My sister and I took an inn-to-inn walking trip in the Dordogne in 2003 with Peregrine (http://peregrineadventures.com/). They are an Australian outfit and were quite reasonably priced. The tour was faily evenly divided between Australians and Canadians. My sister and I were the only Americans. It was a great trip and we really bonded with the people we traveled with. All meals, with the exception of one lunch and one dinner were included. The food was basically quite acceptable and it was nice to have everything taken care of.We also took a walking trip with ATG-Oxford (http://www.atg-oxford.co.uk/) in Portugal in 2002. Again, all meals were covered.

In 2001 we went with Sherpa (http://www.sherpa-walking-holidays.co.uk/) for our walking tour of Tuscany. That was by far my favorite walking tour, the one I'll be measuring all walking tours against for the rest of my life. For one thing, it was just a few weeks after 9/11, which intensifed the sense of peace and isolation from the troubles of the world and as well as comraderie with our fellow travelers.

In retrospect, another thing that made the trip so nice was that we were responsible for our own lunches and a couple of dinners.This gave us a chance, which is often missing when you have a tour guide, of interacting with the local people in taking part in the simple ritual of shopping for our daily bread, cheese and fruit. Again, it's nice to have everything taken care of, but I that it also takes a little something away.

Landra from Columbia County NY