GETTING THERE
Alitalia has frequent flights from Rome to Catania and Palermo. British Airways flies from London Gatwick to Catania. And Ryanair flies London Stansted to Palermo. Buses (look for the SAIS line) run several times daily from outside Palermo Central train station and Catania airport to Enna.
WHERE TO STAY
HOTEL POMIERI Piana Battaglia; 39 09 21 64 99 98; pomierihotel.com. A comfortable mountain hotel where rooms start at $78 a night.
Piano Torre Park Hotel Isnello; 39 09 21 66 26 71; pianotorreparkhotel.com. Rates start at $134 a night in high season.
WHERE TO EAT
DA MARINO 62 Viale Savoca, Enna. Excellent daily soups, antipasti, porcini risotto and dinnertime pizza.
VILLA RAINO Corso Da Raino, Gangi. Quirky rural agriturismo with a wide range of outstanding antipasti and pasta.
PINK PANTHER BAR 48 Corso Vittorio Emanuele, Isnello. Perfect simple focaccia and arancini. Closes from 1 to 3 p.m.
TOURS
Europe has always been a popular destination for walkers. The landscape is varied, each region rich in history and culture, not to mention in good food and wine. Here are some tour operators that know their way around the best footpaths.
ITALY
ATG OXFORD www.atg-oxford.co.uk. This British company offers independent seven-night Sicily tours including the Centre to Coast walk from Enna to Cefalu. The company provides detailed route books and moves luggage. Cost is $1,390 including breakfast, six dinners and accommodations. Trips run April 1 to June 30 and Sept. 1 to Oct. 31.
BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON 1-866-551-9090; butterfield.com. A gentle pace, gourmet food and luxury accommodations mark a seven-day ramble (broken by boat excursions) around Italy's Lake District. Rates from $5,995 a person. For more information, call.
TREK HOLIDAYS 1-888-456-3522; trekholidays.com. The company offers a relaxed small-group trek through classic Tuscany to experience San Gimignano, Siena and Italy's famous Chianti wine. Rates from $1,380 a person, land only.
WALKERS WORLD 1-800-268-7229 or 416-922-2232; walkersworld.com. A seven-day walking tour in eastern Sicily runs this October. Cost is $1,899, land only.
G.A.P ADVENTURES 1-800-708-7761; gapadventures.com. The outstanding beauty of the Amalfi coast is best appreciated on foot, and G.A.P offers a week-long walk along ancient pathways linking isolated farms, quaint villages and churches. The group's base is a former 16th-century monastery overlooking the Mediterranean. Rates from $1,295, land only.
SPAIN
EXODUS 1-800-267-3347; exodus.co.uk. This company offers a unique eight-day trek in northern Spain's Picos de Europa, Europe's largest national park. Small groups walk daily from a small family-run hotel into the heart of the wild mountain range, returning each night for one of the many home-cooked specialties on offer. Rates from $1,170, land only.
FRANCE
SILVER GREEN 33 467 82 47 31; silvergreen.co.uk. This company specializes in walks in the Cévennes region of France with an emphasis on local history, flora and fauna and agriculture. A variety of self-guided and guided tours available.
CYPRUS
INNTRAVEL 44 01 653 617 949; inntravel.co.uk. This U.K.-based company offers spring and fall walking holidays in the rugged, pine-clad Troodos Mountains, and the more Mediterranean landscapes of the Akamas Peninsula. Rates from $995, walk only.
IRELAND
WONDERFUL IRELAND WALKING HOLIDAYS 353 87 7613344; walkinginireland.ie. One of the company's self-guided treks is a seven- or nine-day ramble along the Dingle Way, offering perhaps the finest scenery in the West of Ireland, with the ocean never far from view. Rates from $1,096.
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