Walking and hiking tours

Do you mean a multi-day hiking trip? Guided or self-guided? We have done lots, although not specifically in Italy (yet). We generally go with my sister and her husband, and sometimes a third couple as well.

For guided hiking trips, we have used REI Adventures and MT Sobek. I am looking at HF Holidays ( in addition to these two) for our trip in Italy next year (Dolomites hiking). HF Holidays does one on the Amalfi Coast that looks good, and all three offer walking trips in Tuscany and elsewhere in Italy.

For self-guided, Macs Adventures does an excellent job. Distant Journeys is also good, according to friends, but I did not check if they cover Italy.

Backroads has a full program of walking tours in Italy. A couple I know has taken several trips with them in Italy and the US, and recommends them highly. backroads.com, based in California.

Unless you are wedded to using a tour, I always find places to hike when I plan every trip. If you are open to renting a car, this is fairly easy--Italy is full of parks and well-marked trails. Let us know what parts of the country you are considering and I can offer ideas.

Thanks for the advice, y’all.
Valadelphia—we are not married to the idea of a tour company. In fact hiking at our leisure and on our own timeline sounds perfect. We hope to see the country from Como down to Amalfi Coast and many points in between. Tuscany, Cinque Terre, maybe Venice, and Rome. We’ll be in country for 3 weeks. We might end up taking some of those areas out of the plans. Nothing is set in stone yet. At this point, we haven’t considered renting a car. Thoughts on that?

We hope to see the country from Como down to Amalfi Coast and many
points in between. Tuscany, Cinque Terre, maybe Venice, and Rome.
We’ll be in country for 3 weeks.

I have not been to the lakes, but have seen mention of ample trails there, with no car needed. In Tuscany, I would look at the Garfagnana region (north of Lucca) for some elevation but not serious mountain hiking. I love the sea, and Ucellina/Maremma park on the coast of southern Tuscany has marvelous hiking with gorgeous beaches as the reward. Cinque Terre is no doubt beautiful, but the crowds spoiled it for me--Montemarcello park near Lerici has nice trails, charming small towns. The Amalfi Coast is full of well marked trails--there are two books that describe all of them and how to get to the trailheads (both on Amazon).
Depending on what your ultimate list is, you may want to seek advice on if you should do north-south or vice versa (based on where you want good outdoors weather--October can be rainy).

I agree, you may need to scale back, but lucky you to have three weeks to play with! If you can fly into Milan or Venice and out of Naples (or vice versa), you could cover a lot of your wish list--just depends on how quickly you like to move. I would only want a car for the Tuscan portion--there would be no utility for one for the other places, except that southern bit of Liguria I mentioned (you can get to Lerici, but you would want a car to get around). Easy driving in those parts, just care required when entering towns with ztls and parking.

I have used both ATG-Oxford and Macs Adventures for self-guided hiking tours in Italy. Done two Tuscany hikes, one Umbria, and the full Tour du Mont Blanc. Both companies are excellent. They make overnight inn reservations and move your luggage daily, and provide maps. All levels of trails.