Take on the trails this spring and summer with our guide to Europe’s most impressive hiking routes
Hiking is a supremely underrated precept for an international vacation. Adventure vacations are back on the rise after a Covid lull, but still a little too expensive for most – at least, as far as gear is concerned.
Hiking trips, though, combine the best of everything. It is an affordable hobby to start, allows you to access some of the best views on the planet, and lets you stay fit in the process. Where in the world should you hike, though?
Plitvice National Park, Croatia
Croatia is one of Europe’s best-kept secrets, in an extremely – and surprisingly – wide variety of different ways. Croatia links central and southern Europe, enjoying at-times Mediterranean climates and incredibly diverse geographies too – from sandy beaches and architecturally fascinating urban environments to dense woodlands, mountain terrain, and endless gorges, caverns, and rivers to explore.
It has become a favoured destination for many adventure vacationers as a result, providing an incredible water-sporting scene, some world-renowned climbing routes, and, of course, some of the most breathtaking mountain and forest trails on that side of the Black Forest.
Plitvice National Park encompasses many of these routes, being a hugely expansive area of natural beauty with 16 interconnected lakes and swathes of incredible forests. These forests are, naturally, home to some of the most stunning hikes you will ever embark upon.
Path of the Gods, Italy
Giving Croatia a run for its money, of course, is the neighbour with which it shares the Adriatic Sea – namely, Italy. Italy practically defines the Mediterranean, largely thanks to its near-incalculable cultural impacts over centuries of Roman and Byzantine rule.
While most of the acclaim it receives relates to these cultural impacts, it is also an astonishingly beautiful country in and of itself. It is one of the better Mediterranean destinations for hiking tours too, due to its many mountainous, volcanic, and coastal trails.
Arguably the best of these is the Path of the Gods, a near-four-mile trek across the Amalfi coast. The hike is between three and four hours in length, though it may take a little longer for some on account of the thousands of steps between key anchor points like Priano and Positano…
Gornergrat to Riffelsee, Switzerland
Warmer climates are not necessarily a favourite amongst all hiking enthusiasts, of course. Often, sunny conditions can become sweltering conditions – and the prep involved in just staying healthy, let alone comfortable, can be great.
Besides, there is an altogether different allure to taking the mountainous roads less-travelled, especially so for the glorious snow-capped mountains of the Swiss Alps.
The ‘sunshine trail’ in Zermatt, from the Matterhorn-observing Gornergrat ridge to the Rifffelsee lake, is a trifling afternoon trail – taking much less than four hours to complete. There are views aplenty to enjoy, a cogwheel railway to ride on your way up to Gornergrat, and a great deal of sheep to keep an eye out for…
