Anyone been on a European hiking holiday?
I have done a couple, one in the Dolomites, 5 days with some large climbs (all walking but some areas ropes to assist given steepness) which went through some of the World War areas where gun positions had been carved into some of the upper stone areas which was very interesting with stunning scenery. The secon was around Mont Blanc for 4/5 days of a longer path where again there was stunning scenery and ability to break ice from the front of a glacier to go with our hip flask of whisky en route!
Anyway, firstly I am thinking of doing another; Greenland, Iceland, Norway or similar. Self guided. 3-5 days. Anyone any ideas.
Secondly, my wife is keen to do one having done similar in Peru but with 2 small kids I would need to stay at home and her friends are not walkers so I was thinking of a guided trip of reasonable value if anyone has any recommendations - 3/4 days.
Just realised I have classified as members only by accident, not sure how to change, not that it matters I guess.
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Guess its no where near the same but keep meaning to walk the entire North Downs Way etc. one day (Just not in a day)
But have done most of Peru.
Have you thought of looking at Intrepid or Imaginative Traveller for your wife? They do great trips & she'll be amongst a group.
We did the Atlas Mountains. Was amazing.
www.trek-lite.com
and ask the same questions.
funnily enough i'm Baldy.
@KBslittlesis - I went with one of those travel groups to Nepal and they were good so may look into them. We both went to Peru before the kids and did the Lares trek there which is where my wife discovered she enjoyed walking too!
@Baldybonce - cheers, I will look at that over the weekend. Seems an interesting link.
Rwandan Adventures
Black Forest equally beautiful, spent a long winter there way back and loved the place.
Croatian national park is also on my must visit place along with Romania which I'm told is unspoilt wilderness.
I also did the Laugavegeur trail in Iceland which was simply magnificent.
I may look up the Black Forest Mountain walks as that sounds good.
Any other thoughts on good hikes (worldwide, not just Europe, my horizons have expanded!). 3-4 days hiking is about my max in terms of time I can get away for without the family..
Thanks
It's only been seven years, but I've moved it to 'Other Football and Sports'.
This stream is more about organised hiking perhaps along well trodden paths, very good exercise and good for the health, though not for me.
Back to hitchhiking, I haven't seen a hitchhiker thumbing a ride for many years, motorways and fear of the serial killer seem to have put paid to that (mainly) youthful experience
I actually had a need to thumb a ride in Sicily this year and once again, spent a fun 45mins in a car, this time with a Mountain Etna guide who had just returned from the top and was showing me videos of the flying magma eruption he had been watching that morning!
Join up to www.trek-lite.com for ideas. gear chat etc. I'm not hard to find.
Last time we walked it was a few months after I retired in 2017 with a large group of friends and family. Will be my 70th next year and this time we have persuaded 3 of our sons to take some time off work and families to walk the first third of it with us. Really looking forward to it and highly recommend it if you can spare the time. If you are interested there are lots of YouTube videos and vlogs of people's trips (I particularly recommend those by Efren Gonzalez). Also watch the film The Way with Martin Sheen and James Nesbitt which is available on some of the streaming services.
Other walks we have done over the past 5 years and would recommend are the:
- UK Coast to Coast from St Bees in Cumbria on the West Coast to Robin Hood's Bay on the East Coast (quite tough in the Lake District section)
- The Cotswold Way route from Bath to Chipping Campden (we live 3 miles from Chipping Campden, so we took a train down to Bath and essentially walked home over 10 days)
- The last 300 kms of the Via Francigena route starting west of Florence and walking down to Rome finishing at the vatican.
Some people like to stay in hostels (sometimes sleeping in dormitories) and carry everything in their backpacks. I am afraid my wife and I are of an age where we prefer a private room with ensuite facilities and if you want you can have a suitcase transported ahead of you each day. There are a number of specialist walking tour companies that can arrange tailor made itineraries for either self-guided or guided walking trips.
Edit: I can see further above in this thread that in March 2017 I mentioned that we would be walking the Camino Frances later that year. Am getting boring but as Paul Whitehouse used to say in The Fast Show "It's brilliant"!
Another shout for the Camino de Santiago. Last year we did the Camino Ingles (around 70 miles over 6 days) and this year the Camino Portuguese coastal route - 140 miles over 12 days. All walks are easy to follow and we stayed in hotel type accommodation and had bags transferred each day. It can be tough going but incredibly rewarding and arrival at the Cathedral in Santiago will bring the most hardened to shed a tear.
Timing is important - in the Alps and Pyrenees late June/early July when paths aren't impassable due to snow and the cable cars start their summer season, March, April, October and November when it's cooler for Spanish mountains and Mediterranean islands.
Wow, that is some serious walking. Nice work. The stuff I have done has been in dorms in huts. Have to say it was the one downside of the Icelandic Laugavegeur as they just packed the rooms too much and I barely slept for 3 days.
Yes, definitely still possible but seems a lot rarer and my friends thought I was mad for doing it. NZ it a truly spectacular country with wonderful people and incredible hiking trails.
I never had to wait more than 5 minutes for a lift, except for the day after NZ lost in the rugby world cup final when it took 2 hours and the chap that finally took pity on me agreed to take me only if we sat in silence as he was in mourning for the game. It really is a religion over there.
Good call, my Tatra trip was a day climbing up and over a serious mountain, a day knocking around on e-bikes which were great fun, a day hiking a ravine, and a day exploring local towns and in a spa. Marvellous trip.