Guided walking in Italy

MY HUSBAND AND I ARE LOOKING AT DOING A GUIDED WALK AROUND SOUTHERN ITALY FOR AT LEAST SEVEN DAYS IN SEPTEMBER. HE WOULD LIKE THE AMALFI COAST BUT TOURS ARE RATHER THIN ON THE GROUND. ANOTHER OPTION WOULD BE GREECE, OR THE GREEK ISLANDS.

L. JONES, NEWCASTLE

Most of the walks on the Amalfi Coast are self-guided, but even for non-Italian speakers there is nothing too challenging about this do-it-yourself approach. All these trips are inn-to-inn, with detailed maps, gear, transport and several meals included. Utracks (utracks.com), Inn Travel (inntravel.co.uk) and Hidden Italy (hiddenitaly.com.au) all have one-week, self-guided trips in the region. Classic Journeys (classicjourneys.com) is another operator that does offer a guided Amalfi Coast tour, and in the time slot you're looking for, but the price - $6010 a person - makes me wonder if you are being carried in a gold-encrusted palanquin. Exodus' (exodustravels.com) Walking the Amalfi Coast is a small-group, one-week guided tour that might be perfect for you, at a starting price of $1450 a person.

Utracks offers a guided walk in Puglia and this could be another wonderful alternative.

Inn Travel has a number of walking tours in the Greek Islands, and while they're all self-guided, some are "centred walking", which means you stay in one or two hotels you use as a base for day walks. My pick would be the Enchanting Cyclades walk, which hops around this delicious island group.