Best hikes in Europe?

Hello Laura.
In ITALY : A one mile hike, between Corniglia and Vernazza (walk in that direction) in the Cinque Terre in Liguria in Italy. The path is a few hundred feet higher than the Mediterranean Sea Coast. The next time I go there, I will bring something to sit on, and a quart of water to drink, and sit near the edge, looking down at the tranquil blue water, and water splashing on rocks, and white foam, and white birds circling in the air below me. In GREECE : The island Sifnos. It is at the west side of the Cycladic islands group at the Aegean Sea. A fast boat goes to Sifnos from the Port of Piraeus.The two best Greek islands for hiking are Sifnos and Naxos. At Sifnos you can get brochures and maps of the trails. In NORWAY : A long trail can be accessed from the small village (hamlet) Aurlands - Vangen, located at the side of the Aurland Fjord. Aurlands - Vangen is one of the stops in the "Norway in a Nutshell" Fjord trip (between Oslo and Bergen). Perhaps the most scenic part of the trail is a 21 - kilometer stretch between Osterbo and Vassbygdi, which takes between six and seven hours to complete. The trail threads its way through the woods and farms of the Aurlandsdal, passing crashing waterfalls and offering good views of a valley, and one or two tight and steep scrambles. Osterbo, the starting point, comprises a pair of lonely mountain lodges , located about 800 meters off Highway 50, about 25 km from Flam. Vassbygdi is a dull hamlet where the trail ends at the car park and bus stop. It is possible to ride in a local bus from Aurlands - Vangen to Osterbo (in 15 minutes), hike from Osterbo to Vassbygdi, and ride in a bus to Aurlands - Vangen, in one day. At Osterbo there are two privately owned mountain lodges for sleeping.

Well, I can only recommend what I know, so here goes... The two best non-Alpine regions of Germany for hiking- the Odenwald and Hartz mountains. The Odenwald is just to the south of Frankfurt, and the Hartz sit about halfway between Frankfurt and Berlin. Both are fairly low mountain ranges, but whereas the Hartz are mostly preserved old-growth forest, the Odenwald is a mixture of forest, small towns and pastureland, with a fair sprinkling of castles and Roman ruins. Both are also criss-crossed by thousands of kilometers of well-marked hiking trails. Most of the hiking here is fairly easy. You can find quick 1-hour loops, or link together several day journeys. I can't imagine hiking anywhere in the world being better than the Alps, and obviously, the walks here are going to be much more strenuous. The best hikes I've taken anywhere were above Zermatt in Switzerland, although these were quite difficult. Some of the easiest high-altitude hiking I've encountered was in Flumserberg. I've also had some excellent hiking in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, above King Ludwig's famous castles near Füssen, Oberstdorf, Lech am Alberg, Grindelwald and Val di Sol. Although I've only explored a fraction of the Alps... I have a feeling you can't go wrong anywhere throughout the entire chain. Finally, I'll mention Belgium. Not normally considered a hiking mecca, but if you want some easy hikes of duration no longer than 1-2 hours, the country is filled with these sort of rural hikes. I wouldn't necessarily recommend going out of your way to hike through Belgium, but if you're there anyway, you have plenty of options.

One of the best day hikes are in the High Tatras (Vysoke Tatry) in Slovakia. Beautiful scenery, well marked trails from easy to very strenuous, a lot of loop trails or half loop ones with public transportation getting you back. The best bases for hikes: Strbske Pleso or Stary Smokovec. High Tatras are something like condensed Alps: jagged peaks, relatively short distances. In one day hike you can cross the main ridge: from Tatranska Polianka to Lysa Polana and then by bus back. A lot of beautiful mountain lakes. You can also conquer the highest mountain of Poland: Rysy. The border between Slovakia and Poland goes through the summit. The highest mountain of High Tatras and Slovakia -Gerlach is accessible only with a mountain guide. No climbing experience necessary.

> "The two best non-Alpine regions of Germany for hiking- the Odenwald and Hartz mountains." Better than Saxon Switzerland? Hardly. Here are some pics of Saxon Switzerland: http://www.fotocommunity.com/travel/saechsische-schweiz/2817 You could follow the Malerweg (painters trail, 8 stages and 112km long), for several years now the most popular hiking trail in Germany. Here is a nice blog post about it: http://thedeutschlanddiaries.blogspot.de/2012/07/malerweg-i-birthday-hiking.html
http://thedeutschlanddiaries.blogspot.de/2012/07/malerweg-ii-hiking-in-sachsische-schweiz.html FYI: Saxon Switzerland is 45min away from Dresden, on the German-Czech border. The Czech side is called Bohemian Switzerland.

Two years ago I hiked an 11 mile stretch of the Rheinsteig trail along the middle Rhine river. Great views of the river and of castles. We passed through some remarkably undeveloped country (deep dark woods) considering how close to the river we were. Great experience. Ended on the terrace of a restaurant sipping Riesling and eating apricot dumplings. Heaven! http://www.rheinsteig.de/en/

By happy coincidense, I just saw the following article. Apparently there is now a hiking trail along the entire coast of Wales: http://travel.nytimes.com/2013/05/26/travel/slow-travel-walking-in-wales.html?pagewanted=all

I are the expert on walking the perimeter of Wales. To do it, you need to use the Coastal Path, the Dyke Path, and a small bit of the Wye Valley. It took over forty years. A couple of other butt-busters are the Cape Wrath (Scotland) and the GR10 (France). The former has been checked off, the latter is an on-going project.

Alpine Pass route in Switzerland.

Many options near Chamonix. This summer we plan to hike the Balcon Sud from Le Flegere to Le Brevent. Rick Steves wrote about this hike and we got rained out of our first attempt. I love the refuges with good coffee and snacks. Plus cable cars to start and end the hike, makes a great day. The Dolomites have similar options and I am trying to pick two hikes there also. Many options!! I feel trip planning is such fun, exploring all the variations and maps. Enjoy the trip!

Thanks for the recommendations everyone!