Europe's best multi-day hikes you can do without camping
A long-distance trek is challenging enough, without having to pitch a tent every night. Here’s our pick of the continent’s most rewarding routes, complete with atmospheric overnight stays.
A multi-day hike is a very particular kind of challenge. The demands on mind and body layer up day after day and, to confront them in the best possible shape, it’s important to get proper rest each night. This is more easily done with a roof over your head than the flapping canvas of a tent and, in some protected landscapes, wild camping is forbidden. Happily, Europe is well-equipped with mountain refuges, pilgrim hostels and path-adjacent hotels. Many stand-out stays are in the Alps — but, as you’ll see from our guide, not all.
South West Coast Path, England
From a distance, it looks like madness — a whopping 630 miles of rollercoaster beach and cliff-top walking that wiggles through some of England’s most popular seaside destinations. But the closer you get, the more enticing the South West Coast Path becomes — especially in Cornwall. Here lie the tallest cliffs and the most unspoilt landscapes, as well as deep layers of culture and history. Surfing, tin-mining, hill-forts, modern art in St Ives; they’ll all add fresh perspectives to your wanderings — and en route are some cracking pubs and B&Bs providing comfort and good cheer.
In most areas, public transport allows you to cherry-pick sections of the walk, according to your interests and your appetite for rugged paths. In fact, if you dodge the busy school holiday periods, pace yourself properly and book your accommodation well in advance, the only real challenge you’ll face is the weather. Be prepared to abandon your plans for a day or two — or catch a bus — if a proper Atlantic storm blows in.
El Camino de Santiago, Portugal & Spain
There are more routes to Santiago de Compostela than even the most devout pilgrim could walk in a lifetime — well over 250. But if you tackle only one Camino, as they’re called, don’t assume it has to be the most popular. The final 60 miles of the Camino Francés, heading west into the city, can be an intensely social experience — but if you’re curious rather than devout, and interested in landscape and history as much as spiritual growth, consider the inland version of the Camino Portugués. Starting in Porto, this 10- to 13-day 150-mile hike is well-served with affordable pilgrim hostels known as albergues. The real attraction, however, lies in its mixture of verdant landscape and small but historic towns, including medieval Barcelos and the fortress town of Tui. It’s a shadier way to approach Santiago, too — a key consideration if you’re considering tackling the walk in summer.
(Beyond the Camino de Santiago—7 alternative hikes in Spain.)
Tour of Monte Rosa, Switzerland and Italy
Approximately 20,000-25,000 hikers tackle the classic Tour du Mont Blanc each season — that’s a lot of people walking narrow footpaths around a single massif. If you’re looking for a quieter and more serene circuit, try circling the Alps’s second-highest massif, instead — Monte Rosa. The full tour includes one glacier traverse above Zermatt, which shouldn’t be attempted without a mountain guide — but you can skip it by riding a cable car up to your first overnight stop. Afterwards, the 100-mile, eight- to 10-day hike is fairly straightforward, provided you have a head for heights and steady feet. En route, off-duty ski resorts in several valleys offer luxurious overnight alternatives to the more basic mountain huts. If you’re new to Alpine hiking, it’s best to join a guided tour, offered by companies including KE Adventure Travel and Walkers Britain. Whichever approach you take, expect non-stop magnificence from start to finish.
Berliner Höhenweg, Austria
No one does mountain huts quite like Austria, as you’ll discover when you tackle the Berliner Höhenweg. This 50-mile, eight-day hike explores the weatherbeaten Zillertal Alps east of Innsbruck, equipped with a network of overnight refuges, which began taking shape in 1879. Mostly above the 2,000-metre, all eight are well-equipped and organised — but the oldest, the Berliner Hütte, has grown into a mountainside behemoth.
There are two things to bear in mind before you tackle the route. First, to be sure of a bed, book at least six months in advance of your arrival. Second, although there’s a long history of hiking here, this walk is far from a doddle. A couple of sections, notably on the crossing of the 2,910-metre Friesenbergscharte, require scrambling skills and a good sense of balance above steep drops. Of course, that adds to the sense of drama and excitement, but it’s worth bringing basic via ferrata equipment (a harness and two carabiner-tipped leashes); so you can clip onto the fixed cables that protect some of the trickiest sections.
Alta Via 1, Italy
For sheer visual splendour, it’s hard to beat Italy’s Dolomites. These soaring citadels of rock are the setting for the Alta Via 1, which runs 75 miles from Lago di Braies (also known as Pragser Wildsee or Lake Prags) in the north to a humble bus stop on the road to Belluno in the south. The path, though demanding, isn’t technical — and it’s well-stocked with mountain huts. Fit and experienced hikers could manage it in seven days of relentless walking, but that would be to miss out on the many pleasures of this remarkable region — contained entirely within Italy, yet running through three distinct cultural and linguistic districts. You start surrounded by German-speakers in the Südtirol, finish among the Italians of Veneto and — in the middle — pass through the home of the Ladins, 30,000 of whom still speak another language entirely. These days, the Dolomites are distinctly gastronomic, too; and if that sounds like a good excuse for a detour — to charming San Cassiano perhaps, or ‘Queen of the Dolomites’ Cortina d’Ampezzo — you could easily stretch the hike into a fortnight.
(7 European hikes that end with incredible views.)
