A Walking Holiday in Italy’s Famous Prosecco Hills:
Prosecco covered hills
Long before we heard of the Prosecco Hills, we’ve been drinking prosecco from Valdobbiadene, one of the top regions for quality prosecco. So when I came across the Exodus tour “Walking the Prosecco Hills”, it sounded like just the kind of holiday that we would enjoy!
Walking the Prosecco Hills
Our 8-day walk in the Prosecco Hills starts at the small ancient village of Pieve di Soligo in the province of Treviso. It’s approximately 60 km north of Venice. As there’s no rail connection, we decide to join the group transfer from Venice Marco Polo Airport where many of our fellow walkers are due to arrive.
The tour leader is at the airport to gather the group. We meet some of our fellow hikers who’ve come from the UK, Australia, America, Canada and one from South Africa. The bus journey takes 45-minutes to the Hotel Conta in the centre of Pieve di Soligo.
Pieve di Soligo
Pieve di Soligo is situated along the River Soligo, a tributary of the Pieve River. Apart from a large parish church and a couple of villas, there aren’t any significant monuments in the village.
View of Soligo River from our hotel room
Partial view of Pieve di Soligo parish church
On Saturday morning, Pieve di Soligo comes alive with its weekly market taking over the whole village. There are lots of cheap clothing stalls, kitchen utensils, shoes, fruit and vegetables, plants, etc., nothing of which we needed to have.
Great cheese stall
The one stall that gets our mouth watering is the one selling cheese. The generous owner slices off bits of various cheeses for us to try. We of course end up buying a huge chunk of a 36-month aged parmigiano and a pecorino-like cheese covered in straw.
The Hikes
Below is a sketch of the daily hikes. We’ll link to each day’s post as soon as we publish it.
Day 1 – Arrival day and dinner. More about Day 1 here.
Day 2 – Morning walk around the medieval villages of Cison di Valmarino and Follina. In the latter we visit a beautiful Cistercian abbey dating to the 12th century. More about Day 2 here.
Distance covered: 7 km
Ascent: 296m
Descent: 260m
Activity : 3 hours
Day 3 – Circular walk in the heartland of the Prosecco region; visit one of the best local producers in Valdobbiadene for wine tasting and learn about the wine-making process.
Distance covered: 10 km
Ascent: 400m
Descent: 400m
Activity: 5 hours
Day 4 – This morning we have a guided sightseeing tour in the elegant provincial capital of Treviso. We have time for lunch here, after which we take a relaxing walk through the Natural Park of the River Sile to Casier, where we enjoy a welcome beer!
Distance covered: 6 km
Level Ground
Activity: 3 hours
Day 5 – Visit the UNESCO Palladian Villa Barbaro before ascending to Monte St. Giorgio, originally used as the front line during the first world war. Then walk to the elegant hilltop town of Asolo.
Distance covered: 10 km
Ascent: 380m
Descent: 300m
Activity: 4 hours
Day 6 – Free day: Opportunity to take an optional trip to Venice or Padua or spend an afternoon in the pretty town of Conegliano.
On top of Monte Cesen
Day 7 – Panoramic walk through the alpine landscape of Monte Cesen: enjoy a 360-degree view of the Venetian Prealps. Farewell dinner.
Distance covered: 9 km
Ascent: 450m; Descent: 450m
Day 8 – End Pieve di Soligo
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