Lake Oeschinensee

Widely regarded as the "jewel in the crown" of the Bernese Oberland, Oeschinensee is unofficially the most beautiful Alpine lake in Switzerland and is a highlight of our Classic Swiss Alps Walk.

From your base at Kandersteg, you take a short chairlift ride, before climbing to the viewpoint at Heuberg: nothing can prepare you for the cobalt blue water surrounded by the razor-edged peaks of the Doldenhorn (3638m), towering 2000m above, and striped by dainty waterfalls trickling down from the Fruden glacier.

The Silk Route

Customers choosing our Secrets of Andalucia walking holiday will spend their second day traversing part of the ancient bandit mule trail that used to transport silk from the white Andalucian village of Competa to the regions capital, Granada. (Even today, you will still see local farmers travelling by mule and harvesting their terraces by hand.) As you walk beneath the majestic snow-capped peaks of the Sierra Almijara, the landscape opens to reveal views right out towards North Africa's Rif Mountains on a clear day.

Isandlwana & Rorke's Drift

Our Drakensberg & Zululand guided walking and safari holiday introduces you to the very soul of eastern South Africa and provides an extraordinary insight into the region's colourful historic past. One such highlight is the walk from the C18 battlefields of Isandlwana Hill - site of a British defeat in 1879 by the Zulu army - to the famed Rorke's Drift, taking the same daisy-strewn ox cart track used by the British over 120 years ago and passing traditional Zulu villages seemingly unchanged over time. In order that you get the very most from the walk, you will be accompanied by both an expert hiking leader and professional battlefield guide.

Baths of Aphrodite

One of the highlights of Headwater's Aphrodite's Walk in Cyprus, this route follows the beautiful unspoilt Adonis Nature Trail, through carob groves, juniper, pine and rock rose. You'll stop off at the mediaeval Queen's Tower, before gradually ascending to the peak of Moutti tis Sotiras. Here you'll be rewarded with the most spectacular views - even across to Turkey on a clear day. It's then down through pink oleander to the sea and back along the coast via the secret pool where Aphrodite bathed with her lover, Adonis.

Mount Teide Mount

Teide is the definitive Tenerife hike and is included on our Highlights of Tenerife independent walking holiday. Starting from the rich orange and ambers of Mount Teide's jagged lava fields, a circular route takes you past crimson lava flows and shattered rock pinnacles below the snow-capped summit. At almost half the height of Everest, it towers over the entire island!