A Spotlight On: Contours Walking Holidays

Contours Walking Holidays was founded in 1996 by two directors who shared a common passion for walking, with the aim of making the activity accessible to people from all walks of life.

Here at Cicerone we supply our books to a a wide range of customers, from outdoor stores and bookshops to online retailers and more. We work with a wide range of walking holiday companies around the world that supply our guidebooks to their clients as part of their self-guided trip. We caught up with Melody from Contours Walking Holidays to find out a bit more about them...

"Contours Walking Holidays was founded in 1996 by two directors who shared a common passion for walking, with the aim of making the activity accessible to people from all walks of life. Together the directors built up an extensive knowledge of the UK countryside, using their Lake District Headquarters as their base of operations, and since then have been able to take the company from strength to strength. Named after the contour lines found on most maps, Contours Walking Holidays has flourished into a thriving tour operator with an unrivalled range of walking holiday options, organising and delivering high quality self-guided UK and Irish walking holidays to customers all across the globe.

The two founding directors now employ around 20 members of staff based across two offices, who all work hard to ensure each walker receives the best experience possible during their holiday. Our team members take care of every detail of your walking holiday; from booking your accommodations and luggage transfers along your chosen trail, helping you tailor your itinerary to suit your needs, providing you with all the maps and guidebooks you will need, and even being on hand to deal with any issues that may arise during your walk. Not only are our staff enthusiastic, friendly and knowledgeable, but they are also passionate about walking themselves, and are often out and about exploring the trails both in their spare time and for training and research purposes.

We offer a very wide range of self-guided walking holidays covering the vast majority of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Not only do we offer multiple itineraries for well-known trails such as Hadrian’s Wall, Wainwright’s Coast to Coast and the West Highland Way, but we also boast plenty of little-known gems such as the Tarka Trail, Wild Edric’s Way and the Three Castles Walk. Some of our shortest holidays are ideal for weekend getaways, while our longest itineraries allow you to escape for weeks or even months at a time. We also happily cater for single walkers, groups of walkers and even walkers with dogs.

Whether you’re keen to spot wildlife, discover British history, conquer mountains or simply enjoy a breath of fresh air, we are sure to have the perfect walking holiday to suit everyone.
— Contours Walking Holidays

As well as self-guided walking holidays, Contours is also in the process of expanding to offer both trail running and cycling holidays as well. These exciting developments will allow more people with different outdoor interests to make the most of the magnificent UK countryside, by giving them the choice to explore England, Scotland and Wales at speed either on foot or by bike. Contours Trail Running Holidays is already live and taking bookings, with Contours Cycling Holidays due to launch very soon."