Self-guided Walking Tours – Everything You Need to Know

Last updated: Oct 6, 2025

Self-guided walking tours weren’t a common choice for travelers until Covid-19 changed global travel habits. Yet this concept has existed for years, mostly as city or museum audio tours. Over time, pioneers began introducing multi-day self-guided walking tours and hiking adventures across Europe, a trend that reached the Caucasus Mountains of Georgia and later Portugal’s Rota Vicentina coast as well.

In those days, travelers usually chose between group hiking tours, self-guided trips, or fully independent adventures. After 2020, group travel carried more uncertainty, from flight changes to health restrictions. Many hikers began looking for safe and flexible options like self-guided walking tours in Georgia or coastal treks in Portugal, where you can explore freely without depending on large groups or fixed departures.

For us, self-guided walking tours became the most stable and safe way to travel, whether in the mountains of Georgia or on Portugal’s coastal trails. Solo hikers and small groups enjoy equal service and flexibility. You can start on any date during the season, choose your own pace, and avoid canceled adventures caused by group schedules or limited departures.

We are proud to be the first tour operator in Georgia to introduce self-guided walking tours in the Caucasus Mountains, and today we also design routes along Portugal’s Rota Vicentina, combining two of the most scenic hiking regions in Europe.

Let’s look more closely at how our self-guided walking tours are organized. We’re passionate hikers who have explored and lived across many parts of Georgia, finding Svaneti the ideal region to launch our first routes. Surrounded by the high Caucasus, Svaneti remains a gem for authentic hiking. We personally mapped each trail, visited every guesthouse, and built close cooperation with local hosts, the same careful approach we now apply to our new self-guided hiking tours in Portugal.

Our routes take you from one mountain village to another, ending each day with a warm dinner in a cozy guesthouse. Every hiker receives an offline GPS map and a daily audio guide sharing stories about Svaneti, Georgia, and local traditions. The same system also powers our Portugal walking holidays on the Fisherman’s Trail, where travelers discover legends and history of the Algarve coast while hiking.

Our travelers stay connected through a WhatsApp chat group with our team, available 24/7 for any questions or assistance during the hike. Guesthouse hosts and drivers are informed daily about your itinerary and expected arrival times, ensuring coordination and safety. This setup works seamlessly across our Caucasus mountain hiking tours in Georgia and self-guided walking tours in Portugal along the Rota Vicentina.

So, even though you hike independently, a full support network is behind each self-guided walking adventure, from guesthouse owners to local drivers and our coordination team. That’s the magic of both our Georgia hiking tours and our new Portugal routes. Of course, every type of travel has pros and cons, so let’s look at them below.

A self-guided walking tour will fit people who:

If you are looking for a new level of adventure or traveling in a small group or solo, and you have little experience in hiking, it will be a great time for you. You will have all instructions and support, but you will be following the trail on your own, giving you more independence with responsibility.

Other than that, self-guided walking tours give more freedom in time and grow self-confidence. If you have always wanted to know what it is to be a real explorer and do it on your own, here is your safest chance to try it out.

Talking about budget, self-guided tours will always be more budget-friendly than guided. If you want to learn more about it, request your price here.

Maybe self-guided tours aren’t for you if

You have never hiked or traveled on your own before. Or you feel insecure without a group leader, whether it will be your friend, family member, or hired guide. It is a totally normal feeling, we also like to relax sometimes. That is why we have a nice guided hiking tour to the alpine lake in Lagodekhi National park with a horse that will carry your backpack, and you can practice riding.  Check the details of the tour here.

Self-guided tour pros:

• You have absolute freedom to experience the journey as you wish: at your own pace, make or not to make photo stops, socialize or stay away from other people altogether if you like. Challenge yourself with more optional routes and activities or relax with a wine in cafes. It’s all up to you.
• Freedom of choosing services according to your preferences, thus flexibility of getting a suitable price for you.
• You have no stress on the organization of your trip to a different country, and more importantly, you save your time as everything is organized and arranged for you, including transfers, luggage transfers, accommodation, meals, and all other services you choose.
• You’ll also feel confident knowing there’s 24/7 assistance via WhatsApp and full coordination between our team, guesthouses, and drivers.
• One of the biggest highlights of self-guided hiking tours in Georgia is meeting locals in authentic mountain villages, and in Portugal, it’s chatting with fishermen or stopping for a coffee in a coastal town. These small, real moments create memories that guided group tours often miss.
• Flexibility to choose your vacation dates when it suits you best during the season.
• Feeling of accomplishment after finishing the self-guided walking tour that you have navigated all by yourself.
• Perfectly suitable for couples, solo travelers, and small groups.

Self-guided tour cons:

• The responsibility to navigate the route on your own. You’ll need to follow GPS tracks and trail notes carefully.
• If you don’t like solo travel or get bored easily when walking alone, then a guided or small-group hike might suit you better.
• And while we provide detailed route information and live WhatsApp support, self-guided trekking is not ideal for those who have never hiked or traveled independently before.

How safe is a self-guided tour?

We carefully track all travelers’ itineraries each day through our WhatsApp group chat, staying in touch with guesthouses and drivers along the route. This ensures that your journey runs smoothly and safely while giving you the freedom to hike at your own pace.

In Georgia, our team coordinates with trusted local partners across regions like Svaneti, Kazbegi, and Tusheti, while in Portugal, we monitor travelers along the Rota Vicentina and Fisherman’s Trail. This way, you always have real-time communication and local backup wherever you walk. Although both Georgia and Portugal are considered very safe destinations for hiking, we still recommend joining as at least two people for mountain routes. When we notice guests traveling on similar dates, we connect them so they can share transfers or hike together if they wish.

With well-marked trails, reliable partners, and continuous online contact, your self-guided walking tour remains secure and worry-free from start to finish.

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