Walking in Tuscany

Just back from hiking in Northern Tuscany's little known Garfagnana region. Varied walks and terrain with incredible views and a great sense of satisfaction. Really enjoyed the company of our group, the lovely views, pool and family welcome from our comfortable argriturismo and trying lots of traditional Italian food.

Fantastic area of Italy. Unspoilt rural haven.

We have had many trips with Exodus over the years and I can honestly say this ranks as one of the best. The location at Agriturismo Braccicort was superb, with wonderful grounds, sustainable farming, good food provided by the lovely Italian family and rooms with views. The area is truly a best kept secret as we saw very few other walkers and yet we were amongst wonderful mountains with amazing views stretching for miles. Great bird life and loads of fabulous wild flowers.

Our first guided tour with Exodus, and first ever, was great. The setting, food, group dynamic and leader were all more than I for!

Fantastic trip with a good variety of walks. The Garfagnana area truly is one of Italy's best kept secrets - a lot of the time it felt like you had the whole place to yourself! The whole area is absolutely stunning.

Wonderful scenery, excellent Tuscan rustic accommodation, very friendly staff and an amazing tour guide. The walking caters for all within 'moderate' abilities, allowing for challenging yourself if you choose with experienced support.

The accommodation was in an agriturismo farm. It was a very nice place to be with all the beautiful scenery around to view on waking. Elvis the dog was a great accompaniment. The walking or hiking was tough in some places but on completion you felt a great sense of achievement.The food at the farm was delicious. Breakfast and lunch were self service but all was provided to make a hearty meal. Dinner was there courses of home made items.

This was our first exodus trip and exceeded our expectations in every way. From the first contact I had with Exodus over the phone, I was impressed by how efficient and helpful the travel advisor Robyn was, she answered all of my queries and was accommodating when we needed to change our travel dates after paying the deposit. The subsequent contacts with Exodus were helpful and informative and the trip notes answered all questions we had when preparing for our trip. Sara Bull our guide was amazing, she is so enthusiastic about the area and managed to perfectly balance being supportive of everyone's abilities and confidence levels, while still challenging the group. Our group gelled well and walks and meals together were enjoyable and fun. Sara never pressured any member of the group to walk faster than they were comfortable with, and paced the walks perfectly to keep energy levels up. The walking was hard at times, but was definitely worth it for some amazing views at the top. We loved having the company of Sara's dog Elvis, and the dogs and cats around Braccicorti added to the family style feel of the accommodation. We feel so lucky to have had a fantastic guide, and such an enjoyable first trip with Exodus. Our only concern is that our future trip expectations are now very high!

Having completed seven previous Exodus walking holidays, we had high hopes for our eighth. We were not disappointed as this trip was the best we have been on so far. The area we walked in was beautiful and quiet, full of views, forests, mountains and history. We stayed at Braccicorti, a characterful farmhouse where we were well looked after by the family. The food was local, fresh and really well cooked and presented and something of a highlight in itself. The walking is moderately hard, but very rewarding. Very quiet tracks and panoramic views from the mountains. As usual, the group were like minded individuals and on this trip everyone gelled and got on really well.

I had a great trip staying at Braccicorti and walking in the remote mountains.The accommodation is a family run hotel. The family are very friendly and the food wholesome and locally sourced. The trip was full on, we were busy most of the time. The walking was quite tough but very enjoyable, we reached lots of peaks and there were always options for the less able. Apart from our day off and one of the day's of walking we were very much off the beaten track and did not meet too many other people. The whole group gelled well together over a common love of walking.

The walking in Tuscany trip far exceeded my expectations. The whole trip was meticulously planned and it was so easy to relax right from the start and simply enjoy myself. The accommodation at Agriturismo Braccicorti was clean and comfortable and the family who run it are just the loveliest people and made everyone feel so welcome. The food was simple, locally sourced and we were very well fed. The walking (Level 3) was absolutely fantastic - made all the better by our simply wonderful guide Sara, and the lovely group of people on the trip. I was a bit apprehensive about the weather as there had been storms the week before we went. However our guide Sara is an absolute expert on the region and was able to plan each days walk to take full advantage of where the weather was the most glorious on each day's hike.

A fantastic week in Tuscany, the family who ran the Agriturismo were delightful and could not be more friendly, considerate and helpful. The accommodation is fairly basic,but clean and comfortable (as expected). We were worried prior to the trip about the weather, but it turned out to be sunny most of the week! The itinery was just amazing, varied and with some quite incredible walks; especially the last day hiking up Monte Sumbra - unforgetable! The walking group was a great cross section of people, and many laughs were had over the week.....all I can say is it is a 'must do' trip!

A wonderful experience walking and sightseeing in the Garfognana area, Tuscany. Staying at a picturesque, comfortable family run Agricultural Farmhouse. Very friendly, hardworking staff providing us with homemade food and wine. A friendly group of 12 and a very experienced and personable walk leader.

If you think of Tuscany you think of rolling hills. Stop. The Garfagnana Mountains are a relatively undiscovered part of Tuscany........and they are indeed Mountains !!!! In fact they are superb mountains with beautiful climbs through gorgeous forests, onto green plateaus with alpine flowers and finally onto the rocky craggy peaks with 360 degree views far and wide. Where better to sit with your new group of friends and have a tasty picnic lunch. This is one of the best walking trips I have been on with Exodus..........made even better by the unique accommodation and the splendid food provided. I cannot fault it in any way.

I can't summarise this trip any better than the excellent reviews already given on this page. A great combination of some varied and challenging walking, comfortable and relaxing accommodation and a 1st class group leader.

After having to change the departure date several times due to Covid, this walking week in the Stunning Hills of North West Tuscany was truly worth waiting for. The area is blessed with stunning scenery in every direction, and throughout the week you get a front row seat in experiencing it up close and personal. The trip notes accurately reflect the walks and the summit finishes will get the blood pumping and lungs working overtime, however the reward for this effort is plain to see. A good level of fitness is required, however our group leader, Sara Bull, looked after us all and made sure everyone felt comfortable. She is a truly amazing person, with such local knowledge and obvious passion for the history of the locality and family run business. She delivers the experience with such professionalism and attention to detail, which is to be applauded. From arranging evening outs at local restaurants, taxi's, train tickets & information to Lucca for the day off excursion, she has everything covered. The Agriturismo Braccicorti is charming, and is a typical restored Tuscan Farmhouse, complete with its own cast members strolling the grounds. Accommodation is simple but comfortable, the Italian homecooked food is lovely, as is the red wine, and dining alfresco each evening made for a great opportunity to mix in our small group of eight people, and re-live the experience of the days hiking. My tip to anyone thinking of going on this trip (or any trip to Italy) is try to learn a few words of Italian, as I had done during lockdown. Whilst I've a long way to go to call myself an able Italian speaker, my efforts in using my limited vocabulary were met with wonderful enthusiasm and delight on every occasion. I would therefore thoroughly recommend this trip to anyone considering it - just go for it and you wont be disappointed.

Excellent trip - had a really great time. The walking was varied and enjoyable with a mix of woods and mountain tops, rocks and even the odd patch of snow. I can't praise our guide Sarah enough. We were able to spread out and enjoy the walking at a different pace if we wanted but to come together easily for stops and directions. The landscape is stunning with magnificent views. She went out of her way to make the holiday special and to include everyone. Starting in the agristurismo made the holiday much more special. The sense that you are joining a family, the food is produced on site and cooked and prepare in a traditional style. The bedrooms are simple but functional and the site itself is a lovely place to stay with chickens wandering around and a golf course on site. The day we spent with the local guide was also really enjoyable - walking at a lower level and learning all about the area through different environments. We also had a lovely day in Lucca - we all decided to do the same day off, travelled together and although we split up to explore Lucca met up and travelled back and shared a meal out. The people on the trip are what make it and I couldn't have had a nicer group. I enjoyed every minute of this holiday.

This was not our first walking holiday in Italy but it was the first time that we had been with Exodus and our first experience of staying in an agiturismo. This type of accommodation adds to the experience in that there is more interaction with the local community and greater exposure to their way of life. Although not as popular as some other regions of Italy Garfagnana is well worth a visit and deserves to be better known.

This was a trip that will live long in my memory. My first journey abroad since the start of the COVID pandemic, the holiday was everything I hoped it would be and more. Stunning scenery, fantastic food, awesome accommodation, great people and a wonderful leader all combined to ensure that Italy will be the destination I will visit in my next holiday - and I would love to return to the Garfagnana region.

We did the challenging week in early September. Having done many 'challenging' holidays with Exodus in the past, for the first time a very challenging weeks walking was actually delivered. This was our first time in Tuscany and from the moment we got off the plane at Pisa we were taken with the area. The accommodation was idyllic and the surrounding scenery stunning. The day trip by train to Lucca was well worth it and very interesting.