Essential Information

All holidays at our country houses are full board with breakfast, picnic lunch and an evening meal included.

• Start your day with our extensive breakfast. Choose from a wide selection on the cold buffet and/or a full cooked breakfast. Maybe enjoy a lighter option of fruit and yoghurt followed by scrambled egg, go for porridge followed by a full English breakfast, or select something in between
•  Choose from our famous self-select picnic lunches - everything you need to keep you going on a day outdoors. Your own choice of sandwiches is prepared to order, and you can add crisps and snacks, fruit, nuts, chocolate bars, sweets and biscuits as you wish. Our house-based Special Interest Holidays include an in-house lunch (generally soup, sandwiches etc)
• The relaxed dinner is a highlight of any stay at our country houses. With tables seating up to 10 and no seating plan, it offers a great opportunity to get to know your fellow guests. There is always a choice of dishes for every course, featuring good British cooking and often local specialities

Dining in Europe

Our holidays in Europe are all half board with breakfast and evening meals included. Most hotels offer a breakfast buffet, which sometimes will include hot dishes or regional specialities. In the evenings, our partner hotels offer either served or buffet meals (please see specific holiday pages to see what’s on offer at each location). There’ll generally be a choice of dishes; with some offering a set menu and where possible there will be regional dishes to ensure you can enjoy the local flavours.

Dining on a Worldwide holiday

We don't always follow a set half-board meal plan on our Worldwide holidays. This is to ensure we can offer flexibility and gain maximum cultural emmersion for our guests, allowing them to go and sample local cuisine of their choice. 

Lunch on an overseas holiday

Most guests buy ingredients for a picnic lunch at a local shop or supermarket, allowing you to further sample the local flavours. For instance, you may wish to enjoy a morning visit to a local bakery, sample cured meats or add a sweet pastry to your lunch box for a mid-walk treat – however there’s sometimes an opportunity to eat at a local cafe, tavern or mountain hut whilst on your walks and excursions.

The majority of our guided walking holidays offer a choice of walks each day, so there’s something for everyone. In the UK there’ll usually be three different walks on offer: an Easier, Medium and Harder route. In Europe there are usually two walks, an Easier and Harder route.

The difficulty of the walk depends on the location and is often determined by the amount of ascent in the walk, rather than the distance. You’ll find individual walks details – including distance and ascent, on our holiday web pages.

We tend to be away from the hotel from approx 9.30am – 5pm. On some days you’ll walk direct from your accommodation, whilst on others we’ll use a coach or minibus to reach the walk (in Europe we may use a chairlift or cable car to get higher into the mountains).

“There’s no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong type of clothing!” goes the adage. Come prepared for all eventualities and you’ll walk in comfort as well as safety. Britain’s famous for its changeable weather, so here’s our advice on what to wear and bring.

Essentials

• Walking boots providing ankle support and good grip.
• A waterproof jacket and over-trousers
• Gloves and a warm hat (it can be chilly at any time of the year)
• Rucksack
• Water bottle (at least 1 litre capacity)
• A small torch (everywhere in winter, year round in mountains)
• Sun hat and sunscreen
• Denim jeans and waterproof capes are not suitable on any walks.

Recommended

• Several layers of clothing, which can be added or removed
• Specialist walking socks to avoid blisters.
• A first aid kit inc plasters– your leader’s first aid kit doesn’t contain any medication
• Sit mat (insulated pad to sit on when you stop for a break) 

You might also want

• Walking poles, particularly useful for descents.
• Insect repellent
• Flask for hot drinks
• Rigid lunch box
• Gaiters
• Blister kit (eg Compeed) just in case
• Waterproof rucksack liner

You’ll find a Discovery Point at all of our UK country houses. These contain a great range of walks – anything from 2 to 15 miles.

All our walk directions have been prepared by experienced leaders and contain detailed route notes, photographs and an annotated map.

“There’s no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong type of clothing!” goes the adage. Come prepared for all eventualities and you’ll walk in comfort as well as safety. Britain’s famous for its changeable weather, so here’s our advice on what to wear and bring.

Essentials

• Walking boots providing ankle support and good grip.
• A waterproof jacket and over-trousers
• Gloves and a warm hat (it can be chilly at any time of the year)
• Rucksack
• Water bottle (at least 1 litre capacity)
• A small torch (everywhere in winter, year round in mountains)
• Sun hat and sunscreen
• Denim jeans and waterproof capes are not suitable on any walks.

Recommended

• Several layers of clothing, which can be added or removed
• Specialist walking socks to avoid blisters.
• A first aid kit inc plasters– your leader’s first aid kit doesn’t contain any medication
• Sit mat (insulated pad to sit on when you stop for a break) 

You might also want

• Walking poles, particularly useful for descents.
• Insect repellent
• Flask for hot drinks
• Rigid lunch box
• Gaiters
• Blister kit (eg Compeed) just in case
• Waterproof rucksack liner

We operate a wide range of holidays, most are open to all levels - from beginners to the more experienced. Others are designed for a certain level of experience or skill. This information is given in our brochures and on our website. It’s worth spending a bit of time selecting a holiday that is right for you.

The walking distances involved on our outdoor holidays are detailed in our brochure and on our website. Our touring and outdoor Special Interest holidays can involve walking and active sightseeing. Some holidays, such as Garden Tours and Natural World holidays, may involve steep slopes and rough terrain. You will spend a lot of time on your feet and away from the bus, but coffee stops and a chance to sit down are planned each day. For our Mind & Body and Dancing holidays you need to be able to follow instruction from the leader and participate in these active sessions.

Singles and couples alike enjoy our Special Interest holidays, but due to the sociable nature of our groups our single guests feel particularly welcome. For holidays where partners are required for the activity such as dancing and bridge, our leaders will be happy to arrange a partner for you on arrival.

ABTA has said that there's nothing to suggest that you won't be able to continue with your holiday plans after Brexit. Even in a no-deal scenario. HF Holidays have been arranging travel for more than 100 years and are fully bonded members of ATOL, so when you book with us, you get complete peace of mind. There's no benefit to booking after Brexit - our prices won't change as there will be no surcharges added to our prices, but by booking early with us you're guaranteed the best price and the widest choice of holiday dates.

No, not according to the European Commission. The proposal is that visa-free rules will still apply, assuming that the same is offered to European citizens visiting the UK. Nothing should change until the end of the transition period in December 2020. The European Commission has said that from 2021, UK citizens will need to pay a fee (of around 7 Euros) for this visa exemption.

In the event of a deal, then nothing will change until the end of the transition period and your European Health Insurance cards remain valid. ABTA has always advised that you take travel insurance, regardless of whether you have an EHIC card, as there are limitations to this cover.

You should always take appropriate travel insurance when travelling, regardless of where or when you travel. Make sure to check the detail of the policy around travel disruption, including delays and cancellations, as policies do vary.