wines. Our tour pages have Sample Menus:

Wines

Wine is another of our great loves in life. We take huge pleasure in sharing with our guests information about local grape varieties and the stories of families who have produced wines for generations in the areas where we hike. We love to seek out winemakers or Enotecas where we can organise cellar visits and tastings. All of our dinners are matched with carefully chosen regional wines and often we will throw in an aperitif or digestif if there is something interesting to try.

Festivals and Tastings

Depending on the itinerary, if there is a local festival taking place where we are staying, then we will always allow time to explore it. This might be the annual mushroom fair in Borgotaro, the chestnut festival in Palazzuolo, or the cherry celebrations in Brda. We always hunt for the famous white truffles when we’re in Alba and we visit cheese producers to find out more about parmesan in Parma and mozzarella di bufala in Campania. In Sardinia we learn from the shepherds about their ewe’s milk cheeses and discover the alpine cheeses from Italy’s highest mountains.

Cooking Classes

Finally, on many of our itineraries, there are cooking classes taught by local chefs which showcase a favourite handmade pasta, and our groups always enjoy dining on the fruits of their labours. We find that everyone enjoys participating and many guests continue to make their own pasta when they return home.

There are no hidden extras on the tours and if an itinerary includes a cooking class, a wine tasting or a visit to a cheese producer this is included. If we stop for a coffee mid-hike, or an ice-cream perhaps at the end of an afternoon, then this is also taken care of by us. We check with guests at the point of booking if they have any allergies or intolerances so that we are prepared to accommodate any requests. We ourselves are passionate about good food and wine and we take great pleasure in sharing these passions with our guests.