1 week Hiking Location ideas?

Montenegro.

As you certainly know, March is still ski season in the mountains. When you say hiking, do you mean hiking hiking, like in hilly/mountainous nature on single track trails? Or is walking okay, long walks through scenic areas mixing nature and villages, not necessarily at elevation? In March you might be better off thinking in terms of walking.

Do you want a single base from which to launch hikes, or are you amenable to walking from place to place?

If you are sturdy enough to walk with a 15lbs pack, do consider walking from place to place, at least for part of the trip - it's easier than you think and also pretty darn amazing the feeling of walking away from somewhere and not doing a return walk. Or book a self-guided tour wherein they move your bags for you and book your accommodation.

Maybe think about walking a highlight reel section of the Via Francigena?

https://www.utracks.com/Italy/Self-Guided-Walking/Via-Francigena-Best-of-Tuscany

https://www.utracks.com/Italy/Self-Guided-Walking/Via-Francigena-Southern-Tuscany-from-Siena

Or a pilgrim trail Bologna to Florence?

https://www.utracks.com/Italy/Walking/Via-Degli-Dei-Bologna-to-Florence

So many other established walking routes in beautiful parts of Europe. Whether you do "self-guided" with luggage service, or put a small bag on your back and head out on your own it's a wonderful way to travel.

We are avid hikers and tend to focus on that when we travel. Two places that we were strongly considering for a March trip next year are Malta and Portugal. Specifically, we were looking at the one-week hiking programs offered in these places by HF Holidays, a UK-based cooperative devoted to walking holidays in the UK and elsewhere. They list these two countries (among others) as very good for “winter sun” and excellent hiking opportunities.

You can look at their programs for inspiration and ideas, plus more information on the trails and cultural opportunities. I am not necessarily suggesting you sign up for one, but I will say we have had excellent experiences with them. They make it easy by offering all-inclusive lodging, transport to trailheads, and a choice of 2 or 3 guided hikes every day.

https://www.hfholidays.co.uk/destinations/europe/maltese-islands

https://www.hfholidays.co.uk/destinations/europe/portugal

In the end, due to scheduling conflicts, we decided to go in April and focus on the UK instead. We will be hiking in the Peak District and possibly elsewhere.

Last March we spent 10 days in Puglia, and I can recommend that area for great weather, beautiful coastal scenery, and charming towns and villages, but we did not do any actual hiking (it was a Road Scholar trip) so I do not know if there are enough good trails around to keep you busy.

I will note that HF Holidays does not offer any walking programs in Italy until April. I take that as indicative of their opinion of the weather. I have read that Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany can be particularly rainy and/or foggy in winter and into March. However, we did spend a few days around Bologna and Ferrara after Puglia, and it was clear and sunny. So you never know.

Google hiking Montenegro. Several good information sources like this. https://www.roadiscalling.com/hiking-montenegro-guide/

You could walk part of the Camino in Spain. Sarria to Santiago de Compostela would easily fit in that time range, as would Porto to SdC. Do check your accommodations for each night as some places might be closed in March...I don't know. That way you get some rural walks and small village. There are other Camino routes as well, but I think those two might have the most accommodations open at that time of year...but I could be wrong. I've only walked Sarria to SdC but in May.

Well, that blog on hiking in Montrenegro linked above says winter snow lasts until May or June, and the coastal hiking is from April to November. So maybe not a great choice in March.

And the most popular Camino di Santiago is in Northern Spain, which is still cold in March. But there is a Camino route through Portugal, much further south.”, which could be good. And apparently there is one that starts in Seville called the Vis de La Plata.

We obviously want somewhere reasonably warm so we can do outdoor activities (40-50s or so in F)

75% of the country qualifies. I have been fishing in the high country in March on a couple of occasions.

There are a thousand places in Europe to hike. Just a place I enjoy because of beauty, cost and lack of tourists.

You mentioned cities too. Again, with Montenegro along the coast you have Budva and Bar and Ulcinj which will be unlike anything you may have visited before. Then in the high country you have the Tara River Canyon the National Parks and towns like Zabljak and Plav. Figure the cost of Switzerland and divide by two. Sure in the highest of the high country there may be snow on the ground.

Thumbs-uping some of the posts above, Portugal seems like a great call for that time of year. And I have a good friend who just returned from walking the entire Camino with her daughter. There are some juicy scenic awesome sections of that trail that can be picked out :)

Walking, hiking, trekking in Europe is such a great way to structure a vacation :)

Funny, but I was looking at the same time and activity earlier this month and stumbled on this…

Mallorca

https://hikebiketravel.com/highlights-of-hiking-on-mallorca/

Look at the Portuguese Camino, but start in Valenca, since you only have 8-9 days. This is just a bit over 100 km. and you would have a day free in Santiago. I walked this a few years ago, but started from Porto and will be doing it again this April. The weather should be decent, but perhaps rainy. The 110km walk from Sarria into Santiago has excellent infrastructure and I have done this section 3 times now, as part of the longer Camino Frances. Ask any questions you like about this. I don't think I wore.a jacket in April on the Portuguese Camino.

Hi I’ve got 2 different suggestions, both involving hiking trips I did in past:
Southwest Coastal Track in Cornwall. I flew to London, trained down to St. Austell and then took taxi to B and B in Port Mellon Cove (1/2 mile from enchanting village of Mevagissey). I hiked 3 days there and then took a boat ride to Fowey and did 3 days of hiking from there. Fabulous variety of walks and scenery (inland and coastal).
Other suggestion is Slovenia. Fly into Ljubljana and rent car. Not a one-stop and hike for a week type of place, but huge variety of hiking choices in a small area. I hiked every day for about 2 weeks and the scenery is magical.
Feel free to DM me if you’re interested in either location and I can share more details.