About our self-guided walking holidays
Worry-free walking with Contours Walking Holidays
A Contours Walking Holiday is a wonderful way to explore the countryside, walking from one place to another, stopping somewhere different each night, with the freedom to walk at your own pace, stop for breaks when you want and spend as long as you want exploring the villages, towns or sites of historical interest along the trail.
Our range of walking holidays have been designed to be as flexible as possible - you can start your walking tour on any day you want and extend your holiday by adding extra nights for rest days or sightseeing.
We arrange your accommodation, provide maps and a guidebook describing the route and transport your luggage between overnight stops. We take care of every little detail, leaving you free to enjoy your walk, knowing everything is taken care of.
What you get on your Self-Guided Walking Holiday
Comfortable accommodation
You stay in comfortable family-run hotels, country inns, friendly guesthouses and farmhouse bed and breakfasts along the trail that have been carefully chosen for the warmth of their welcome, the quality of their accommodation and their accessibility to the trail. We always book en-suite rooms with private bathrooms where they are available, but some, in the remoter areas where accommodation is limited, may not have private facilities. Occasionally, your accommodation may be situated more than a few minutes walk from the trail or you may have to spend more than one night in the same place. Where this is the case we provide transfers between your accommodation and the trail.
Meals
The holidays are run on a bed and breakfast basis. In keeping with the flexible nature of these tours we do not provide lunches or evening meals. Packed lunches are available from your accommodation, although you may prefer to stop for lunch at an inn or café along the trail. Your Tour Pack contains information on places to stop for lunch or buy picnic materials. Evening meals are available from your accommodation or from an inn or restaurant nearby. Your Tour Pack contains recommendations on the best places to get your evening meal.
Luggage transfer
We transport your luggage between overnight stops. Every time you arrive at a new destination, your luggage will be waiting for you, so all you need to carry on your walk is a light daypack containing whatever you require for the day such as waterproofs, camera and picnic lunch.
The Holiday Pack
Every party who books a Contours Walking Holiday will receive an extensive Holiday Pack. In this pack, you will receive all of the information you need to make your walk enjoyable and worry-free. In it you will find:
- The relevant Ordnance Survey Explorer (1:25000) or Harvey map(s)
- A guidebook describing the route.
- Advice on getting to and from your holiday by public transport.
- A day-by-day itinerary describing each night's accommodation with either a town plan showing its location or directions to it, together with details of any transfers arranged.
- Recommendations on the best places to get evening meals.
- Information on places to stop for a drink or a meal during the day.
- A list of facilities such as banks, shops, post offices, telephones, inns and cafés along the trail.
- Personalised luggage labels.
- A comprehensive checklist of what to take with you.
- Information on what to do and who to contact in an emergency.
We regret that we cannot send your Holiday Pack earlier than four weeks before the start of your tour. Please read ‘A Guide to our Walking Holidays’ for more information.
Travel Information
We provide information on how to get to and from your holiday by public transport. If you plan to travel by car, it is usually possible to leave it at your guesthouse or hotel at the start or at the end of the trail for the duration of your holiday. We can check this for you once your booking is confirmed. Some hotels and guesthouses may charge a small fee for this service.
Prices
The tour prices, which are per person, are based upon two people sharing a twin or double room. Single travellers are very welcome on all of our holidays and the single room supplement is shown below the tour price.
We Also Offer
Short Breaks
If you only have two or three days available, we offer over twenty short breaks in Cornwall, Devon, Mendip Hills, North Downs, Wessex Downs, Chilterns, Cotswolds, Norfolk, Welsh Borders, Pembrokeshire, Peak District, Yorkshire Dales, Lake District and Northumberland. Click here for details.
Bespoke Walking Holidays
Every year we organise tailor-made walking holidays for clubs, groups and individuals. If you would like us to arrange a walking holiday for you, just let us have the details of your proposed trip and we will be more than happy to provide a quotation.
Extra nights
When booking your walking holiday, why not customise your trip by adding extra nights for rest days and sightseeing? All of our self-guided holidays can be adjusted to incorporate extra days. Please contact us if you would like assistance in deciding where to spend an extra night.
Dog Friendly Walking Holidays
Contours Walking Holidays offer ‘dog friendly’ options on many of the holidays described on our website and in our brochure. If you would like to share your self-guided walking holiday with your dog, please visit the Dog Friendly Walking Holidays section of our website, or contact us for more information.
Group Discounts
We offer discounts for groups of three or more people when booking a holiday together. This discount cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer, discount or promotion. Please contact us for further details.
