What we do

Our mission has always been to provide quality experiences where the emphasis is on meeting new friends, socialising with good quality food, and professionally hosted outdoor activities.

What’s our goal?

Our aim is simple, to get outdoors and visit as many new places as possible, enjoy the beautiful scenery with like-minded people who want to have fun and meet new friends.

We have a simple philosophy. Experienced hike leaders providing safe, fun social events that incorporate the best an area has to offer.

Meet the Team

Our AAA crew are all outdoor enthusiasts with decades of experience, a number of our core hike leaders originate from the Military, all have extensive navigation, mountain and first aid experience. So you’ll be in steady hands!

Your taste buds will also be very well catered for by our team of chefs, cooks and kitchen helpers.

Why do we do it?

Quite simply we love the outdoors and making the most of this beautiful country we live in and what better way to do it than by meeting new friends.

We aim to build a great community of hikers with whom we can share our enjoyment of the outdoors and adventurous activities. As they say, size isn’t essential! We are never happier than when we see the same members repeatedly attend our events, many have been joining us for years, and we continue to enjoy their company.

Many of our customers have made new lifelong friends after trips, some have developed into loving relationships, and we know of at least 10 couples that have met and got married after meeting at our events.

“ Friendly atmosphere, very well organised, I cannot wait for the next trip ”

Celia March 2011

Who are we?

We were formally established as a limited company in February 2011 and have run thousands of events and hosted over 25,000 members.

We are hosting on average around 100 events per year ranging from the mid-week evening socials, kayaking sessions, to weekend and the week-long UK and overseas hiking trips to Europe and beyond.

We have hosted trips in over 35 different locations covering the breadth of the UK from Cornwall to the Scottish Highlands and from Pembrokeshire to Norfolk. In addition to this, we have hosted trips in over a dozen or more different European locations, and we are continually striving to offer new and exciting hiking experiences. We have been offering new and exciting trips to Eastern Europe. These new destinations provide a special and rustic and exciting experience.

What’s with the name AAA?

Initially, the name was born out of the desire to be at the top of any group listing back in the early years (2008) when search engines were not so advanced.

The initials stand for Action Adventure Activity and are not related to alcohol as some have thought. However, we are a social group and naturally enjoy an occasional social drink after a hike.

Today our passion for the outdoors still shines through. We remain ranked highly for planning, quality food, and safety.

“It was my first time joining an AAA event, but definitely not the last. There was a great atmosphere, 10-star meals, great hikes, a very welcoming group and super professional organisation.”

Anna J – April 2019

What makes a AAA event?

AAA has some key principles for ensuring successful events.

They are quite simply;

Our customers are, without a doubt, the answer to this question. We are proud of the fact that we regularly have over 50% of our weekend and overseas trips made up of regular guests who have attended previous trips.

This is not to say that the group is cliquey in any way. As hosts, we have belonged to groups where cliques exist, and we work hard with our guests to ensure that everyone is involved.

Great Hiking Destinations. If we are not interested in the destination, then we don’t host a trip there. We also don’t revisit the same destination multiple times in the year, so that we can be seen to host more trips than other groups.

Quality accommodation is suitable for the event.

Only using Experienced Hike Leaders and or qualified instructors for other activities.

Comprehensive Destination Research, we always pre-visit a destination, hotel and even hiking trails before even proposing an event. Sometimes we have even undertaken two pre-trip inspections. This is costly, but we recognise your holiday time is equally valuable, and such effort is vital to ensure a successful trip.

Control of the finances, we don’t use third-party operators on the ground to book transport and accommodation. We control the money. This reduces any risk of ground operators going into liquidation without the Group having any recourse.

Control of the logistics. If we don’t have control of our finances, we can’t control the logistics. If we have control of the logistics, it enables us to adjust the programme if needed. It also places AAA in a stronger position to negotiate when the unexpected happens!

Socialising is a big part of our events. So wherever we are, we look to ensure that there is a point where everyone can socialise, whether it be a dining room, spa, local bar or lounge.

What do we do?

We organise the logistics for our hiking trips so that you don’t have to. We find the locations, book the venues and arrange all catering for weekends. We even help coordinate transport and lift shares. If you don’t have transport contact the organiser who will help put you in contact with someone who can help.

“ So we’ll organised. I normally find fault, but found none!!!! Very friendly and well planned. ”

Andre – July 2018

How do we do it?

We create appealing weekends affordable to all. They are affordable because we generally use Youth Hostels and we take over the kitchen. We invite you to help our cook staff – it’s great fun.

The food you enjoy has been said by many to be the best they have experienced at any other similar event. We provide a cooked breakfast, not just a cold continental buffet, after all, if you are setting off on a day’s hike, you want a hearty meal. We set up the sandwich fillings and snacks in the morning for you to cut and choose your own packed lunch. AAA dinner – fully inclusive – is always very popular with wholesome ingredients. A variety of salads, a main meat or vegetarian selection followed by a cake for dessert. After supper, we all get to relax and socialise, sometimes with some games, a quiz, or music, whichever is most fitting.

Who attends our events?

The majority of our active members range in age between the mid-20s to late 40s, but age is no barrier so long as you are at least young at heart. Members generally live or work in the greater London area, but we have an ever-increasing number of members who live all over the UK and join us in the destination. After all, you don’t need to be in London to visit the Lake District!

A large proportion of our members are international, providing an exciting and diverse mix of experiences and cultures. We also have a significant proportion of single members on events, although you certainly don’t need to be single to attend. We have many couples attending our events and sometimes families with kids, when appropriate, so please ask in advance.

I am nervous to join on my own?

If you are nervous about committing to a weekend trip, don’t be, almost everyone has turned up on an event before without knowing anyone. We all know what it’s like. If you are still concerned, try one of our evening or day events, they act as a taster, and you are sure to meet like-minded people. We also work hard to ensure that the trips are inclusive for everyone. We usually provide a minimum of two hike leaders on the weekend and overseas hikes to ensure we can offer a mix of hikes to meet the group’s needs. On our weekends away, our hikes rarely exceed 15 people per group. However, on our London day hikes we set a top limit of 28 people, as these tend to be a more social event in less challenging environments, the walks are pitched to a group of similar fitness and ability.

Safety

Our main hike leaders have undertaken the six-day Mountain Leader course (accredited by the MLT) as well as having completed the two and three day Wilderness & Outdoor Activity First Aid course. One of our hike leaders completed a 6-month military-medical course culminating with practical training in an A&E Hospital and two weeks with paramedics. All of our principal hike leaders have over 30 years of combined military experience.

Very experienced hikers run all of our events, most of our hike leaders have a minimum of Mountain Leader training and an Outdoor Activity First Aid qualification or similar experience/qualifications. It would, however, be unfair to say that this makes the outdoors safe, there are always risks present, but with our experience, training and meticulous planning, we aim to minimise the risk.

Generally, our hikes tend to be limited to 15 – 20 people when in the hills and 24-28 in lowlands, our training has indicated that this is a safe number. It’s vital for everyone’s enjoyment to avoid big groups which lead to a plodding pace. The challenging hikes are always in a smaller group of 8-10.

Our past events include

Hiking & walking (of course), kayaking along the Thames, camping & canoeing, yoga breaks, fitness weekends, potholing, historical sightseeing, overseas trips, indoor and outdoor rock climbing, cycling, trekking, backpacking, adventure weekends, coast walking, long-distance walking, caving, countryside conservation, charity volunteering, sea kayaking, treasure hunts, paintball, the Yorkshire and National 3 peaks challenge, abseiling, recreation weekends, gorge walking & canyoning, rafting, navigation courses, culture trips, community trips, tennis, orienteering, coasteering, go-karting, horse riding and paragliding.

“ I have no idea why I was so nervous about my first AAA trip – amazing team and a great welcome, and routes that catered for everyone’s needs. And as for the cakes…. 🙂 ”

Lynne – October 2015

Where do we visit

We aim to explore and hike in picturesque and beautiful rural locations throughout the British Isles and beyond. We regularly visit all of the UK’s National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

While we often repeat visits to the many great National Parks, we do vary the locations we stay at as best as we can. We certainly don’t repeat the same venues and walks over and over again just because we have a hike or hostel that works and is easy to reproduce. One look at our past events will show you the variety of places visited.

National Parks visited include;

Brecon Beacons, Norfolk Broads, Cairngorms, Dartmoor, Exmoor, Lake District, Loch Lomond, New Forest, Northumberland, North York Moors, Dark Peaks, Peak District, Pembrokeshire Coast, Snowdonia, South Downs and the Yorkshire Dales.

Overseas destinations visited include;

Austria, Belgium, Corsica, Croatia, French Alps, Ireland, Italian lakes and the Dolomites, Polish Tatras, Madeira, Russia, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spanish Pyrenees, Swiss Alps & Ukraine.

Areas of Natural Beauty Visited include;

Arnside and Silverdale, Chichester Harbour, Chilterns, Cornwall, Cotswolds, Cranborne Chase & West Wiltshire Downs, Dedham Vale, Dorset, East Devon, Isle of Wight, Kent Downs, Lincolnshire Wolds Malvern Hills, Mendip Hills, Nidderdale, Norfolk Broads & Coast, North Devon, North Pennines, Northumberland Coast, North Wessex Downs, Quantock Hills, Shropshire Hills, Solway Coast, South Devon, Suffolk Coast & Heaths, Surrey Hills, Tamar Valley and the beautiful Wye Valley.

Hiking routes include;

Cotswold Way National Trail, Cumbria Coastal Way, Highland Way, East Riding Heritage Way, Grand Union Canal Walk, Hadrian’s Wall Path National Trail, Herriot Way, Hertfordshire Way, Mendip Ring, North Downs Way National Trail, North-West Coastal Trail, Offa’s Dyke Path National Trail, Peak District High-Level Route, Norfolk Coast Path National Trail, Pembrokeshire Coast Path National Trail, Pennine Way National Trail, Snowdonia Round, Solent Way, South Downs Way National Trail, South West Coast Path National Trail, Southern Upland Way, Thames Path National Trail, Wainwrights Way, Wales Coast Path, Wessex Ridgeway Trail, West Highland Way, Westmorland Way, White Peak Way, Wilts and Berks Canal Towpath, Winchcombe Way and Wye Valley Walk.