Sardinia walking vacation, Italy

Planet

Activity:
Few vacations have as little detrimental impact on the environment and local residents as a walking trip. Erosion on and adjacent to popular paths is a growing problem in certain places and therefore our trip leaders encourage clients to stick to advised routes in order to minimise this. We do believe in leaving no more than footprints, although this tour does encourage clients to have a positive effect by engaging with locals, using cafes and restaurants, and investing in traditional gifts and local produce. By visiting a number of places of interest and offering additional optional excursions, we support those who run these trips and the upkeep of historically important sites.

UK Office:
It all starts at home so we have first worked at reducing our carbon footprint in our UK Offices. Through energy conservation measures and recycling policies, we are proud to be actively reducing the waste produced and our impact on the environment. We support various projects all over the world to try and give something back to the places we visit.

People

Accommodation and Meals:
We will be spending 7 days at a comfortable, family-run hotel within walking distance of Dorgali. Only 7km from the beautiful coast, this small agricultural town is famous for its crafts and ceramics and offers a wide choice of shops, restaurants and bars. As the hotel is locally staffed, this has multiple benefits for the community: local employment opportunities are created and income generated is reinvested in the area. Most meals are included and chefs at the hotel’s locally renowned restaurant seek to take advantage of the rich and varied local produce available in the Mediterranean. This will include delicious regional cheeses and meats, fresh fruit and salads, and catch of the day. Free meal times are a an opportunity to support local businesses and to try some Sardinian specialties, like almond cakes, local honey, homemade clam pasta, suckling pig, cheese and mint ravioli, fish roe and cheese pastries.

Local Craft and Culture:
We explore this Nuraghic village of Serra Orrios and its complex arrangement of circular huts dating back to the Bronze Age. There is also the option to visit the other archaeological sites of the Dorgali region, which include the Archaeological Museum and the ethnological Park and Museum of s'Abba frisca. As for local crafts, we pass several manufacturers on our route that make jewellery, leather goods, ceramics and wine. We arrange for a wine tasting in a small wine factory where we learn about the local wines and how they are made. Cannonau Doc Vigna di Isalle is a smooth, local red wine which is popular in the area and clients are welcome to buy some from these small suppliers.

Group Size:
This small group tour has a maximum of 16 participants, meaning that we have a low impact on the environments and communities we visit and are able to ensure that we do not disrupt or lead to the displacement of local people. The small number also allows us to stay in unique, family-run hotels that cannot benefit from coach tours and other mass tourism due to their limited sizes.