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Testimonials
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Holiday: ET02 - ALPINE SPA & TRAIN to ST. MORITZ Hi Mike The holiday was superb, we have seen parts of Italy that we would never have visited thanks to your itinerary. Of note was the visit to the spa in Bormio, the day spent there was out of this world, bathing in hot spring waters whilst the snow was falling looking at the snow covered mountains, absolutely idyllic. We also took the Bernina Express over the Alps, again the views were spectacular followed by a day in St. Moritz walking around the lake. Just for your future itineraries, the visit to St Moritz was excellent but as it was on a Sunday no shops were open, which was good on my wallet - but maybe worth a mention. Finally, I would like to suggest that the last day in Varenna may be better spent in Benaggio, as we took a boat ride across the lake and spent all day there, lots more shops and different places to eat and drink. Once again I would like to thank you for a fantastic sightseeing holiday, which your organising and itinerary made very easy to follow and gave us experiences of a lifetime. I hope you find this feedback useful and I have attached a photo of the Spa which you may like to use. Thank you Chris Chris Davies, Cardiff, Wales.

Holiday: A401 - 4x4 CROSSING of the SOUTHERN ALPS Cheers Mike I had a great week and a lovely journey back via Briancon and Col de Vars. It all went a bit pear shaped with the tunnel being closed, but I took the long ferry from Le Havre to Portsmouth instead arriving home on Saturday night. I enjoyed the holiday immensely; the route, format and guiding style all worked well for me. In our initial planning we were looking for an alternative to the 'camel train' format, which wouldn't have suited us so well. Especially I found that travelling light, without the weight (and expense) of carrying full expedition gear made the driving a pleasure, rather than a chore. I liked the way that the routes, views and photo opportunities became progressively more spectacular during the week. We became totally immersed in the adventure and totally forgot which day it was! Now back at home I've had to be absolutely ruthless choosing the photos for the albums and editing the video. I've been telling everyone about the holiday, maybe even bragging a bit to my friends back home and would love to hear about any future 4x4 based holidays you can offer; on the journey back through the French Alps there appear to be many more tracks in the footsteps of Hannibal and around the world renowned 4x4 Club of the Eagles site at Val D'Isere for instance. Kind Regards Jonathan Jonathan Buckley, Newbury, England.

Holiday: AA02 - SUMMER ACTIVITY BREAK Hi Mike We're nearly there - tried sending photos at the weekend but too large so Darrell is picking up a disc tomorrow so we can send them to you. Feedback from our holiday - our most favourite day of the whole two weeks was the gorge walking. It was fabulous to be totally alone (not that we're unsociable!) in such wonderful surroundings. We loved the scrambling and jumping into pools and your advice to take our time was really good as it really made us slow down, sun bathe and generally relax. We could repeat that day again and again as you never got too hot as you could always cool down in a pool and I'm sure you would find a different route every time. The cycling was enjoyable but the heat was a bit too intense that day which made it difficult at times. The route was great but a bit more advice about the exact location of toilets and places to eat would have helped. We need to return and enjoy it in cooler weather. We also enjoyed floating down the river although Darrell found it a bit frustrating at times as he kept getting stuck. You'll be pleased to know that the football that we found en route came in very useful in Pisa when it was used as a way of squashing mosquitos on a very high hotel room ceiling. Darrell was an excellent shot. In retrospect, the evening barbecue would perhaps have been better after the cycling as it resulted in a very long day, as you had told us already. Another option would have been not to include it in the overall 4 night package but have it as an optional extra - so those people who only spend half a day on the activities might go for it but those who are out all day might not. The hotel was fab - the most comfortable of our whole trip. The only problem was limited space to dry things - I'm sure most people who stay there do not end up in such a wet, sweaty state. We also really enjoyed the town. Your notes about restaurants could be improved by adding names to the numbers and a short piece about food served and price range. We stayed at a hotel that you recommended in Pisa - Hotel Locanda La Lanterna. Apart from the noisy air conditioner and mosquitos, it was great - the central location was perfect as it meant we could take a break in our rooms in the heat of the day and easily enjoy the Tower when most of the tourists had disappeared. The room for four was very spacious and comfortable. We stayed centrally in Venice as well which again allowed us to enjoy the city when it was less crowded. Thanks very much for all your help and advice - we certainly learned alot more about the real Italy by talking to you and getting off the beaten track. It was also very useful having an ex-vegetarian providing us with lunches and cooking a barbecue. We will certainly recommend you to friends. Cheers, Sue Sue and Darrell Marchand, Woodstock, England.

Holiday: NP008 - SULZANO LAKESIDE HOLIDAY Hello Mike Just wanted to thank you for your advice on our holiday to Italy - we went last week and stayed on Lake Iseo, it was amazing and the best hotel I have ever stayed in. It is most likely we will go to a another part of Italy next year so will be in touch! Thank you once again Best wishes Kath Kath Jones, England

Holiday: AA02 - SUMMER ACTIVITY BREAK Hi Mike, We got home yesterday at the end of our two weeks in Italy. It was throwing it down with rain and the temperature was 15 degrees! Quite a change from the 32 when we left. Thank you again for a wonderful holiday. We did complete the three extra days at Sestri Levante. The hotel was great and in such a unique position. We completed the two trips as detailed and enjoyed very much the activities. Thank you again for the excellent documentation and organisation and also for your personal guidance and support which was very much appreciated by us all. Jon and Jan send their best wishes and I do expect we will return, that is if you will have us. Very best wishes. Colin and family. The Briddick Family, Fordingbridge, England

Holiday: WC01 - WALKING the CINQUE TERRE Mike We had a fantastic holiday and will certainly use Xtrallusion for any future walking holidays in Italy. Train journeys (except for the day we arrived when there were serious rail delays from Genoa) were excellent, both hotels were extremely good, the walking was outstanding, and the weather superb. We found your walking notes took just a little while to get used to but as soon as we realised that they covered all the walking options we found them generally very good and easy to follow. The only exception was on the "High Ways to Portovenere" walk. We chose to do Itinerary 3 and had no trouble until leaving the high coastal trail when it meets the asphalt road at the hairpin bend. We took the right hand side of the hairpin bend as instructed and the walking notes then say "continuing down along the road until you arrive at a junction with a road going left to right". But how far away is this? 100m or 2k? Whatever the distance, we never found the convergence point with the inland trail. We carried on walking down the road and eventually ended up in what we assumed was Portovenere but which turned out to be Le Grazie. A couple of suggestions: perhaps paragraph 46 of the walking notes could indicate the approx distance to the convergence point and it would also have been useful to have an area map with the notes so we could have worked out just how far Le Grazie is from Portovenere and whether it's a walk or a bus ride (definitely the latter!). [ Route notes now updated ] On almost all of our walks we found your walking times for each section pretty much spot on. The only exception was on 2 on the sections of the Mountain Trails of the Cinque Terre where it took us much longer than 45 mins to get to the Chapel of St Mary Magdalene and much longer than 1 hr 15m to get to Reggio Sanctuary (but maybe the wine had been particularly good the previous night!). I have only been on group walking holidays before but found the self guided walking gave us greater freedom and will certainly choose this type of walking holiday again. Thanks also for taking time out to meet us at the airport to hand over the hotel details and walking notes etc. Appreciated. Best wishes Derek and Val Derek and Val Spicer, Weymouth, England

Holiday: ER003 - PONENTE RIVIERA TOWNS Hello Mike Sorry for delay in responding. Yes we very much enjoyed the holiday. The Hotel Gandolfo was a bit simpler than I was expecting from the website, but was perfectly fine. Elaine thought it was great. The owners and staff were very friendly and they were very helpful when we had to stay over the extra night. We had a top floor room near a terrace which we used a lot to sit out - we didnt use the beach sunbeds. The itineraries were useful to provide some structure to the day, but we just enjoyed bumbling about. As to suggestions: a map of Alassio would have been useful on arrival and it night have been easier to walk with luggage along streets rather than along the seafront. We managed to miss the tourist office in San Remo, so didnt find a street map until we had walked most of the town! After Alassio we went to Apricale - staying at Apricus Locanda. We had booked this directly on their website, and it was only when we got back that we found we could have arranged them through you! We liked the Locanda very much indeed. We are quite likely to use you again, for the short city breaks or for exploring holidays, particularly if you have trustworthy car rental with companies who wont try to rip us off. Thanks again Elaine and Simon Liddle Dear Simon, Thank you very much for taking the time to write and provide us with your feedback - it is much appreciated. Regarding the Hotel Gandolfo, I have stayed there many times and agree that it is quite simple. However, I have visited vitually all the hotels in Alassio, which is one of the most expensive resorts on the Riviera, and it does offer good clean facilities in an excellent location at almost half the price of many others. For this type of holiday in the summer, when it is nice to be by the sea but not wanting to use the beach facilities, it is I feel one of the better options. The walking and sightseeing itineraries are supplied as a suggestion and as you said, provide a good start for planning your day to day trips. Bumbling around is as you say a great way to see and enjoy the Riviera. Your comment about a map of Alassio is well received and we will in future provide a map to give people a sense of bearings. The train tickets used to be sold for either weekdays or weekends but they changed the system before you arrived and there is just one type of ticket sold now valid for every day of the week - the tickets you had should have been accepted. I am pleased to hear you enjoyed your stay in Apricale, it is a quite magical place and you chose a very nice place to stay - I like it there very much. As far as car rental are concerned, we try to make our holidays as convenient as possible for taking trains and public transport and for those who do prefer a car, leave this for them to arrange directly since overall, dealing with car rental companies here is often a good source of hassle and admin problems. Once again, thank you for booking with us and please do keep us in mind for your future travel plans to Italy. Yours sincerely, Mike Xtrallusion holidays for the independent traveller. Simon Liddle, Wokingham, England

Holiday: AA02 - SUMMER ACTIVITY BREAK Hi Mike, I'm so sorry that I didn't contact you after we returned from our holiday with you in the summer and didn't respond to your email - no excuses, just time running away! I hope you and the family are well and looking forward to Christmas! My sister and brother-in-law were asking us about our 'activity break' with you recently as they are thinking of doing something like that this summer. I highly recommended you and I think she might be contacting you soon. It reminded me that I had never emailed you to thank you for the fantastic time we had, despite the weather! Both us and the Leeds family really enjoyed the activities (even the canyon walking in the pouring rain!) and have been highly recommending it to others. We asked the kids which was their favourite bit and they said all of it. Rain didn't bother them at all - they loved the canyon walking, and the inner tubing day for them will always hold special memories of how they tried to catch fish with sticks! We thoroughly enjoyed the bike riding day - such a fab cycle path along that coast and needless to say the kids loved the very long dark tunnels. Arenzano is a lovely town - we had great meals at all the restaurants we tried there and especially liked the one you recommended down the little alleyway. Thanks also for your help and advice re the day trip we did to Portifino which worked really well. I've attached a couple of photos to remind you of the fun we had, which you are welcome to use if you want to (not sure you'd want to use the canyon walking lunch shot - not good publicity!!!). We are determined to do a girls walking trip at some time so no doubt I'll be in touch again in the future. Thanks again Fiona Lay The Lay family, Tunbridge Wells, England

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Enjoy relaxed, independent walking holidays in Italy along the Italian Rivieras using self-guided itineraries. Explore the beautiful mediterranean countryside and coastal mountains by foot taking in some of the regions most famous and magnificent towns and coast - the Cinque Terre, Portofino, Genova (Genoa), Santa Margherita, Rapallo, San Fruttuoso, Camogli, Chiavari, Sestri Levante, Vernazza, Manarola, Riomaggiore, Monterosso al Mare, Corniglia, Portovenere, Savona, Spotorno, Noli, Finale, Alassio, Imperia, San Remo and it's national parks to name but a few.

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www.xtrallusion.com Xtrallusion Holidays info@xtrallusion.com UK 0845 0944 669 ...with local knowledge 'in the bag' World +44 1212 886044 Holidays & Adventures in Italy and on the Italian Rivieras Xtrallusion offers a selection of self-guided & escorted walking holidays in Italy.