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Journeys through the mountains

There is something very appealing about the idea of walking from the mountains to the sea. By their very nature, such walks offer great variety of scenery, and to experience the gradual transition from mountain to coastal scenery is in itself fascinating, adding an additional dimension to your walking holiday. Much more than that though, it is the sense of journey that you experience, which in turn brings a feeling of achievement on arrival at the coast. Added to that, of course, is the fact that after several days of walking, your final day can be spent relaxing by the sea, a just reward for your efforts!

Launched in 1999, our From the Picos to the Sea walk has become one of our classic routes, earning consistently high praise from our customers. What makes this holiday so special is the combination of dramatically beautiful scenery, rare wildlife (we have seen golden eagles and griffon vultures on our own walks here) and the authentic casonas in which you stay along the route. Casonas are traditional village houses that have been lovingly converted into small, intimate hotels, at which you are made to feel like a welcome house guest. Our favourite is the Casona d'Alevia, run by the affable Sánchez family. It took them three years to convert the house, but their efforts have certainly paid off – the interior is inviting and beautifully appointed; the attention to detail, right down to the hand-painted coat-hangers, is astonishing. It is a real family affair – Mari Lupe and Gregorio are always on hand to greet and help guests (though they speak very little English, they manage to make guests feel very welcome nonetheless). We remember being treated to wild mushroom crêpes followed by rabbit casserole - delicious!

For us, one of the real highlights of the Garrotxa to the Mediterranean walk in Catalonia comes on the last day. After walking through the secret, wooded hills of the Garrotxa that shelter beneath the mighty Pyrenees, the last day's walk takes you across the Cap de Creus, the rugged promontory that forms Spain's easternmost point. The headland has been declared a Natural Park, and the dramatic, rocky landscape coated with low shrubs and aromatic plants is particularly beautiful early in the season, when flowers carpet the ground. You pass the lovely ruins of a hermitage and, at the mid-point of the walk, a superb viewpoint from which you can see the Pyrenees.

At the other end of the chain, our Pyrenees to Atlantic walk is a discovery of the remarkably green mountains of the Basque Country. You cannot help but feel a tingle of adventure as you ascend to panoramic passes and wind back and forth across the Franco-Spanish border while raptors circle overhead. One of our favourite walks is that of the penultimate day. You start by taking the cog railway to the summit of La Rhune, 900 metres above sea level. The views are simply breathtaking – you can look across to the Bay of Biscay, the forests of Les Landes, and back along the Pyrenean chain. After admiring the panorama, you walk into Spain, crossing the Ibardin Pass back into France for a series of ascents and descents as you walk from col to col. Another fascinating aspect of this holiday is that you gain an insight into Basque culture. Seemingly every village has a court for pelote (a blend of squash and tennis), the friendly people commonly speak Basque between themselves, and the shutters of the whitewashed houses are usually painted either green or red, the colours of the flag. The cuisine, too, is distinctive – try poulet à la basquaise, chicken in a spicy sauce of tomatoes and peppers, and brebis mountain cheese served with a black cherry conserve. We will never forget one visit to the Hotel Manechenea in St-Etienne-de-Baïgorry a few years back – as we were sitting eating pipérade, another local dish, followed by a delicious black cherry tart, we were regaled with an impromptu session of harmonies from the local men who occasionally meet there at lunchtimes.

In the opposite corner of France, it is the colourful Italianate culture and varied scenery that draws us to the Alpes Maritimes. Our Alps to the Mediterranean walk leads you through gorges and across the slopes of wooded mountains, passing through pretty villages perchés in which Italian is just as commonly heard as French. One of the real highlights, and an option that we thoroughly recommend, is the excursion into the wild and mysterious Vallée des Merveilles. The valley's dramatic rock formations are astonishing, but even more intriguing are the Bronze Age rock carvings. The holiday ends with two nights in the bustling Riviera town of Menton, seemingly a million miles away (in atmosphere, at least) from the mountains that you have just explored.

A more recent addition to our programme is the Mountains of Sicily walk. Like the rest of the island, Sicily's Madonie Mountains which rise from the centre and stretch northwards towards the Tirrenian Sea are full of contrasts. Beech and oak woods can suddenly give way to vineyards and olive groves, for example, but for us the most striking feature is the sense of space and the absolute tranquillity – this is a superb choice if you like to explore off the beaten track in regions little known to foreigners. As you walk, you enjoy sweeping views towards the Aeolian Islands, and you reach the sea on the fifth day, having followed the Madonie Mountains to their final craggy peak, La Rocca, which frames the coastal village of Cefalù and its sandy bay.

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