Con grande piacere ospito questo post di Alison, appassionata viaggiatrice innamorata del suo paese, l’Inghilterra, e del turismo lento. Alison è ideatrice e fondatrice di Foot Trails, un’agenzia che si occupa di turismo rurale e organizza itinerari a piedi lungo i sentieri più spettacolari e meno battuti d’Inghilterra.
Alison ci racconta com’è nata l’idea di Foot Trails e come si è evoluta negli anni.
I began Foot Trails a British travel company, because I was frustrated by the stereotypical image of walking in England and by a lack of authenticity in UK walking experiences.
I grew up in farming. For me walking is a wonderful way to explore and travel. It connects the visitor to the landscape in a way that is totally different to any other form of transport. It’s slow and deliberate. It enables you the traveller to immerse yourself in the landscape. Taking your time you discover the lands stories and histories, nature and villages.
This was 11 years ago. Since then Foot Trails has grown from a company I began at my kitchen table to one of the leading British travel companies for rural England walking.
Today with Foot Trails you can explore many different counties of South West England including Dorset, Somerset, The Cotswolds, Wiltshire and Bath and Avon. The South West of England is blessed with a milder climate than other regions of the UK as well as a fascinating history and varied landscapes that include woodland, river, meadow, chalk down, market town, village, pasture and farm land.
Each county has its own particular beauty, characteristics, local food specialities and architecture. We work to bring out the best of these qualities as we create our foot trails from scratch and hand-pick local country pubs as accommodation. Country pubs and country inns are of course a unique style of accommodation to England. They have been offering hospitality to travellers for centuries and seen a wonderful refurbishment in the past decade. We hand-pick each ensuring a blend of character and indulgence with modern standards. They really do make a wonderful way to explore the countryside.
Foot Trails are unique ways to walk in England too. Largely avoiding the well known national trails (some of which see in excess of 800 000 visitors a year) our authentic trails take you off the beaten track. You will wander peacefully through villages, hamlets, pass ancient churches and historic sites, enjoy breath-taking views of England’s green pastures. Each trail is planned to features a lunchtime country pub or farm café so you can enjoy our wonderful local food on route.
I’ve picked a few counties here where we have created Foot Trails and highlighted some of the experiences you can consider.
The Cotswolds are well known for their honey coloured stone, dry stone walls and beautiful villages. Some areas of the Cotswolds become terribly busy with visitors but our trails use local knowledge to avoid these typically tourist areas and take you off the beaten track.
Choose Secret Corswolds to really get away from it all. Or Journey Across the Cotswolds for a more classic yet peaceful inn to inn experience.
Wiltshire is less well known than the Cotswolds but has astounding beauty and a rich human history that stretches back some 6000 years. Many know Wiltshire for Stonehenge but the county has hidden beauty and the South has a string of delightful medieval villages.
For medieval history and England’s only hexagonal castle try Knights Medieval Castle or weave in Dorset with our Wiltshire and Dorset Borders inn to inn style holiday.
Thank you for reading about us. For more information about walking in England with Foot Trails please visit our website at http://www.foottrails.co.uk read more about our story or discover the other walking experiences we offer.