06Field Notes · When the bikes stay home
The Hiking
Ridge lines, hut walks, and the ninety-minute arrival hike that fixes jet lag better than anything else we’ve tried.
Not every trip is a riding trip, and even the ones that are benefit from a day off the bike. Walking is also the best jet-lag tool we know — a couple of hours on foot on arrival day, at altitude if possible, and the first night’s sleep sorts itself out.
The Seceda RidgelineVal Gardena, Italy
AlpineCable-car accessHalf day
The Odle spires from the ridge, reached by cable car so the day is about the walking rather than the climbing. Go early or late — the middle of the day belongs to the buses.
Alpe di SiusiSouth Tyrol, Italy
AlpineEasyHut lunch
Europe’s largest alpine meadow, and best at first light before anyone else is on it. Gentle underfoot, enormous in scale, and the hut lunches are genuinely good.
The Sassolungo CircuitDolomites, Italy
AlpineFull dayRifugio
The classic loop beneath the long stone. A proper day out with real exposure in places and a rifugio at the right moment.
Lagazuoi & the White War TunnelsDolomites, Italy
HistoricalHeadlampHalf day
Tunnels dug through the mountain during the First World War, walked by headlamp. Helmets are provided at the lift; bring your own light. One of the few places where the history is literally underfoot.
Blevio to BrunateLake Como, Italy
LakeJet-lag fixFlexible
The arrival-day walk. Ninety minutes round trip to the village, or push on and up to Brunate for two and a half hours with a car waiting at the top. Either version beats a nap.
Kauri Cliffs Forest & Pink SandsNorthland, New Zealand
CoastalEasyLodge-supported
Native forest down to a beach the colour of the name, with wine and something to eat waiting at the bottom. The lodge sets it up if you ask.
High Atlas Village TrailsMorocco
CulturalMule supportFull day
Terraced valleys walked village to village, mule-supported, with lunch in a family home. The kind of day that changes how a country reads to you.
04Begin
Tell us who’s travelling
and what a good day looks like.
That is genuinely the whole brief. We come back with a shape for the trip — or for the year — within a few days.