Hiking - Suggest a location

We enjoyed walking holidays (i.e. inn to inn hiking) in the UK (England and Scotland). Numerous companies offer self-guided walking tours (lodging and luggage transfers etc). Alternatively, one can base camp and do day walks. We use Contours Walking Holidays. Contour's tour offering map: https://www.contours.co.uk/

...range of walking holidays and short breaks along more than sixty
trails in Britain ranging from famous routes like Hadrian's Wall Path,
West Highland Way, Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk, Cotswold Way,
Offa's Dyke Path, Cumbria Way, Pembrokeshire Coast Path or the Dales
Way to little-known gems like Northumberland's Coast of Castles, Isle
of Anglesey Coast Path, Wild Edric's Way, Cotswolds Villages Trail or
the Three Castles Walk.

We enjoyed hut to hut ski tours in Norway. You can do the same or similar tours on foot during the summer. A great Norwegian resource is Norwegian Trekking Association (DNT): https://english.dnt.no/routes-and-cabins/

The local member associations operate 500 cabins across the country,
mark routes and ski tracks. Together they maintain a network of about
20,000 km of marked foot trails and about 7000 km of branch-marked ski
tracks.

Summer hiking trails in the mountains are waymarked with red letter
Ts, painted on cairns and rock walls. In forested areas (e. g. around
Oslo) and along the coast, waymarking is with blue strips painted on
trees or poles. Summer waymarking is permanent and can be seen
year-round. In all, there are some 20,000 km of T-marked routes.

An amazing combination of urban city with wild hiking a metro train ride away from the center city is Oslo's Nordmaka:
https://www.visitoslo.com/en/articles/nordmarka-forest/

The vast areas of untouched nature that surround Oslo are just 20-30
minutes from the city centre.

Some good starting points for outdoor experiences in the wilderness
include Holmenkollen, Frognerseteren, Sørkedalen, and Sognsvann. You
can easily reach these places with public transportation, and once you
get there, you have many possible activities in front of you!

I have two suggestions: 1) Ireland - we're just starting to research for our trip in 2019. Lots of hiking trails and beautiful countrysides throughout Ireland. 2.) Austria - like Switzerland, there are many trails in all valleys. Lots of hut to hut opportunities. We stayed in the Otz Valley for 10 days and I think we hiked on at least 5 of those days. There are a number of large and small towns throughout the length of the valley that would be good to stay in - we stayed in Oetz - and there's a variety of different trails throughout the length. This is a north/south valley that starts at the Inn River, west of Innsbruck, and travels south to the Italian border.

Try checking out Slovenia. We saw all kinds of hikers while we were driving through the Julian Alps. Our B and B host in Skofia Loka was happily transferring luggage for hikers moving on to their next stop. Seemed like a lot of people touring on foot or bicycles. We were also impressed by how far our dollar went in Slovenia.

You can do a search, 'hiking in Greece' and get lots of options.

My husband and I also like hiking trips here are a few places we have been to and enjoyed:
Germany Berchtesgaden region in July
Dolomites, our base town was Santa Christina, we were there at the end of September
Scuol Switzerland in the Grisons region and Lugano in the beginning of April
Ronda Spain, in the beginning of April
Alpujarras Spain, GR7 end of September
Portuguese camino, from Porto to Redondela (in 2 separate trips of 4days each) April and September.
Tenerife, canary island, once in October and once in February, made it to the top of Mount Teide.
Slovenia, we toured the country with a car, but did at least 3 days hikes. Slovenia is one of my favourite place, good food, good wine, cheap and you have mountains, city life and the sea all whithin a 2 hours drive.

We plan to finish the Portuguese camino next September, we have 5 walking days left.
Also on our list is San Miguel island in the azores.

Some trips we had a base which we returned to and did day hikes.

On the Portuguese camino and the GR7 we carried all of our stuff, you learn to carry the bare necessities when you are the one carrying it.

Hope this helps!

Saxon/Bohemian Switzerland
on the German/Czech border, and halfway between Berlin and Prague.

a few pics speak more than thousand words:
Bastei bridge ( one , two ), Wehlgrund, Edmunds gorge, nice hiking trail, typical hiking trails with ladders ( one , two ), Elbe valley with paddle steamer, green gorge

5 star ratings at Tripadvisor:
Saxon Switzerland National Park
Elbe Sandstone Mountains (the entire area)

Official site:
https://www.saechsische-schweiz.de/en.html

On a bad day you can visit Dresden or Prague, explore some of the picturesque small towns nearby, or visit Germanys Christmas country (with shops all year round).

The island Sifnos in Greece, at the Aegean Sea. Sifnos is at the west side of the Cyclades islands. In the summer season fast boats go to Sifnos from the Port of Piraeus.

Austria grooms trails for winter walking in addition to cross country ski touring. Winter walking is hiking with regular hiking boots (preferably with a breathable but waterproof membrane) and perhaps trekking poles. Snowshoes are not required. (Summer hiking is also an option). We enjoyed cross country skiing in the PillerseeTal area of the Tyrol but noticed a number of walking/hiking groups using the prepared winter trails.
https://www.kitzbueheler-alpen.com/en/pillerseetal/winter/winter-hiking-snow-shoe-hiking.html

On around 100 km of prepared winter hiking trails non-skiers and
occasional hikers are very well catered for. Countless routes take you
to the loveliest nooks in PillerseeTal through woodlands and across
fields, past farms, hamlets and streams. At the end of many of the
routes a warm snug in a cosy alpine inn, or snack station awaits.
Enjoy a romantic time in Fieberbrunn, Hochfilzen, St. Jakob in Haus,
St. Ulrich am Pillersee and Waidring, as thick snowflakes make for an
enchanting landscape in the Kitzbüheler Alpen.

Local bus is free. You could walk (or ski) point to point and taking the bus to/from your hotel or apartment.
https://www.kitzbueheler-alpen.com/en/pillerseetal/service/bus-time-tables-regiobus.html

The Regiobus runs all year round between Hochfilzen and Waidring and
back. So your car gets a holiday too! Your guest card for the region,
a valid ski pass or the PillerseeTal-Card is your ticket for free bus
journeys.

With Switzerland, which you have already visited, Germany has the best marked hiking trails of any place I have visited (I did plenty of pleasant hiking years ago in England but it was always in the company of someone else and I was not paying attention to details).
Local tourist sites have a wealth of information - the Mosel Valley out of Cochem or Beilstein, the Vulkan region on the border of Germany and Luxembourg out of Schalkenmehren (this non-touristy residential village and the area in general were the most pleasant of surprises), Franconia wineland around Iphofen (not stunning but Iphofen itself is a real gem), the Altmuhl Valley out of Riedenburg, the Black Forest out of Staufen (throw in a little of Alsace at the same time), Bodensee out of Meersburg or Insel Reichenau, a multitude of places along the Bavarian Alps, from the Allgau region in the west to the Berchtesgaden region in the east ( the town of Berchtesgaden itself is not the most ideal of bases, in my opinion).
I've found that most towns or villages, no matter how small, have a few local trails and others close by. The locals are always friendly and helpful.

https://www.ramblersholidays.co.uk/home?gclid=Cj0KCQiA6enQBRDUARIsAGs1YQjU9lrXT_jE776-FwgvSg71wPDhEmXEE-VKs6pfhqYHWXSHZ2vtBvAaAlMsEALw_wcB
have a look at this company,I am not suggesting you actually go on these holidays but have a look at the areas they cover and you should get some ideas.

We also make hiking our travel focus. This year we visited Patagonia ( in March) and Slovenia ( in September). Both offered excellent hiking.

Hadrian's Wall in the north of England, from end to end or as much of the middle part as you have time for. Pubs for overnights, a van service (Hadrian's Haul, I believe) to take your overnight stuff.

My husband and I have hiked the English Lake District quite extensively and highly recommend it! There are hikes at all levels of difficulty and always a good pub at the end. If you want to "rough it" there is a combination of camping barns, remote stone buildings, or wild camping. If you'd rather, you can stay at farms, inns or B&Bs. Lots of options! The views and countryside there are beautiful.

Another place we have really loved hiking is Norway. The hiking there has dramatic views and there is an extensive hut to hut hiking network. I love coming across mountain farms that are remote and deserted - sometimes in the summer there will be a families staying in them with their animals. There is mountain, fjord, and island hiking. We've hiked around Bergen a little but mostly up around the Alesund area. Stunning place!

Hi Lola,

Can you suggest a gateway town for hiking in Slovenia?

Thank you,
Bob

Hi Bob---our trip was a guided hiking trip with REI, and transport was provided, both between locations and to the trailheads. I did not pay that much attention to the geography as I did not plan the trip. So our bases may not have been the best for independent travelers. But we enjoyed our stays at Lake Bohinj (near Bled but much less developed) and Kobarid (in the Soca Valley).

I looked at other guided hiking trips and found one that uses Lake Bled as a base for the whole one-week trip, driving to trailheads from there. Bled is a nice town with lots of hotels, pensiones, and restaurants, and probably vacation apartments as well. But I do not know how long the drive would be from there to trailheads in the Julian Alps.

Another hiking company uses Lake Bohinj as a base, actually the same hotel where we stayed. But the walks we did from there were forest walks (including a nice waterfall), not alpine. For the national park they use a different base, but I cannot pinpoint it. You could check their itinerary on the Mountain Travel Sobek website to see if the descriptions and drive times sound appealing.

We found Slovenia to be very appealing, with a warm welcome, good food and wine, lower prices than Italy or Switzerland, lots of English spoken, very nice accommodations, and lovely scenery. I would love to go back, as we did not have the best weather and had to cut short some of our hikes because of snow, wind, or rain.

Bob, Bled and Bohinj both make good gateway towns to the Julian Alps, but Bled will require having a car, as most hikes into the heart of the national park will start from the area around the biathlon center on Pokljuka, a plateau above Bled with no public transport links that I am aware of. Bohinj, on the other hand, has internal bus connections that will get you close to some of the trail-heads, such as the hut at Savica Fall, the Vogel cable car station or Stara Fuzina, although some starting points further out such as the Voje or Planina Blato pastures again require a car, either rental or taxi. That said, most hiking destinations will be accessible on trails from one of the public transport-accessible trail-heads.

Depending on how long you wanted to spend in Slovenia, you could relocate to a second base in the Soca Valley, on the western side of the Julian Alps. Bovec or Kobarid are good options there. Another option for a second base is scenic Logarska Dolina, which offers access to the Kamnik-Savinja Alps, although the high-altitude hikes in that area are generally more difficult, and public transport access is poorer.

If you're looking for more of a mix of high-altitude and low-altitude walks, consider combining the Julian Alps with the Alpe Adria or Walk of Peace trails that lead from the Julian Alps down to the Adriatic Sea through the Soca Valley, the Alpine foothills, wine country and the Karst.

We are currently putting together a hike/bike trip with river rides and valley/mountain hikes for September. High Tetras (Poland and Slovakia), most likely a trek through the Eastern Hungary toward Eastern Slovenia and on to Western Slovenia. All areas have hiking and cycling information available via the internet and RS search engine. The goal is to be active. Tongue and cheek, we walked 9 miles in Rome. Others had excellent ideas for hikes in Northern Europe that I had not considered. In the US I would suggest Tetons, Glacier, Wasatch range in SLC backyard and the high Uintas. Of course I grew up in the Olympics and Cascades. The Sierra's can not be left out.

Consider the Lake District (Cumbria) in NW England. Keswick is a great place to stay.

Good Afternoon,

Any suggestions for a town in the Bavarian Alps to use as a base for hiking? We will not have a car.

Thank you,
Bob

Hello,

Greece is a great place for hiking. The mainland has many locations that you will love!
Most of Greece is mountainous, for some a true hiker's paradise. You can climb and hike in beautiful mountains and well-maintained hiking paths in amazing nature and with a breathtaking view. Those paths are very interesting since they pass through lovely small villages. Hiking in Greece can be done any season because the winter is mild and rainy days are less than in other European countries. The temperatures during summer are also not very hot on the top of the mountains and inside the lush greenery.

The places I would suggest are:
Meteora, Mt. Olympus, Pelion Peninsula and Zagorochoria

In the Bavarian Alps, we have enjoyed hiking from the village of Garmisch-Partenkirchen on three different trips. The hiking is varied, from engineered paths through gorges (Klamms in German) to scenic alpine ascents. All the hikes we have done were accessible on foot from town. The town itself is very nice, with a wide variety of lodging possibilities, from small friendly guesthouse to vacation apartments to nice hotels. Also a good assortment of restaurants. We have always enjoyed our time there, and will return if our plans bring us close.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen is easily reached by train from Munich.

Here are some photos and information on one of the gorge hikes:

http://hiddentraveltreasures.com/travel-tips-in-germany-hiking-through-the-hoellentalklamm-hell-valley-gorge/

http://www.hoellentalklamm-info.de/fotos.html

From the far end of the Gorge, you can walk 30 minutes to a hut for lunch, then loop around to the top of the Alpspitze cablecar and ride down to town. This is one of my favorite hikes ever.

And here is a NYT article about G-P and the great hiking there:

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/04/travel/hiking-the-bavarian-way.html?pagewanted=all

They did the hike I mentioned above, but in reverse ( rode the Alpspitze cablecar up, and walked downhill to the gorge and then through the Gorge to Hammersbach). There is a train from the station in G-P to Hammersbach, but we always just walk. It is only a kilometer or two and a nice level,walk through meadows.

Good Afternoon,

Regarding Greece, is there a town that you would suggest using as a base for hiking? My wife and I will not have a car.

Thank you,
Bob

Good Afternoon,

Thank you for the suggestion in the Bavarian Alps.

Bob

High Tatras in Slovakia. It is the highest part of the Carpathian Arch. High trails are usually open end of June to the end of October. Mountains are easy to get to and very spectacular. Slovakia is on Euro. The prices IMHO are the lowest out of all countries which are on Euro. The prices in High Tatras and Bratislava are higher than in the rest of Slovakia but still cheaper than in Alpine countries (Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Lichtenstein). For hiking the best location to stay are: Strbske Pleso, Stary Smokovec, Tatranska Lomnica. Car is not needed. Very good public transportation. You will find more information under Slovakia. You can read my post here:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/slovakia/best-destination-in-slovakia

Look into the Camino de Santiago. It is a pilgrimage walk across northern Spain. You walk through beautiful country side and both medieval and modern villages. There is a terrific infrastructure of inexpensive places to stay and eat. Most significant you will meet people of all ages, from many countries who are seeking, and sometimes finding, a more meaningful life.

There's another random list from AbhinavSharma with no supporting comments. Do you just throw darts at a board, or do you want to give some reasons behind the suggestions?

@Bob:

You have already received tons of great suggestions, and I won't add more to the confusion. Just a question:

It would help narrow things down if you would tell us a bit more about what kinds of terrain you prefer to hike. Strenuous? Mountainous? Or a bit easier? Maybe even flat? Do you prefer meeting lots of people along the way, or do you prefer having the trail to yourselves?

It would also help to know if you want to do hiking only, or if there is anything you are interested in seeing or doing aside from hiking.

Also, it makes an important difference in which season you plan to take your trip, and what temperatures you are comfortable with. I wouldn't recommend hiking Greece in July, and I equally wouldn't recommend hiking some place with three ft of snow in midwinter.