Newsletter > Newsletter archive > December 2019

December 2019


Wishing you great Christmas and New Year walks

The team at Walkingworld wish you a very happy Christmas and New Year. The weather over the holidays promises to be fine - at least some of the time - and we hope you'll get out and enjoy some nice walks with friends and family.

Please do let any non-members of Walkingworld know that they can join and print out their first walk for free. This includes being able to download the walk to the Walkingworld app complete with full Ordnance Survey mapping. Their chosen walk needs to be selected as their 'free sample' on the main website and they should do the app download after doing that.

Of course if you are feeling especially generous you could buy them a Walkingworld gift subscription. It's the perfect last minute gift as you can simply forward your recipeint the redemption instructions as a PDF (or print them out and slip them into a card). Gift subscriptions are at the standard £18 a year rate and the subscription can be started whenever they like.

Finally there are still copies of the Wainwright Society 2020 Calendar available. The proceeds from this year's calendar are going to the Blencathra Centre, part of the Field Studies Council, an environmental education charity providing outdoor learning opportunities for all ages. The calendar is £10 including p&p, purchased direct from the Wainwright Society website.

Peneda-Gerês, wild & untamed

For a thin strip of a country, Portugal has a wonderful variety of scenery: the unspoiled beaches and timeless fishing villages of the Alentejo; the vine-carpeted Douro Valley; and Sintra, with its exuberant palaces and luxuriant, wooded hilltops. Each of these landscapes is beautiful and unique, yet none, perhaps, holds quite as many surprises as the Peneda-Gerês National Park - location of Inntravel's newest walking holiday, High Paths of Northern Portugal.

Beginning in a sleepy riverside town just beneath the border with Spain, this self-guided, hotel-to-hotel route challenges, rewards and wows. It follows paths worn smooth by the feet of pilgrims and Roman soldiers to climb in and out of gaping valleys, pass through tiny, forgotten hamlets and cross panoramic mountain plateaus. It surprises with its wildlife - herds of wild Garrano horses and magnificent, long-horned Cachena cows graze among the hilly pastures - and with its age-old traditions and unexploited natural beauty. Despite being the country's only National Park, Peneda-Gerês remains virtually unknown to tourists, meaning walkers often have the wild and untamed scenery all to themselves.

Adding to the drama of the landscape are a number of splendid sanctuaries that reflect the area's deep-rooted religious legacy. One of these - the Sanctuary of Our Lady in Peneda - towers just above the Hotel Peneda - one of the six diverse accommodations to feature on this holiday. Guests can also look forward to stays at a traditional village house and a palatial pousada, both full of character and brimming with history.

For more information on this or any other of Inntravel's walking holidays, visit inntravel.co.uk or speak to their expert team on 01653 617034.

High Paths of Northern Portugal
- Self-guided hotel-to-hotel walking holiday
- Prices from £830pp, inc 7 nights' B&B accommodation, 4 dinners, 5 picnics, luggage transfers between hotels & detailed route notes
- Flights extra (direct to Porto from several UK regional airports)
- Available 1 April-14 July & 20 August-31 October 2020
Article in association with the Portuguese National Tourist Board.

Events for your diary
The 41st Annual South Downs Way Walk will take place from 5th to 13th June 2020, walking the 105 miles in the more popular direction from Winchester to Eastbourne. For over forty years people from all over the world have been enjoying this fun event, which is open to everyone. The trout farm shown left is a welcoming lunch stop on day 2 of the trail. Full details are on the event website.

The Galicia Walking Festival is a hiker's celebration held from May 2nd to 30th, 2020 in Galicia (Spain). Guided by a team of local people, there are four hiking programs for a full week in four different destinations, plus lots of complementary activities. With walking trails, gastronomy, handicraft, cultural visits, local festivals and regional music, each program is focused on a particular locality.

Midsummer Malvern in 2020 - its tenth anniversary - will include events highlighting the history and architecture of Malvern, along with music from the Fontana choir from Mariánské Lázně in the Czech Republic, Malvern's twinned town. Also in the programme are the natural history of the hills and the past, present and future of Malvern in innovation and cyber technology. More details are to follow on the Civic Society website.