Milan Walking Trips

An excellent holiday, unfortunately the weather wasn't as good as it could have been ( and it could have been worse) but our guide expertly adjusted the daily itinerary to accommodate our walks to locations that were least impacted meaning we could continue to walk.

Peppe is an excellent tour leader. He made sure the whole experience was very enjoyable. I was specially impressed with the way he checked in to make sure that the people who had not joined the individual walks were ok and helped plan alternative activities for them.

Enjoyed the location, the stunning views and the beautiful walks overlooking Lake Como. Peppe was an excellent walking guide and very conscientious in looking after all members of the group.

A fabulous trip from start to finish. Much of this was down to our tour leader, Nigel. He was very informative, caring and had a great sense of humour. We made the most of our time by starting our walks fairly early to coordinate with the buses and ferries. The walks were manageable and the scenery was wonderful. The picnics provided by Nigel were fantastic. Although a large group, we all got on well. The Hotel Regina is in a great location overlooking the lake and just a short walk from the small town of Gravedona. The hotel is a lovely place to stay with very friendly staff and very good food. A real treat was to have both the lake and pool to swim in after a day’s walking and to be able to relax.

The location for this walking holiday is perfect. Gravedona is a quiet lakeside town, away from the busier towns further south on Lake Como, with the hotel a short walk away and views over the lake. The group leader Nigel, was great. He organised picnics for each day's walking, managed to keep us, a large group of walkers, on schedule for the various buses and ferries that we had to catch, and was a fount of useful information as we walked each day. The walks were interesting and varied, and our efforts in the ascents were rewarded with fabulous views over the lake and mountains beyond with plenty of opportunity to take pictures and admire the scenery. I can thoroughly recommend this holiday.

This was my first solo walking holiday and it won't be my last after the experience I had. The location on the shores of Lake Como and the Hotel Regina were fantastic. The hotel had great facilities being the pool and lake for swimming and the balcony rooms overlooking the lake and mountains were great. The hotel staff were also very friendly and efficient and the food was very good. The group I was with was large being 16 including the guide but we all got on fine. The guide, Nigel was excellent. You could tell immediately he was very experienced in this type of activity and if there were any incidents whilst walking he would sort it out. His knowledge of the surrounding area was very good and he had a great sense of humour. He also never rushed the group and explained from the start that if you didn't want to do something then that was fine. This was your holiday and you did what you wanted! Nigel also communicated very well. We had a briefing at 7pm each evening before dinner and then he repeated it again at breakfast. We knew exactly what we were doing and this was in line with the itinerary. The picnic's on the walks were very good and we had minimal waste which lived up to one of Explores sustainable values. The walking at times was hard but Nigel explained that you do it steady and slow and was very encouraging. When you had finished you had a real sense of achievement as it would be easy to give up especially on the climbs up! The scenery was stunning and we were lucky to have great weather, only thunderstorms overnight! Also the rest day (albeit mine was not that restful as I went to the Castle in Verenna which was a hike in itself!) is much needed and I would ask that Explore keep that in! Overall a great experience and I have already booked another holiday with Explore in September in the Dolomites and Lake Garda for walking and cycling.