Croatia in June - Walking in History along the Dalmatian Coast

Photos by Elissa Becker


From the historic walls of Dubrovnik through coastal paths, cypress woods and on to sleepy medieval towns, we are exploring the wonderful history and scenery to be found by travelers on foot in Croatia.

A Yorkshire Dales Impression ~ Fresh from the Founders' Walk

photos by Jean Follet and Michael West

Quotes From the Trail 

The walk leader introduced us to so many local people whose knowledge brought the Yorkshire landscape to life--people who raise sheep, train dogs to herd them, protect local rivers, and mind the welfare of stable boys in the racehorse training industry, and who preserved Yorkshire history by replicating an ancient design for a barn by hand and restoring a derelict estate garden, 1940's-era busses, and a 19th century sawmill.

It's such a long list but that was the beauty of it!  And that's not even everyone.  It really was amazing.  Then when you add in the serendipitous encounters with locals like the cops who put Michael in the stocks, well, hey, who could ask for more. 

This was a point and shoot walk - every picture a winner!
~ Alice Dunlap-Kraft

Aside from the glorious countryside, you are in Alan and Bill’s backyard so it really feels like you are walking in their footsteps—following them in and out of wonderful pubs, listening to the stories of the various people you meet on the way and working together to shoo the sheep and the cows out from in front of the stile. This was a great walk for feeling the deep history and enjoying the views. ..

The unexpected or the things that happen near the end of the day are often the very best. 

~ Jean Follet

A Yorkshire Dales Impression
by Christopher Hague, Founder


The new Wayfarers Yorkshire Walk designed and lead by Alan Pinkney incorporates every necessary ingredient to produce an outstanding experience. Farmsteads, villages, wooded valleys and fast running rivers. There are endless views of the wild side of remote England - castles with stories of warring families, fishermen to talk to and a violin playing landlord to listen to. Pastures dotted with stone barns and countless miles of magnificent stone walls stretching from river bank to high flat top mountains. Bring an umbrella.

A Glimpse of Germany in Bavaria

by Michael West

We meet in famed Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the host city of the 1936 Winter Olympics and the 2011 World Ski Championships, but our Bavarian experience really begins as a mountain railway delivers us almost to the door of our lovely hotel in Grainau. We are greeted by an awe-inspiring view of the Zugspitze (Germany’s highest mountain) from the balcony of our room.
We walk in deep, forest-clad valleys, around pristine lakes, by babbling mountain streams, across green, rolling, fertile countryside, through unspoiled villages of wooden-roofed, gaily-decorated traditional houses.
We take a cable-car to the top of the Zugspitze – known as the Top of Germany – for views from almost 10,000 ft - across Bavaria and Austria.
We walk in the footsteps, and hear the story, of King Ludwig ll (The Mad King) and visit two of the great fairytale palaces that form his legacy – we take a private boat on Lake Chiemsee to the colossal palace of Herrenchiemsee and we walk to the more modest, but nonetheless opulent, jewel of Linderhof.
And, at the end of the day, we stay in lovely lodgings in contrasting surroundings – at the foot of the Bavarian Alps, in a sleepy spa town and on the shore of Lake Chiemsee.
Add the music of the Oompah band, men in lederhosen, ladies in dirndls, frothing steins of the renowned Bavarian beer, all manner of wurst and luscious chocolate cake laden with cream, and our image of Bavaria springs to life!

Walking in Step with Conservation

by Mike Knutton

Where'er walkers may roam with The Wayfarers they may be sure that they are helping to support local communities, conservation and preservation---not only for themselves and for today, but for everyone and for the future. It's part of The Wayfarers’ business ethic not just to take, but also to give; partly as a thank-you for the contribution the coastlines, countryside and visits to
buildings or gardens make to a Wayfarers' vacation, but also to help safeguard all these facilities for future generations.

Walkers taking any of nine Wayfarers' vacations in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland this year will benefit from the work of The National Trust, one of the world's leading conservation organisations. The Trust was founded in 1895 to counter some of the negative effects of industrialisation in Britain, and today looks after 248,000 hectares (612,000 acres) of countryside, 709 miles of coastline, and more than 200 houses and gardens, including 40 castles, 76 nature reserves, six World Heritage Sites, 12 lighthouses, and 43 pubs and inns, all of historic, architectural, or cultural significance.

The words of one of the founding Victorian philanthropists, Octavia Hill, still resonate today: “The need of quiet, the need of air, the need of exercise, and...the sight of sky and of things growing seem
human needs, common to all men.”

The National Trust is totally independent of government and relies for income on subscriptions from its 3.6 million members, donations and legacies. Part of that support comes from the United States in the form of The Royal Oak Foundation, a 37-year-old New York City-based organisation that engages Americans in the work of The National Trust, and offers a range of associated programs and concessions. The Foundation has to date raised more than $US 7 million to support the protection
and preservation work of The Trust. Eighteen different National Trust areas or properties feature in this year's Wayfarers' Walks program.  Aficionados of Beatrix Potter and William Wordsworth, for example, can steep themselves in the lives of their heroes during visits to The Trust's Hill Top, Rydal
Mount and Dove Cottage properties during the Hadrian's Wall & The Lake District walk. A highly atmospheric moment on Cornwall's Creeks & Coves Walk is a reading from Daphne du
Maurier's Frenchman's Creek while standing on the banks of that romantic and secretive tidal offshoot of the tree-lined Helford River.

Landscape and seascape enthusiasts can wallow in the delights of Dunwich Heath and the shingle spit at Orford Ness, both cared for by The National Trust and featured on the Suffolk Coast and
Cambridge Walk. The basalt pillars of the Giant’s Causeway beckon Wayfarers on the trail in Northern Ireland, while guests on the Cotswolds Walk visit The Trust's Hidcote Manor Garden, designed and created in the Arts & Crafts style with a series of “garden rooms” by horticulturalist, Major Lawrence Johnston.

St Davids Peninsula on the new Pembrokeshire Coast Walk lies close to Europe's smallest cathedral city, and covers a dramatic section of the iconic South Wales coast path. The privately-owned Pentillie Castle, located on the River Tamar on the border between Devon and Cornwall, provides a single base for another new Walk that includes visits to two important National Trust houses,
Antony and Cotehele. Antony House was used as the filmset for Walt Disney's ‘Alice’ starring Johnny Depp, while the Tudor Cotehele offers a rare working cornmill and a medieval stewpond!