Lonely Planet Epic Hikes of the World: Explore the Planet's Most Thrilling Treks and Trails

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Putting one foot in front of the other for hours, days or even weeks on end creates a special sense of connection to a place and its landscapes. JMW Turner was so smitten by Rigi that in 1842 he painted the mountain in three different lights to reflect its changing moods. Flinging up above fjord-like Lake Lucerne, the 1797m/5896ft-high peak still has a magic touch today, especially when seen in the pink blush of sunrise or sunset. On a clear day you can see all the way to Mt Titlis, the glacier-encrusted Jungfrau Alps and Lake Zug. Read more: 5 Tips for Climbing Mont Blanc 16. Gran Paradiso Hut to Hut Trail, Italy Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso, Piemonte, Italia. Photo: Getty

the Best Hikes In Europe | Best Hiking Adventures in Europe 20 of the Best Hikes In Europe | Best Hiking Adventures in Europe

Aysén (north Chilean Patagonia) offers world-class fly-fishing, particularly for rainbow and brown trout, with fly-fishing lodges such as the Cinco Rios Lodge, Patagonian BaseCamp, and Coyhaique River Lodge dotted around in the wilderness along the Palena and Simpson rivers, accessed from the city of Coyhaique. In Argentina, keen fishers head for the likes of Kau Tapen Lodge and Aurelia Lodge in Tierra del Fuego to try their hand at fly-fishing on the Rio Grande, home of the world’s biggest sea-run brown trout and golden dorado. The Himalayas are a haven for trekking opportunities, from Everest Base Camp to the mountain’s peak itself and Bhutan’s famed Snowman Trek, a high-altitude hike across nine passes. The Annapurna Circuit in Nepal is a classic high-alpine trek that follows ancient trade routes and passes through quaint mountain villages, with fluttering Buddhist prayer flags, stupa, prayer wheels and sturdy stone homes dotting the path. The circuit takes around 15 days and can be extended with side treks off the main route. Many guesthouses can be found along the trail, so you don’t need to carry a tent, sleeping bag or food for more than a day. The sights: Throughout portions of the trek, the smothering rainforests of the mountainous interior give way to small communities and farmlands that yield a cornucopia of exotic island produce. Other sections are rugged and volcanic, with deep chasms, natural hot springs, and Dominica’s piece de resistance, Boiling Lake – a volcanic fumarole in Morne Trois Pitons National Park flooded with bubbling blue-grey water and surrounded by a vapour cloud. When to go: Climbing between June and February is considered optimum, with December to February being the best months for clear views of Kilimanjaro. When to go: Although the walking is relatively easy during the optimum June-September hiking season, the water here is profuse. The well-marked trail has plank walkways and bridges that cross swampy bogs and non-fordable summer streams, though some areas offer rowboat crossings or local charter boats that operate in lakes.José Antonio Gil Martínez/ Creative Commons) Camino Primitivo, Camino de Santiago Oviedo to Santiago de Compostela, Spain Leading from Chamonix in France through the southern Valais to Zermatt in Switzerland, the 2-week-long Walkers' Haute Route trek traverses some of the highest and most eye-popping scenery accessible anywhere in the Alps. Hiking here is a summertime endeavour, tracing a different course to the famous winter Haute Route for ski-tourers. Every stage will test your endurance, with ‘pass hopping’ that demands a high level of fitness on many sections of the walk. Video loading... ( Pat Leahy/ Creative Commons) Wonderland Trail Mount Rainier National Park, Washington

Epic Hikes of the World | Exodus Travels 19 Epic Hikes of the World | Exodus Travels

Switzerland? Little? Not for hikers it isn’t. As the Swiss delight in reminding you, the country’s 62,500km (38,836 miles) of trails would be enough to wrap around the globe 1.5 times. Alpine hikers fall hard for the high-level trails in the Bernese Oberland and Graubünden, which notch up the challenge and floor you with phenomenal scenery. Yet lowland areas like the vineyards of Valais and the gently rolling hills of Appenzell are equally atmospheric and accessible virtually all year long. The path is relatively easy, and mostly stays within the altitudes of 1200m to 1800m. However, there are some 2000m+ peaks you'll be scrambling up, including Sedlo pod Svišt’ovkou (2,023m) and Vel’ka Svit’ovka (2037m). The scree on the paths can be slippery, but there are chains to help support you. Bed down in mountain huts along the trail. 14. The Dolomites' Alta Via, Italy Hikers making their way through the Dolomites. Photo: Getty. Read more: The Guide to Climbing Monte Rosa 3. The Ring of Picos Challenge, Spain Hikers on the 'Ring of Picos' Challenge. Photo: Much Better Adventures. Read more: Everything You Need to Know About the Haute Route 13. Tatranská Magistrala, Slovakia The High Tatras are a highly protected area and an incredible hiking location. From there, you'll pass through cave villages and mountain viewpoints, until you descend through rare subtropical laurisilva forest. From there, you'll slowly descend through the Agaete Valley, the most fertile valley on the island, until you reach the coastal village of Agaete. And yes, it is time to go for a swim and relax now.The latest in their popular Epic series, the travel guide experts lay out 200 of the most awe-inspiring hikes on earth. From the Na Pali coast to the Sacred Valley, these are the hikes that cause jealousy among the outdoorsy social media set. Gift it with a new pair of hiking books for a hint-hint that will

Lonely Planet Epic Hikes of the World - Waterstones

Hi. We’re Esther & Jacob. We are ATLiens who explore a new city every year. We’re currently based in Las Vegas but have also lived in NYC, Portland, San Diego, and LA. From Peru, head north to Ecuador, where you can hike around Cotopaxi Volcano or along the Quilotoa Loop, a multi-day trek through rural villages. Vikos Aoos National Park, in northwest Greece, is a natural playground of deep gorges, green valleys, verdant forests and fast-flowing rivers. One of the most popular day hikes in the park takes you through Vikos Gorge, the deepest gorge in the world. But you can continue hiking along the park's trails for a glorious multi-day hike. Think Himalaya, and for many, the immediate thought is Nepal. But spare amoment – or preferably seven days – to contemplate the striking, overwhelming stark beauty of the Indian Himalaya. The trek: The Wales Coast Path is one of the globe’s premier walking routes, an 870-mile footpath distinguished as the first and only path to follow a country’s entire coastline. While the Herculean effort of walking its entirety has seen a few rugged takers, most walk parts of the best sections: the chiselled headlands of the 19-mile Gower Coast and the 186-mile Pembrokeshire Coast paths in South Wales .For many, the highlight will always be arriving at the Sun Gate, the fantastic finale and the moment you first see iconic Machu Picchu spread out beneath you. But for others, it’s waking up and peering from your tent pitched above the clouds to see a magnificent cloud inversion sunrise. When it comes to hiking in Europe, this mother of all treks circumnavigates the mighty slopes of the highest mountain in the Alps: Mont Blanc. Trekking the Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB) introduces the ambitious trekker to some of the most dramatic and versatile scenery in the world. It's one of the most famous hiking tours in Europe, up there with the likes of the Camino de Santiago, and one of the best European walking holidays. With its 170 kilometres, it is certainly a long-distance trek - and you'll be walking on high mountain trails with a lot of elevation gain (around 10,600m/35,000ft) over the course of the 11-day hike. The descent is no less dramatic, dropping more than 1000m (3281ft) to Lake Oeschinen above Kandersteg, a celestial vision of cerulean blue ringed by snow-streaked mountains and fed by the glacial waters of the Blüemlisalp peaks. This could be Italy’s most iconic viewpoint, the three silver-grey shards spearing skywards in a landscape that is shaped by history – this was once the front line in a vicious battle of attrition during the Great War, and that legacy still lingers along these routes. The Gran Paradiso sits in the Valle d’Aosta, in northwestern Italy’s Alps. Originally this park was set to preserve the Ibex, and the focus on flora and fauna is still one of the main draws of this sprawling park. Its superb hiking is another - there are some excellent short hikes and multi-day epics through the park.

25 Best Hikes in the World to Put on Your Bucket List (2023)

Be prepared: don't launch straight from the sofa to the summit–warm up with gentler walks, hikes and runs to get your body used to the exertion. Esther and Jacob are the founders of Local Adventurer, one of the top 5 travel blogs in the US. They believe that adventure can be found near and far and hope to inspire others to explore locally. They explore a new city in depth every year and currently base themselves in Las Vegas.Protect your knees: trekking poles can help control the knee-crushing descents that are a feature of pretty much every trek.