Walks and treks
Valbona to Theth Hike
Bashkia Malësi e Madhe, Shkodër
A classic one-day hike over the Albanian Alps (the Accursed Mountains), between the remote villages of Valbona and Theth, crossing the Valbona Pass a…
Walks and treks
Walks and treks
Vall de Madriu-Perafita-Claror
les Escaldes, Escaldes-Engordany
A glacial valley in the Pyrenees in the south-east of Andorra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with high pastures, stone shepherds' huts, and old terra…
Walks and treks
El Chaltén and Fitz Roy
Santa Cruz
Argentina's 'trekking capital', a small village beneath the granite spires of Mount Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre.
Walks and treks
Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk
Bondi Beach, New South Wales
A 6 km clifftop walk from Bondi Beach past Tamarama, Bronte and Clovelly to Coogee, with ocean pools and the Waverley Cemetery on the cliffs.
Walks and treks
Kings Canyon Rim Walk
Northern Territory
A 6 km loop walk (about 3 to 4 hours) around the rim of Kings Canyon, where sheer red sandstone walls drop 100 m to the canyon floor.
Walks and treks
North Gorge Walk, Point Lookout
Queensland
An easy 1.2 km boardwalk loop around the headland at Point Lookout, on North Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah), and one of the best wildlife walks in Q…
Walks and treks
Grampians National Park
Victoria
Sandstone ranges in western Victoria with waterfalls, Aboriginal rock art and plenty of kangaroos.
Walks and treks
Chapada Diamantina
Lençóis, Bahia
A national park of table mountains, caves, waterfalls and rivers in Bahia.
Walks and treks
Seven Rila Lakes
Obshtina Rila, Kyustendil
A series of seven glacial lakes, one above the other, in the Rila Mountains, one of Bulgaria's most popular walks.
Walks and treks
Pirin National Park and Bansko
Bansko, Blagoevgrad
A UNESCO-listed national park of limestone and granite peaks, with more than 100 glacial lakes.
Walks and treks
Mount Cameroon
Fako Division, Southwest
An active volcano, 4,040 m, the highest in West Africa, climbed in 2 to 3 days from Buea.
Walks and treks
Santo Antão hiking, Cape Verde
Ribeira Grande
The most dramatic island of Cape Verde, with green valleys, cliff-side paths and terraced farms.
Walks and treks
Climbing Pico do Fogo
Cova Figueira, Santa Catarina do Fogo
Fogo is a single volcanic island, and its 2,829 m peak is the highest point in Cape Verde.
Walks and treks
Torres del Paine National Park
Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena
Granite towers, glaciers and turquoise lakes in Chilean Patagonia.
Walks and treks
Huangshan (Yellow Mountain)
Huangshan, Anhui
A range of granite peaks rising above a sea of clouds, with twisted pine trees growing from the rocks, which inspired centuries of Chinese painting a…
Walks and treks
Tiger Leaping Gorge
Yunnan
A deep gorge where the Jinsha River (upper Yangtze) races between the Jade Dragon and Haba snow mountains, up to 3,900 m deep.
Walks and treks
Ganden to Samye trek, Tibet
Dagzê, Tibet
A classic trek of about 80 km over 4 to 5 days, linking two of Tibet's most important monasteries.
Walks and treks
Ciudad Perdida (Lost City) trek
Santa Marta, Magdalena
A 4 to 5 day trek through the jungle of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta to the Lost City, built by the Tayrona around 800 AD, with stone terraces re…
Walks and treks
Cocora Valley
Salento, Quindío
A valley in the coffee region with the world's tallest palm trees, wax palms up to 60 m, in misty green hills.
Walks and treks
Mount Karthala, Comoros
Chouani, Grande Comore
An active volcano on Grande Comore with one of the largest craters in the world, climbed in a long day or overnight with a guide.
Walks and treks
Rarotonga Cross-Island Track, Cook Islands
A 3 to 4 hour hike across the jungle-covered centre of Rarotonga, past the Needle (Te Rua Manga) to Wigmore's Waterfall.
Walks and treks
Rio Celeste, Tenorio Volcano National Park
Guatuso, Alajuela
A river of startling sky-blue colour, caused by minerals mixing where two streams meet.
Walks and treks
Boiling Lake, Dominica
La Plaine, Saint Patrick
A flooded fumarole in the Morne Trois Pitons National Park, a UNESCO site, where grey-blue water bubbles in a cloud of steam.
Walks and treks
Quilotoa Crater Lake
Sigchos, Cotopaxi
A volcanic crater filled with a green lake.
Walks and treks
Santa Ana Volcano
Santa Ana
El Salvador's highest volcano, 2,381 m, with a hike of about 2 hours to the crater rim and its steaming turquoise lake.
Walks and treks
Simien Mountains
Debark’, Amhara
A dramatic plateau of jagged peaks and deep valleys, a UNESCO site, home of gelada baboons, walia ibex and the Ethiopian wolf.
Walks and treks
Nuuksio National Park
Espoo, Uusimaa
A national park of forest, lakes and rocky hills just 30 km from Helsinki, a great taste of Finnish nature, with well-marked trails, fire places, and…
Walks and treks
Calanque d'En-Vau, Cassis
Cassis, Bouches-du-Rhône
The most beautiful of the calanques, the narrow limestone inlets of the Calanques National Park between Marseille and Cassis.
Walks and treks
Cap Blanc-Nez and Cap Gris-Nez
Sangatte, Pas-de-Calais
Two great headlands on the Opal Coast facing England across the narrowest part of the Channel: the white chalk cliffs of Blanc-Nez and the grey rocks…
Walks and treks
Cap Fréhel and Fort la Latte
Fréhel, Côtes-d'Armor
A spectacular headland on Brittany's Emerald Coast, with pink and grey sandstone cliffs over 70 metres high, purple heather and gorse, and colonies o…
Walks and treks
Montagne Sainte-Victoire
Puyloubier, Bouches-du-Rhône
The great white limestone ridge east of Aix-en-Provence, painted more than 80 times by Paul Cézanne.
Walks and treks
Pointe du Raz
Plogoff, Finistère
A dramatic rocky point at the western tip of Brittany, jutting into the Atlantic, with the lighthouses of La Vieille and Ar Men in the swirling curre…
Walks and treks
Ballon d'Alsace
Masevaux-Niederbruck, Haut-Rhin
A rounded summit of the southern Vosges mountains, 1,247 metres high, where Alsace, Lorraine and Franche-Comté meet.
Walks and treks
Svaneti and Ushguli
Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti
A remote mountain region in the Caucasus with medieval stone defensive towers in every village, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Walks and treks
Samaria Gorge, Crete
Chóra Sfakíon, Crete
One of Europe's longest gorges, 16 km through the White Mountains of western Crete, down from Xyloskalo at 1,250 m to the Libyan Sea at Agia Roumeli.
Walks and treks
Vikos Gorge, Zagori
Kalpáki, Epirus
One of the deepest gorges in the world relative to its width, in the Pindus mountains of north-west Greece.
Walks and treks
Guadeloupe National Park and La Soufrière
Basse-Terre
The volcano La Soufrière, 1,467 m, rises over Basse-Terre's rainforest.
Walks and treks
Pacaya Volcano
San Vicente Pacaya, Escuintla
An active volcano near Guatemala City with an easy hike of about 2 hours return across lava fields, where guides roast marshmallows over hot vents.
Walks and treks
Dragon's Back trail, Hong Kong
Southern
A ridge walk on the south-east of Hong Kong Island, with views over the sea, beaches and islands, often named one of the best urban hikes in Asia.
Walks and treks
Goecha La trek from Yuksom
Gyalshing, Sikkim
One of the great Himalayan treks: about 8 to 10 days from the village of Yuksom, through rhododendron forests and high meadows, to the Goecha La pass…
Walks and treks
Triund trek, McLeod Ganj
Chamba, Himachal Pradesh
A popular day hike from McLeod Ganj up through oak and rhododendron forest to the grassy ridge of Triund at 2,850 m.
Walks and treks
Valley of Flowers
Chamoli, Uttarakhand
A high Himalayan valley in Uttarakhand carpeted with wildflowers in the monsoon, part of a UNESCO site with Nanda Devi National Park.
Walks and treks
Mount Rinjani
Labuan Lombok, Nusa Tenggara Barat
Indonesia's second-highest volcano, 3,726 m, on Lombok, with a crescent-shaped crater lake, Segara Anak, and hot springs.
Walks and treks
Ijen Crater
Wongsorejo, Jawa Timur
A volcano in eastern Java with a turquoise acid lake in its crater, where sulphur miners carry heavy loads by hand.
Walks and treks
Sentiero Azzurro (Blue Path), Cinque Terre
Vernazza, La Spezia
The coastal path that links the five ancient villages of the Cinque Terre ('five lands'), clinging to steep cliffs above the Ligurian Sea among terra…
Walks and treks
Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Dolomites
Auronzo, Belluno
Three huge rock towers that are the symbol of the Dolomites, a UNESCO World Heritage mountain range.
Walks and treks
Blue Mountains, Jamaica
Portland
Misty mountains rising behind Kingston, famous for Blue Mountain coffee.
Walks and treks
Kumano Kodō pilgrimage trail
Tanabe-shi, Wakayama
Ancient pilgrimage trails through the forested mountains of the Kii Peninsula, linking three grand shrines, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Walks and treks
Yakushima
Miyanoura, Kagoshima
A mountainous island south of Kyushu covered in ancient cedar forest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Walks and treks
Dana Biosphere Reserve
Buşayrā, Tafilah
Jordan's largest nature reserve, dropping from mountains to desert, with a restored stone village, Dana, on the edge.
Walks and treks
Kolsai Lakes and Kaindy Lake
Almaty
Three mountain lakes in a forested gorge in the northern Tian Shan, linked by a hiking trail.
Walks and treks
Mount Kenya
Meru
Africa's second-highest mountain, 5,199 m.
Walks and treks
Ala Archa National Park
Alamudunskiy Rayon, Chuy
A mountain gorge just 40 km south of Bishkek, with trails to waterfalls and glaciers.
Walks and treks
Liechtenstein Trail
Triesenberg
A 75 km trail across the whole of Liechtenstein, through all 11 municipalities, from Balzers in the south to Schaanwald in the north, which can be wa…
Walks and treks
Mullerthal Trail
Waldbillig, Echternach
A 112 km hiking trail through 'Little Switzerland', a region of mossy sandstone rock formations, narrow gorges and forests in eastern Luxembourg, wit…
Walks and treks
Isalo National Park
Fianarantsoa
Sandstone canyons and plateaus with natural swimming pools such as the Piscine Naturelle, ring-tailed lemurs and sifakas.
Walks and treks
Zomba Plateau
Zomba, Southern
A forested mountain plateau above the old colonial capital Zomba, with trails to waterfalls and viewpoints.
Walks and treks
Mount Kinabalu
Kota Belud, Sabah
Malaysia's highest mountain, 4,095 m, in Kinabalu Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Sabah, Borneo.
Walks and treks
Toubkal and the High Atlas
Al Haouz
North Africa's highest mountain, 4,167 m, is a two-day climb from Imlil, staying at a refuge.
Walks and treks
Fish River Canyon
Karas
The largest canyon in Africa, 160 km long and up to 550 m deep.
Walks and treks
Annapurna Circuit and Poon Hill
Kaski, Gandaki
The Annapurna region offers treks of every length.
Walks and treks
Everest Base Camp Trek
Solukhumbu, Koshi
The classic trek to the foot of the world's highest mountain, about 12 to 14 days return from Lukla, through Sherpa villages such as Namche Bazaar, p…
Walks and treks
Abel Tasman Coast Track
Takaka, Tasman
One of New Zealand's Great Walks: 60 km of easy, well-graded track along the coast of the Abel Tasman National Park, through native bush and over hea…
Walks and treks
Heaphy Track
West Coast
New Zealand's longest Great Walk, 78 km through Kahurangi National Park from the Aorere valley in Golden Bay to the wild West Coast near Karamea.
Walks and treks
Hooker Valley Track, Aoraki/Mount Cook
Canterbury
An easy 10 km return walk over three swing bridges to Hooker Lake, with icebergs and a view of Aoraki/Mount Cook, New Zealand's highest mountain, 3,7…
Walks and treks
Routeburn Track
Otago
One of New Zealand's Great Walks, 33 km over 2 to 4 days through Mount Aspiring and Fiordland National Parks, with alpine lakes, waterfalls and views…
Walks and treks
Roys Peak Track, Wānaka
Wanaka, Otago
A steep, zig-zagging climb of 1,250 m up farmland and tussock to the summit of Roys Peak (1,578 m), with one of the most famous views in New Zealand:…
Walks and treks
Tongariro Alpine Crossing
Turangi, Waikato
New Zealand's most popular day walk, 19.4 km across a volcanic landscape in Tongariro National Park, a dual UNESCO site, past Red Crater and the turq…
Walks and treks
Jotunheimen and the Besseggen Ridge
Innlandet
Jotunheimen, 'home of the giants', is Norway's great mountain national park, with the country's highest peaks, including Galdhøpiggen (2,469 m).
Walks and treks
Kjerag and the Kjeragbolten boulder
Rogaland
Kjerag is a mountain plateau 1,000 m above the Lysefjord, and Kjeragbolten is the famous boulder wedged in a crack between two cliffs, where brave hi…
Walks and treks
Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock)
Strand, Rogaland
A flat-topped cliff jutting out 604 m above the Lysefjord, one of Norway's most famous viewpoints.
Walks and treks
Trolltunga
Ullensvang, Vestland
A spectacular rock ledge sticking out horizontally 700 m above Lake Ringedalsvatnet, one of the most famous photo spots in Norway.
Walks and treks
Jebel Shams and the Balcony Walk
Bahlā’, Ad Dakhiliyah
Oman's highest mountain, about 3,000 m, overlooking Wadi Ghul, the 'Grand Canyon of Arabia'.
Walks and treks
Wadi Shab
Ash Sharqiyah South
A canyon with turquoise pools between towering cliffs.
Walks and treks
Fairy Meadows and Nanga Parbat
Gilgit-Baltistan
A grassy plateau at 3,300 m with a close view of Nanga Parbat, the world's ninth-highest mountain, 8,126 m.
Walks and treks
Boquete
Boquete, Chiriquí Province
A mountain town in the highlands of Chiriquí, famous for Geisha coffee farms, which offer tours.
Walks and treks
Kokoda Track, Papua New Guinea
Kokoda, Oro
A 96 km trek over the Owen Stanley Range, where Australian and Japanese forces fought in 1942, taking 8 to 10 days through jungle and villages.
Walks and treks
Huascarán and Laguna 69
Yungay, Áncash
The Cordillera Blanca is the highest tropical mountain range in the world, in Huascarán National Park.
Walks and treks
Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
Cusco
The classic Inca Trail is a 4-day, 43 km hike on original Inca stone paths from Km 82 in the Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu, passing Inca ruins, cloud…
Walks and treks
Rainbow Mountain (Vinicunca)
Qquea, Cusco
A mountain striped in red, gold and turquoise by minerals, at 5,036 m.
Walks and treks
Mount Pinatubo
Capas, Tarlac
A volcano whose huge eruption in 1991 was one of the largest of the 20th century, leaving a crater lake.
Walks and treks
Morskie Oko, Tatra Mountains
Zakopane, Lesser Poland
The largest and most beautiful lake in the Tatra Mountains, a deep green-blue glacial lake beneath granite peaks, including Rysy, the highest mountai…
Walks and treks
Pico do Arieiro to Pico Ruivo, Madeira
Santana, Madeira
A spectacular high-mountain walk on Madeira between its second and highest peaks, along a path cut into knife-edge ridges, through tunnels and up sta…
Walks and treks
Cirque de Mafate, Réunion
Saint-Paul
A vast volcanic amphitheatre with no roads, reachable only on foot or by helicopter, with small villages (îlets) and guesthouses (gîtes).
Walks and treks
Piton de la Fournaise, Réunion
Saint-Benoît
One of the most active volcanoes in the world, on the French island of Réunion.
Walks and treks
Morne Seychellois and Victoria, Mahé
Cascade
The mountains of Mahé, with trails such as Copolia and Morne Blanc giving views over the coast.
Walks and treks
High Tatras
Štrba, Prešov
The smallest alpine range in the world, with sharp granite peaks, glacial lakes and waterfalls, shared with Poland.
Walks and treks
Slovak Paradise National Park
Prešov
A national park of deep limestone gorges where the trails climb up waterfalls using ladders, chains and metal steps fixed into the rock.
Walks and treks
Drakensberg Amphitheatre
KwaZulu-Natal
A 5 km wall of basalt cliffs in the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park, a UNESCO site, over which the Tugela Falls drop 948 m, among the highest in the world.
Walks and treks
Garden Route and Tsitsikamma
Eastern Cape
A scenic coastal drive between Mossel Bay and Storms River, with lagoons, forests and beaches.
Walks and treks
Cederberg Wilderness
Western Cape
A rugged mountain area of red sandstone formations, rooibos tea farms and San rock art.
Walks and treks
Seoraksan National Park
Sokcho, Gangwon
South Korea's most famous mountain park, with granite peaks, waterfalls and temples, especially spectacular in autumn.
Walks and treks
Caminito del Rey
Ardales, Málaga
A walkway pinned to the walls of the El Chorro gorge, once called the world's most dangerous path, and rebuilt safely in 2015.
Walks and treks
Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park
Torla, Huesca
A deep limestone canyon in the Spanish Pyrenees, with cliffs and waterfalls rising above beech forests, shared with France's Gavarnie as a UNESCO Wor…
Walks and treks
Ruta del Cares, Picos de Europa
Cabrales, Asturias
One of the most spectacular walks in Spain: a path cut into the cliffs of the Cares gorge, deep in the Picos de Europa National Park, with the river …
Walks and treks
Haría and the Valley of a Thousand Palms, Lanzarote
Haría, Las Palmas
Lanzarote is often seen as a beach destination, but its volcanic landscapes make for wonderful walking.
Walks and treks
Adam's Peak (Sri Pada)
Ratnapura
A sacred mountain, 2,243 m, with a 'footprint' on the summit held holy by Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Christians.
Walks and treks
Lavaux Vineyard Terraces
Chexbres, Vaud
Terraced vineyards rising steeply from the shores of Lake Geneva between Lausanne and Montreux, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, created by monks in the…
Walks and treks
Oeschinensee, Kandersteg
Kandersteg, Bern
A turquoise mountain lake at 1,578 m beneath huge cliffs and waterfalls, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Bernese Oberland.
Walks and treks
Swiss National Park
Zernez, Graubünden
The oldest national park in the Alps, founded in 1914, in the Engadine valley of eastern Switzerland.
Walks and treks
Seven Lakes (Haft Kul)
Sughd
A chain of seven lakes in a valley of the Fann Mountains, each a different colour, from turquoise to deep blue.
Walks and treks
Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro
Moshi, Kilimanjaro
At 5,895 m, Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain in the world, and you can walk to the summit without…
Walks and treks
Lycian Way and Kaputaş Beach
Kaş, Antalya
A long-distance trail of about 540 km along the Mediterranean coast from Fethiye to Antalya, past Lycian tombs, ruins and beaches.
Walks and treks
Carpathian Mountains and Hoverla
Rakhiv Raion, Zakarpatska
The Ukrainian Carpathians are a land of forested mountains, wooden churches and Hutsul villages.
Walks and treks
Aira Force and Ullswater
Keswick, Cumbria
A 65-foot waterfall crashing through a wooded ravine above Ullswater, often called the most beautiful lake in England.
Walks and treks
Dovedale
Ashbourne, Derbyshire
A limestone valley in the Peak District, with steep wooded sides and strange rock formations such as Lion's Head Rock and Ilam Rock along the River D…
Walks and treks
Lake District and Catbells
Keswick, Cumbria
England's largest national park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site of lakes, fells and stone villages that inspired Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter.
Walks and treks
Old Man of Storr, Isle of Skye
Portree, Highland
A great pinnacle of rock standing on the Trotternish peninsula of the Isle of Skye, part of a huge landslip.
Walks and treks
Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa)
Llanberis, Gwynedd
The highest mountain in Wales, 1,085 m, in Snowdonia (Eryri) National Park.
Walks and treks
Watersmeet, Lynmouth
Lynton, Devon
A lovely walk from Lynmouth up the wooded gorge of the East Lyn River to Watersmeet, where the East Lyn and Hoar Oak Water meet in a series of waterf…
Walks and treks
Bright Angel Trail, Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon, Arizona
The view from the South Rim is stunning, but walking down into the Grand Canyon is unforgettable: you descend through layer after layer of rock up to…
Walks and treks
Brooklyn Bridge and the High Line, New York
Brooklyn, New York
Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, completed in 1883, on its raised wooden promenade, with views of the Manhattan skyline, then explore DUMBO and Brook…
Walks and treks
Nā Pali Coast and the Kalalau Trail
Princeville, Hawaii
Kauaʻi's north-west coast is a wall of jagged green cliffs up to 1,200 m high, plunging into the sea, with hanging valleys and waterfalls, and no roa…
Walks and treks
Zion National Park
Toquerville, Utah
A deep red and cream sandstone canyon carved by the Virgin River in southern Utah.
Walks and treks
Freedom Trail, Boston
Boston, Massachusetts
A 4 km red-brick line through central Boston linking 16 sites of the American Revolution, from Boston Common past the Old State House, Faneuil Hall, …
Walks and treks
Sa Pa rice terraces
Sa Pa, Lào Cai
A mountain town in the far north-west, surrounded by spectacular rice terraces and villages of Hmong and Dao people.