The hiker’s bucket list: Europe’s 15 greatest walking holidays

In the world of long-distance walking, there are trails and then there are TRAILS. Walks that, thanks to their unique combinations of good looks, cultural heft and satisfying routing – maybe tracing rivers, following historic footsteps, circumnavigating a Big Thing – have captured imaginations. That doesn’t mean lesser-known options aren’t as good (sometimes they’re better). But the big-hitters come with extra caché, and attract both keen walkers and those who don’t walk much at all.

Here we’ve listed some of Europe’s heavyweights: 15 fabulous trails across the continent that combine superb scenery and X-factor. They are not the quietest walks. For instance, the Tour du Mont Blanc and the Camino de Santiago are not routes on which to seek solitude – though there are ways to minimise the crowds. And, anyway, the camaraderie of fellow hikers can be part of the joy. 

On other routes – such as the Via Dinarica or parts of the Lycian Way – you won’t meet many other hikers, but you will encounter plenty of local people, who are benefiting from you tramping through. Indeed, there’s no better way to engage with communities than by exploring slowly, on foot.

So, lace up, hoist your pack and start working – walking – through our hiker’s bucket list.

There’s the Corfu of the package holiday. And then there’s the Corfu Trail. As it winds betwixt coast and countryside, this wild, south-north route across the Ionian isle avoids areas blighted by mass tourism. Instead, its yellow waymarks lead down backstreets, farm tracks and cobbled paths, via cedar forests and olive groves, amid karst peaks and craggy gorges, past manor houses and monasteries, to expansive beaches and quiet coves. Such is the variety, reckons trail founder Hilary Whitton Paipeti, that “walkers spend no more than an hour in any one landscape”. It’s a relatively demanding trail, never very high but rugged underfoot and potentially sweaty – the best months to walk are May-June and September-October. That said, there’s frequent access to the dazzling blue sea for refreshing dips and to shady tavernas for icy beers or glasses of retsina.

How to do it

Walks Worldwide (01962 302085; walksworldwide.com) offers a 10-day self-guided Corfu Trail trip, covering the whole route, south to north, from £989pp including B&B accommodation, luggage transfers and flights. It also offers an eight-day highlights trip (£849pp) and a more leisurely two-week version, with rest days (£1,359pp).

2. Painters’ Way, Germany

Best for… picturesque peregrinations

Distance: 116 km / 72 miles

Southeast Germany’s Elbe Sandstone Mountains – known as Saxon Switzerland – are quite literally pretty as a picture. Mother Nature has sculpted the soft rock here into fairy-tale-like pillars, mesas, cliffs and ravines that have inspired all sorts of artists, from Caspar David Friedrich to Richard Wagner. The Malerweg, or Painters’ Way, loops through this aesthetically appealing landscape from Liebethal to Pirna, exploring both banks of the river Elbe. The route is broken down into eight stages, encompassing romantically mossy Liebethaler Grund Gorge, the immense Königstein Fortress, the rugged Schrammsteine ridge, the iconic Bastei rocks and the tiny village of Schmilka, with its restored water mill. No point on the route is especially high, but the going is pretty strenuous – steep pinnacles, such as the pointy Pfaffendorf and Papststein, are frequently conquered by iron staircases squeezed between the rocks. But there are options to short-cut by bus or, more romantic, river boat, if the going gets too tough.

The Natural Adventure Company (020 3962 1455; thenaturaladventure.com) offers an eight-day self-guided Malerweg trip from £700pp including B&B accommodation and luggage transfers, excluding flights. The trip covers around 85km of the Painters’ Way.

Jaw-dropping scenery and heavyweight history combine along this “high trail” through the dramatic Dolomites. Alta Via 1 runs between forest-nestled Lago di Braies and the town of Belluno, with its Renaissance-era old centre. In between are some of Europe’s most beautiful mountains, meadows rampant with wildflowers and a wealth of First World War remains: Italian and Austro-Hungarian/German forces faced off for four years here, and the peaks are still strewn with their trenches, tunnels, gun emplacements and via ferrata. The area around Lagazuoi, home to an open-air museum, is particularly fascinating to explore. The trail is moderately challenging, with a few long days, some steep ascents and some fairly vertiginous paths. But the Alpine experience is top-notch, with nights spent in remote and rustic rifugios – you’ll likely have to share a dorm (though some private rooms are available) but you’ll also get delicious food, good company and magnificent Dolomites views.

How to do it

Utracks (020 8875 5069; utracks.com) offers an eight-day self-guided Alta Via 1 trip from £1,490pp including half-board accommodation in private rooms (four nights) and dorms (three nights), and luggage transfers, excluding flights.

4. Camino Primitivo, Spain

Best for… spiritual strolling

Distance: 320km / 199 miles

So many footpaths lead to Santiago de Compostela. And, with a recent boom in the popularity of pilgrimage, there are so many peregrinos walking them. Most stick to the Camino Frances, the 800km (500-mile) route to Santiago from the French border. Fewer than 5 per cent choose the Camino Primitivo, which starts from Oviedo instead. Shorter, of moderate difficulty and far less crowded, the Primitivo is said to be the oldest way – King Alfonso II the Chaste of Asturias followed this pilgrimage in 814, just a year after the discovery of the bones of St James. It’s also particularly pretty, first leaving Oviedo – a fun, foodie city, renowned for its cider and cheese – to wind through the rippling Asturian hills. On reaching the Roman town of Lugo, it crosses into gentle Galician countryside. Eventually, it meets the Camino Frances, swapping peace and quiet for pilgrim camaraderie for the final push. 

How to do it

On Foot Holidays (01722 322652; onfootholidays.co.uk) offers a 14-night self-guided Camino Primitivo trip from £1,305pp including B&B accommodation, three dinners and luggage transfers, excluding flights. On Foot only offers this camino option, picked for its historic import and relative beauty compared with other routes.

Best for… dipping into ancient shores

Distance: 760 km / 472 miles

Mountains rising steeply from turquoise seas, forests of pine and cedar, secretive coves, sunken cities, ancient ruins and a whiff of pirate history… Turkey’s Lycian coast is a tantalising prospect. Since 1999 a long-distance trail has traced its nooks, bays and cliff-tops; now, the vast and varied Lycian Way links Ölüdeniz and Geyikbayırı. The going can be rocky and rugged – good boots are essential – and it takes around six weeks to complete. But there’s no need to do it all. Highlights include following the aqueduct to ancient Patara, birthplace of St Nicholas; climbing the ridge to Mount Felen; finding the Flames of Chimaera, which have flickered for millennia; and hiking from Adrasan to Hoyran, for views to Gelidonya Lighthouse. Oh, and pausing at teahouses to enjoy traditional Turkish hospitality.

Explore (01252 240785; explore.co.uk) offers a seven-night Hiking Turkey’s Lycian Way small-group trip, with day walks between Çirali and Simena, from £695pp including B&B accommodation, excluding flights. Alternatively, Inntravel (01653 617001; inntravel.co.uk) offers a seven-night self-guided Pirate Coast of Lycia trip, focusing on the eastern Lycian Way, from £1,585pp, including half-board accommodation and luggage transfers, excluding flights.

Best for… coast and craic

Distance: 179km / 112 miles

Walk a circuit of the south-west Dingle Peninsula and you’ll get a condensed dose of all Ireland. Starting and finishing in Tralee, capital of Kerry, the trail ticks off an array of archeological sites (from ancient tombs to standing stones), lush-green pastures, formidable peaks, wild Atlantic waves, traditional pubs, great seafood and – this being a Gaeltacht area – plenty of Irish voices. The going is on a mix of well-maintained trails, boggy ground, beaches, boulder fields and hills, but is rarely too tough, the biggest challenge being the climb around holy Mount Brandon, which rewards you with big ocean views. Sometimes it feels pretty wild, especially when you’re yomping along beaches or being blasted by the elements at Ireland’s westernmost point. But warm hospitality is never far away, be it in the lively town of Dingle, renowned for its traditional music, or at Annascaul’s South Pole Inn, once home to polar explorer Tom Crean.

How to do it

Wilderness Ireland (00353 91 457898; wildernessireland.com) offers an eight-night self-guided Dingle Way trip from £1,101pp including B&B accommodation and luggage transfers, excluding flights. The trail is moderate – ascents aren’t high, but hikes are reasonably long, up to around 25km a day.

Best for… amateur adventuring

Distance: 460km / 286 miles

Inaugurated more than 100 years ago, the Kungsleden – King’s Trail – weaves amid Swedish Lapland’s glacial valleys, snow-clad summits, gushing rivers and lunar-like terrain. But despite its remote location, mostly within the Arctic Circle, it isn’t that tough, and offers an excellent option for amateur hikers seeking a proper wilderness experience. The main challenge is lugging your own kit and food – facilities are limited, baggage transfers aren’t an option, provisions must be carried between refuelling stops. In return you get days out in unfettered nature and nights spent in rustic cabins, which provide bedding, kitchens, saunas and wild locations. There’s also a chance to experience the midnight sun and, as evenings darken, maybe the northern lights. A thru-hike takes about a month, but many choose one of the Kungsleden’s five sections, most popular being Abisko-Nikkaluokta (105km/66 miles), the trail’s northernmost, most magnificent part.

Macs Adventure (0141 530 5452; macsadventure.com) offers an eight-day self-guided Kungsleden trip, covering the Abisko-Nikkaluokta section, from £880pp including dorm accommodation in mountain cabins, excluding flights and food. It’s possible to add a day to summit 2,105m Mount Kebnekaise, Sweden’s highest mountain, with a guide.

Best for… cultural encounters

Distance: Around 2,000km / 1,240 miles

The Via Dinarica isn’t a simple stroll, it’s a super-sized cultural undertaking. Launched in 2010, the route is a work in progress, with the ultimate aim of linking the mountain communities of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia, along the Dinaric Alps. The Via Dinarica network’s main strand is the 1,260km (783-mile) White Trail, which runs from Razdrto in Slovenia to northern Albania’s Valbona valley via all the highest peaks. Literal highlights include the dramatic karst of Blidinje Nature Park, the lakes and rivers of Unesco-listed Durmitor National Park and the towering summits of the Accursed Mountains. However, arguably the chief attraction is sharing strong coffee, local cheese and life stories with the people encountered en route. Thru-hiking is a serious challenge, but it’s possible to dip in and out on shorter trips.

How to do it

Intrepid (0808 274 5111; intrepidtravel.com) offers a 10-day Via Dinarica small group trip from £2,215pp including B&B accommodation and some activities, excluding flights; departures June-September. The trip travels through Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania, making a series of day (and night) hikes in the Dinaric Alps.

9. Camí de Cavalls, Menorca

Best for… island ambling

Distance: 185km / 115 miles

It’s believed the Camí de Cavalls dates back to at least the 14th century, built so knights could patrol the shore on horseback, keeping watch for pirates. Now, it’s been transformed into a wonderful walk. The Camí loops right around Menorca, the entirety of which is a Unesco Biosphere Reserve. It’s divided into 20 well-marked stages, none too tough, beginning and ending in capital Mahón. En route lie herb-pungent forests and golden beaches (Cala Pregonda is a particular gem), old watchtowers and lighthouses, drystone walls and tiny villages. Tortoises galumph amid the juniper bushes, hoopoes hoot amid the pines. The refuelling is good too: get stuck into Mahón cheese, spiny lobster and pastry ensaimadas, washed down with Xoriguer gin.

Pura Aventura (01273 676712; pura-aventura.com) offers an eight-night self-guided Walking on Menorca’s Coastal Trail trip from £1,975pp including characterful B&B accommodation, some meals, a guided gorge hike and luggage transfers, excluding flights. The trip covers 60km (37 miles) of the Camí de Cavalls, cherry-picking from the seven best stages, focusing on the lesser-visited north coast.

The Tour du Mont Blanc is an Alpine classic. In just over 100 miles, this tough but manageable trekking route circumnavigates western Europe’s highest peak, via three countries, multiple high passes, sparkling glaciers, verdant pastures, mountain villages and centuries of climbing folklore. Most trekkers begin in Les Houches, at the southern end of the Chamonix Valley, and walk anticlockwise, via pretty Les Chapieux, the monumental Grandes Jorasses, lively Courmayeur, lakeside Champex, the rocky Fenêtre d’Arpette pass, Trient Glacier and the Col du Brevent. There are numerous hotels, huts and refuges en route, so the trail can be undertaken at any pace, in various levels of comfort. That said, it’s popular, so accommodation gets booked up fast, and the trail can be busy. Alternatives to the main route, via higher detours to spots like the lofty Col des Fours, are good ways to lose the crowds.

KE Adventure (017687 73966; keadventure.com) offers a 12-day Ultimate Tour du Mont Blanc small-group trip from £2,625pp including half-board accommodation (mostly in mountain huts) and baggage transfers when possible, excluding flights; departures July-September. Unique to KE, this 159km (99-mile) version uses high-level options and remote huts.

11. Tour del Monte Rosa, Switzerland & Italy

Best for… a lesser-trod loop

Distance: 167km / 104 miles

The Tour du Mont Blanc is wonderful, but becoming a victim of its own popularity. Those after a wilder, quieter alternative, looping round an equally dramatic massif – 4,634m Monte Rosa, western Europe’s second-highest summit – might try this instead. The Tour del Monte Rosa is a demanding route, requiring a roped-up crossing of the Theodul glacier (though no technical experience is required if you have an expert guide). But the pay-offs are getting intimate with really big mountains – including the Dom, Weisshorn and Matterhorn – without many other people. Most trekkers start the circuit from Zermatt or Saas Fee and take between six and 10 days. The route circles the mountain plateau, taking in its glaciated peaks, high passes, unexpected hamlets and Alpine meadows. It’s possible to drop into valleys to stay in pensions and hotels, or sleep in simple rifugios, where delicious mounds of pasta are guaranteed.

How to do it

Much Better Adventures (020 3966 7597; muchbetteradventures.com) offers a six-night Trek the Tour del Monte Rosa small-group trip from £1,434pp including full-board rifugio accommodation, excluding flights; departures June-September. The trip includes an English-speaking mountain guide plus an extra guide for the glacier crossing.

12. Via Algarviana & Rota Vicentina, Portugal

Best for… alternative Algarve

Distance: 300km and 750km / 186 miles and 466 miles

Why pick one fine walk when you could do two? The Algarve, best known for flying and flopping, is also home to fabulous long-distance footpaths. This includes the 300km-long Via Algarviana, an old pilgrim trail running through the hills from Alcoutim to Cape St Vincent. And it includes the various strands of the Rota Vicentina (750km/466 miles in all), which veer north from the cape to Santiago do Cacém and beyond, within the southwest Alentejo and Vicentine Coast Natural Park. Both of these long-distance routes offer an entirely different take on southern Portugal, forgoing overdeveloped resorts for easy-going walking between unspoilt villages, Moorish towns, cork forests, almond orchards, wind-blustered cliffs and golden dunes. En route refreshments are excellent too, with many bars along the way offering fresh lobster, prawns and percebes (goose barnacles) and cold, cheap beer. 

Ramble Worldwide (01707 331 113; rambleworldwide.co.uk) offers a 14-night Portugal’s Algarve Way & Wild Atlantic small-group trip from £2,990pp including half-board accommodation and flights; departs November. This covers 63km (39 miles) of the Via Algarviana and 92km (57 miles) of the Rota Vicentina.  

13. Via Francigena, Italy

Best for… a less-peopled pilgrimage

Distance: 1,700 km / 1,100 miles

As Spain’s Camino ways become increasingly cramped, opt for another pilgrim trail. The Via Francigena runs from Canterbury to Rome, following the footsteps of Archbishop Sigeric, who undertook the route in AD 990. A recent revival has seen waymarking and facilities improve, especially along the trail’s Italian section. This is split into eight stages, starting on the edge of the Swiss Alps, at the Saint Bernard Pass. It proceeds south through foodie Piedmont and Emilia Romagna, into the dreamy Tuscan hills and undulating Umbria, before finishing in the Italian capital. The route does pass great sites – cities such as Lucca, Siena and San Gimignano, for instance – but it largely showcases aspects of Italy that are bypassed by most. The biggest challenge is the distance. Many hikers do just one section, the most popular being the triumphal 170km (106-mile) march from Orvieto to Rome.

Walkers’ Britain (020 8875 5070; walkersbritain.co.uk) offers a 50-day Full Francigena self-guided trip along the entire Italian way from £5,390pp including B&B accommodation and luggage transfers, excluding flights. Its 10-day Orvieto to Rome trip costs from £991pp.

14. Lech River Trail, Austria & Germany

Best for… river roaming

Distance: 123km / 76 miles

The Lechweg was only first waymarked 10 years ago, but it’s already earned “leading quality trail” status from the European Ramblers Association. It weaves through one of the continent’s last wild river landscapes, tracing the Lech from its source in the Tyrol at glorious Formarinsee lake to the Lechfall in the Bavarian town of Füssen, near fairy-tale Neuschwanstein castle. The route is moderate – no expert hiking experience is required – heading mostly along panoramic mountain paths with views of the valley below. Along the way lie waterfalls, bird-rich wetlands, ruined castles, comely villages and houses brightly painted in the traditional Lüftlmalerei style. There are also ample opportunities to scoff local goodies like Apfelstrudel and fresh-caught trout, and to visit local Käserei (cheesemakers) for tastings.

Macs Adventure (01415 305452; macsadventure.com) offers a nine-night self-guided Complete Lech River Trail trip from £1,155pp including B&B accommodation and luggage transfers, excluding flights. The hotels and guesthouses used are cosy, largely family-run and mostly complete with saunas and small spas.

Best for… geology gone mad

Distance: 54km / 34 miles

The Laugavegur is an excellent introduction to Iceland’s singular geology. In just four or so days, trekking from Landmannalaugar, in the Fjallabak highlands, to Thórsmörk nature reserve, you’ll see thermal pools, burping mud-pots, steaming vents, volatile volcanoes, rainbow-streaked rhyolite mountains, pitch-black plains, obsidian boulders and surreally emerald-green valleys. The route isn’t overly arduous, but it does require some grit. You’re entirely off grid, so must carry all your kit, and sleep in tents or huts – well-spaced sites provide campgrounds and beds, showers and cooking facilities but no food. Also, you must contend with icy stream crossings and the elements – the trail is only open from late June to mid September but even then the weather can be temperamental. But the rewards are scenes that seem out of this world. For further adventures, add-on the 21km (13-mile) Fimmvörðuháls trail, which links Thórsmörk to Skógafoss waterfall.

Exodus (020 8772 3747; exodus.co.uk) offers a seven-day Laugavegur Trek small-group trip from £2,609pp including B&B accommodation and most meals, excluding flights. Four nights are spent participatory camping – a guide will prepare meals but the group is expected to help with food prep and washing up.