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

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The 150km route offers a multicultural experience, crossing from the pristine surroundings of Switzerland to Italy through the Matterhorn Valley, and staying in remote mountain huts en route. From epic treks up summits to steady strolls around the coast and historical pilgrimages, read on for our curation of the very best of the best.

Lonely Planet Epic Hikes of the World - Waterstones

The focus and namesake of the Camino de Santiago is the city of Santiago de Compostela in Spain 's far northwest. The staging point is Puerto Williams, a remote home to about 2,000 residents connected to the outside world by six prop flights a week. When to go: Although the walking is relatively easy during the optimum June-September hiking season, the water here is profuse.The longest and most challenging of which is the 49-mile (79 km) Heaphy Track through the South Island’s Kahurangi National Park. 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. Jordan offers a multitude of day-long hikes that’ll get you out amongst its otherworldly desertscapes and ancient archaeological sites. You’ll make a steeply rising traverse along a broad ledge between stratified cliffs to the ridge of Winteregg, before turning off to the summit of 2681m (8796ft) Faulhorn.

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

Here the trekking begins, with an adventurous ascent to the Siberia Hut – but that’s only the base camp. If you want an island traverse that's easier than Corsica's iconic GR20 hike, whilst serving up equally beautiful views, then consider hiking the lesser-known trails across Madeira. Hundreds of endangered southern right whales breech, breed and calf close to shore in an event considered among the best land-based whale-watching experiences in the world.But they are also fantastic year-round hiking destinations, with quiet trails crossing their unspoilt interiors. You'll pass the snowy mountains and spruce forests of the Laponia UNESCO world heritage site, through four national parks and through some of the wildest landscapes of Sweden.