WALKING HOLIDAYS COLLECTION 2020

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The Julian Alps of Slovenia, Venice & Trieste 8 days from £889 May & September great views of the mountains, before descending to the riverside and returning to Kranjska Gora. 7 miles, 200m of ascent/ descent. Walk 3: Coach transfer to Lake Bled for two walks. Firstly, you walk from Bled, passing through unspoilt villages to reach the Vintgar Gorge, with a boardwalk above the river in its narrow gorge. On returning to Bled (6 miles so far, fairly level) you have some free time before the second part of your Bled walking day, undertaking the best-known walk in Slovenia. This walk (a further 4 miles) has superb views over Lake Bled, its Castle and to the surrounding mountains. It is level apart from the climb up to the viewpoint on the hill of Osojnica. The Italian cities of Venice and Trieste, the coastline of the Venice Gulf and the Julian Alps of Slovenia are the ingredients for this varied and interesting walking holiday. The ‘Serenissima’ – the ‘most serene’ Venetian republic, governed much of the Adriatic. The Winged Lion of St Mark, the city’s emblem, can be seen everywhere in the region - look out for it in Trieste when you travel between Italy and Slovenia. As well as a visit to Venice, there is a guided walk down into James Joyce’s Trieste, another in the mountain resort of Kranjska Gora and a third around beautiful Lake Bled high in the Alps. • 3 nights hb Lido di Jesolo, 4 nights hb in the Slovenian Mountains • Excursion to Venice by boat • Visits to Trieste and Udine • 3 varied guided walks in Italy and Slovenia PROGRAMME DAY ONE: Flight to Venice or Treviso airports. Transfer to your hotel (40 minutes from Venice airport, one hour from Treviso) for two nights half board accommodation in Lido di Jesolo, a resort town with 10 miles of beach. DAY TWO: After breakfast, you set off for a full day excursion to nearby Venice. There is a 40-minute coach transfer to Punta Sabbioni for the scenic boat trip across the lagoon – you arrive close to Piazza San Marco. After a walking tour with local guide, you will have time to explore the world’s most romantic city, the city of canals and islands. You return to your hotel, again by boat and coach, in time for dinner. DAY THREE: Today you drive east towards the border with the former Yugoslavia. Your main stop today is Trieste, once the major port of the Habsburg Austro- Hungarian Empire. Walk 1: This walk starts on a marvellous path from the little town of Prosecco (famous for its namesake wine) which leads through the karstic plateau and the cliffs overhanging the Adriatic Sea, with a detour en-route to Monte Grisa and Vedetta, before arriving at Villa Opicina passing close to the Emperor Franz I. Obelisk. From there, you take the local bus to Trieste, where you have some free time to explore the city where James Joyce lived and wrote many of his masterpieces. The walk is a little over 3 miles with ascent/descent of 200m/80m. After the walk you cross into Slovenia and head for the mountain resort of Kranjska Gora in the Upper Sava Valley, for four nights half board accommodation. 218 miles today. DAYS FOUR TO SIX: In Kranjska Gora with two included walking excursions and a free day, when an optional excursion into the Austrian province of Carinthia, with its sparkling blue lakes, will be offered. Walk 2: Kranjska Gora. Your circular walk climbs to the village of Srednji Vrh, with DAY SEVEN: Today you leave Slovenia for Italy. You cross the border and head to Udine, an interesting city with a long history. A Roman city in origin, it stands at a crossroads of languages and cultures: a mix of Italian, Slav and German elements, with a castle and stunning, marble, Romanesque Duomo. From there you continue back to Lido di Jesolo for one nights half board accommodation. 153 miles today. DAY EIGHT: Transfer to the airport for your return flight. YOUR HOTELS HOTEL SALUS HHHH, Lido di Jesolo (first two and last nights) The hotel is a two-minute walk from the beach and has a bar, restaurant and lounge and an outdoor pool. Bedrooms have air-conditioning, satellite tv, minibar, and a bathroom with shower and hairdryer. (www.hotelsalus.com) HOTEL KOMPAS HHHH, Kranjska Gora (four nights) The hotel lies 200 yards from the village centre. It has a restaurant, lounge, bar, garden, indoor pool, and comfortable modern bedrooms with cable tv, phone, safety deposit box, hairdryer, and bath/shower and wc. There is also a spa (charges apply). The hotel is part of the HIT hotel group and guests are welcome to avail themselves of the facilities of nearby sister hotels including the wellness centre (charges apply). (www.hit-alpinea.si/en/kompas-hotel) If you have friends who are not walkers interested in this itinerary, it is featured in our Escorted Holidays brochure with a touring programme. 28 | www.preferredts.com Please refer to the enclosed ‘Dates and Flight Information’ for details of departure dates, prices and flights.
Romania – Transylvanian Alps & Bucharest 8 days from £969 May & September Transylvania is a land of dramatic mountain scenery, idyllic rural countryside, Saxon medieval towns and villages and, of course, vampires! From your main base in the medieval merchant town of Brasov, there are two walks in the magnificent alpine landscapes of the Fagaras and Bucegi ranges, and a third walk in Viscri - a preserved pastoral setting unique to Romania. You also stay in Bucharest where you have a tour of Ceausescu’s colossal House of the Republic, while Bran Castle, on the way to Brasov, lives up to the eerie, ghoulish image that Bram Stoker’s Dracula evokes. • 3 nights bb in Bucharest • 4 nights bb in Brasov, and one dinner, in the Transylvanian Alps • Tour of Bucharest with entrance to the Palace of Parliament • 3 contrasting guided walks • Visit to Bran Castle PROGRAMME DAY ONE: Flight to Bucharest, transfer to your hotel in the centre of the city for two nights bed and breakfast hotel accommodation. There are plenty of restaurants in downtown Bucharest to suit all tastes and budgets. Your Tour Director will be on hand to assist. DAY TWO: Mid-morning walking tour of Bucharest. Romania’s cosmopolitan capital is well known for its wide boulevards and fine pre-World War I buildings that gave it the name of Little Paris. The tour will concentrate on the Old Town and the Calea Victoriei - Bucharest’s most famous avenue which leads to the beautiful Romanian Athenaeum, the Royal Palace and Revolution Square. Bucharest is also known for its stark Communist-era architecture, exemplified in Ceausescu’s monster House of the Republic, now known as the Palace of Parliament. A guided tour will show you some of 1,100 rooms of the world’s largest civilian administrative building. DAY THREE: Travel north through the Southern Carpathians to Brasov, stopping en route at Bran Castle. On a rocky outcrop guarding the entrance to a mountain pass, the castle was built by the Saxons in the late 14th century to defend Brasov from invasion by the Turks. Inside you’ll find displays of rich Western European furniture, which Queen Marie, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, purchased in the 1920s when the castle was used as a royal residence. Continue to Brasov for four nights bed and breakfast with dinner in a local restaurant this evening. (126 miles today). Arrival in Brasov will be late afternoon. Your Tour Director will conduct a short orientation walk of Brasov before dinner. DAYS FOUR TO SIX: In Brasov with two included walks. Brasov is a medieval town with ornate Saxon churches and townhouses. Local legend has it that when the Pied Piper lured away the children from Hamelin they re-emerged near Brasov’s main square, Pia'a Sfatului, in the heart of the medieval quarter. It is one of the finest Baroque squares in Romania. Here you can visit the 15th century Town Hall, with its quaint Trumpeter’s Tower on top, and the Lutheran Black Church - the largest Gothic church between Vienna and Istanbul with a 6-tonne bell and a huge organ with 4000 pipes. A great view of the old town is afforded from Mt Tampa which can be reached by cable car or by a couple of marked trails. Walk 1: Viscri. Coach transfer to Mesendorf (57 miles) for the start of the walk. This 8-mile walk (270m ascent/descent) takes you over the hills and through the meadows to Viscri. A combination of bulldozing by the Ceausescu regime and the exodus of the German-speaking population after the fall of Communism threatened to wipe out the centuries-old Saxon rural heritage in Transylvania. With the help of benefactors, including Prince Charles, restoration and preservation schemes have helped save many villages and Viscri is the most famous example. Barns, cottages, cattle troughs etc. have been repaired and rustic skills re-introduced. After the walk you have an included lunch in a local house, time to explore the village and have a tour of Viscri’s UNESCO-listed fortified church. Under continuous threat of marauding Mongols and Turks, the Saxons not only fortified their towns, but the Please refer to the enclosed ‘Dates and Flight Information’ for details of departure dates, prices and flights. villages as well with defensive works centred around the church. Walk 2: Transfer by coach to the Balea waterfall. The transfer takes 2 ¼ hours which is much longer than we would normally undertake. But not only is the drive worth it, it’s part of the day’s experience as it takes you on the northern part of the Transfagarasan - voted Top Gear’s ‘best road in the world’. The really serious bends are after the waterfall, but you see them in all their glory from the cable car which takes you to Lake Balea at 6,780ft and the start of the walk to climb up to the main ridge of the Fagaras Mountain. The narrow path is mostly uneven, on rocky terrain, with steep sides. On the ridge, there are panoramic views over the glacial valleys and lakes wherever you look. You continue along the ridge and then descend back to the Lake from the opposite side on similar terrain. (2 ½ miles with ascent/descent of 480m). During your stay in Brasov there will also be an optional half day excursion to the nearby fortified churches of Harman and Prejmer. DAY SEVEN: Return to Bucharest. Twenty four miles south of Brasov is the small mountain resort of Busteni where you start your third walk. Walk 3: The Bucegi Mountains (5 miles with ascent of 150m and descent of 300m). This part of the Prahova Valley gained popularity as a tourist destination at the end of the 19th century when King Carol I established royal residences in the area. You take the cable car from Busteni to the Babele station (7,350ft) passing the giant WWI memorial cross on Mt Caraiman. Babele is famous for its curiously shaped rock formations. With spectacular views across the valley, your walk takes you south to the Cota 2000 station where you take the cable car down to Sinaia and re-join your coach for the onward journey to Bucharest (90 miles) for your last night on a bed and breakfast basis. DAY EIGHT: Free time until your departure for the airport and your flight home. OUR HOTELS HOTEL CAPITOL HHHH, Bucharest (first two and last nights) The historic Hotel Capitol is in an excellent position on Calea Victoriei. Rooms have free high-speed, wireless Internet, cable tv, individual climate control and bathroom equipped with bath/shower and hairdryer. The hotel has a restaurant which is popular with the locals and hotel guests. (www.hotelcapitol.ro/en) HOTEL COROANA BRASOVULUI HHH, Brasov (four nights) This small, friendly and modern hotel is in a quiet position but just a 15 minute walk to Brasov’s main square. The hotel has a pleasant breakfast room and cosy English bar. Dinner at a local restaurant is included on the first night. Rooms have tv, wifi, direct dial telephone, shower and hairdryer. (www.coroana-brasovului.ro) If you have friends who are not walkers interested in this itinerary, it is featured in our Escorted Holidays brochure with a touring programme. www.preferredts.com | 29
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