Walking in Emilia-Romagna, self guided hiking vacation

Planet

CARBON REDUCTION

This self-guided walking vacation along the Cammino dell’Unione is slow by its very nature, with guests walking between 12-24km per day through the hills and villages of Emilia-Romagna. Created to reconnect people with the land and nature, the route allows guests to explore this lesser-visited region at a slower pace and with minimal carbon emissions.

With all of our tours, we encourage our guests to travel to and around Italy using buses and trains whenever possible. This itinerary starts and finishes in Vignola, which is accessible by rail. Although luggage is transferred by a local provider, guests complete the route itself on foot.


ENVIRONMENT AND WILDLIFE

This walking tour takes guests through the Modena Hills, Terre dei Castelli and Sassi di Roccamalatina Regional Park, one of the natural highlights of the route.
The Cammino dell’Unione was created to reconnect people with land and nature, and guests experience these quieter rural landscapes slowly, on foot.

We remind guests to practise Leave No Trace throughout their trip, especially when walking through villages, farmland, woodland and Sassi di Roccamalatina Regional Park.
With regards to drinking water, we ask guests to bring refillable water bottles as well as a reusable shopping bag to avoid single-use plastic during their trip. We also ask guests to take any packaging away with them and be mindful of not dropping litter.
We have an in-house expert, who shares tips and advice with our guests in trip notes, blogs and newsletters. For example, on how to reduce their impact on the environment and wildlife and respect the places and communities they pass through.

People

LOCAL ECONOMY

Accommodation on this tour includes a mix of small, locally-run hotels, B&Bs, agriturismos and traditional inns. They have been carefully selected based on a variety of criteria including their location, warm hospitality, good local food and connection to the area.
The itinerary takes guests through villages and small towns such as Vignola, Levizzano, Pieve di Trebbio, Zocca and Guiglia, where tourism can make a difference to local businesses. Guests are encouraged to stop for refreshments, buy lunches and snacks locally, and dine in restaurants or at their accommodation where available, meaning their spending directly supports local businesses, hosts and families along the route.

EMPLOYMENT, INCLUSIVITY AND DIVERSITY

All of our partners in Italy are locally employed and play an important role in contributing to the local economy. At home, we have a strict policy to pay all our own employees and team members a living wage and fair wage, with vacation entitlement. In the hiring process, we prioritise experience, qualifications and passion, emphasising that race, gender, sexual orientation, or nationality are not factors of consideration. We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace based on skills and expertise. We also endeavour to support any guests with visible and non-visible disabilities or any special requirements, when possible.