8 of Europe's best rail-to-trail hikes

There’s no better way to unzip a country than on foot, but the logistics of hiking often involve some serious forward planning — and often a solid amount of time in the driving seat. Not so with rail-to-trail hiking, which, thanks to Europe’s increasingly interconnected rail network, is having something of a moment, offering a remarkably hassle-free way to reach Europe’s wild places while allowing for even more time soaking up those dramatic landscapes. Pick your hike, catch the train first thing and you can be lacing up boots, slinging on a backpack and hitting the trail while most people are still polishing off breakfast.

From half-day treks in the Swiss Alps to multi-day pilgrimages through Tuscany’s medieval hill towns, we’ve combed Europe to bring you eight of the best hikes you can tackle straight off the train carriage.

Petworth Way, England

Start & end: Haslemere/Arundel
Time: 2 days

The quiet beauty of the British countryside touches deep on this two-day amble dipping into the South Downs National Park. Beginning in Haslemere in Sussex, a 50-minute train ride from Waterloo, the path leads softly into a landscape of cornfields, ancient woodlands and church steeples, with one-pub villages providing useful rest stops. Tennyson waxed lyrical about the view from the 218m rise of Blackdown. Peeking over chalk hills patchworked with purple heather, gorse and pine, he described it as ‘green Sussex fading into blue with one grey glimpse of sea’. Nearby Petworth merits stepping off the trail for a spell, with its Jacobean mansion harbouring paintings by Turner and a deer park designed by none other than Capability Brown. Spend the night here before striding on to Arundel, where you can catch the train back to London.

Vouraikos Gorge, Greece

Start & end: Mega Spileo/Diakopto
Time: 3-4 hours

If Greece conjures images of flopping on the nearest beach, you’ve yet to discover the rugged trails of the Northern Peloponnese — such as this knockout half-day, eight-mile hike following a former railway through the Vouraikos Gorge. The trailhead is in Zachlorou, about an hour’s walk from the station in Mega Spileo — the midway point on the Odontotos rack railway between Diakopto and Kalavryta. Take some time to visit the cliff-hugging monastery — founded by two monks from Thessaloniki in 362 — before delving into tunnels, crossing rickety iron bridges and picking your way deeper into the steep, cave-riddled limestone ravine en route to Diakopto, a relaxed seaside town overlooking the blue glitter of the Corinthian Gulf. From here, it’s possible to catch a connecting train to Athens.

Lake Bohinj, Slovenia

Start & end: Bohinjska Bistrica
Time: 3-5 hours

Mother Nature had one of her finest moments crafting Lake Bohinj, a splash of piercing blue rimmed by the densely forested slopes of the Julian Alps in Triglav National Park in northwest Slovenia. The looking-glass lake is your constant companion on this half-day, seven-mile trail weaving along its shores, which kicks off in the hamlet of Ribčev Laz. The going is easy and the views are sensational from the outset as you thread in and out of woods, stopping at pebble beaches for dips in the glass-clear water that warms to 22C in summer. The nearest station to the lake is in Bohinjska Bistrica, about an hour’s hike from Ribčev Laz.

Caminito del Rey, Spain

Start & end: El Chorro/Caminito del Rey
Time: 3-4 hours

Though short and sweet, the Caminito del Rey is one of Andalucia’s most phenomenal day hikes. Once billed the world’s most dangerous, a 2014 revamp made the 4.8-mile trail a darned sight safer, while taking nothing away from its drama. Boardwalks cling to the sheer limestone walls of the Gaitanes Gorge, punching up to 700m above the Guadalhorce River. Take the shuttle from the station to the trailhead in Ardales, where you’ll need to pop on a helmet and summon your courage — just as King Alfonso XIII did when he hiked it back in 1921. If you dare take your eyes off the path, you might glimpse Jurassic-era fossils, ancient juniper trees and griffon vultures wheeling in searingly blue skies. Trail tickets cost €10 (£8.67) self-guided or €18 (£15.60) guided and should be booked two to three months in advance.

Lais da Macun, Switzerland

Start & end: Lavin/Zernez
Time: 7-8 hours

Switzerland goes big on natural majesty. Case and point is the Swiss National Park, embedded deep in the Lower Engadin Valley in the southeastern canton of Graubünden. Nudging the Alps on the border to Italy, it’s a web of deep forests, boulder-crushing rivers and glacier-capped peaks. Hands down the finest day hike is this moderately challenging 14-mile trek from Lavin to Zernez via the Lais da Macun, a high-Alpine plateau necklaced with 23 jewel-like lakes that shimmer every shade of green and blue. Get an early start and be sure to check the forecast before setting out. The national railway, SBB, runs services that’ll get you from Zurich to Lavin in about two hours.

Hardangervidda, Norway

Start & end: Finse railway station (Bergen Line)
Time: 4-5 hours

Europe’s largest mountain plateau, the vast and astonishingly wild Hardangervidda, is Norway turned up to 11. Cue booming waterfalls, fjords, rugged mountains and glacier-carved valleys where Arctic fox, elk and wild reindeer roam. Hiking season here begins as the snow melts, with peak season running from July to August. You could walk here for days unperturbed, but the half-day, six-mile hike from Finse to the deeply crevassed ice of Hardangerjøkulen glacier is an enticing introduction. You can reach the village from Oslo Central Station, but Finse is also a key stop along the Bergen Line, one of the world’s most scenic train journeys.

Via Francigena, Italy

Start & end: Lucca/Siena
Time: 7-8 days

Bells tolling in clocktowers. Poppies and sunflowers lighting up fields. Chianti corks popped as the sun dips over vine-ribbed hillsides. The Tuscan dream is within grasp on this week-long, 83-mile trek from Lucca to Siena, one of the most scenic sections of the long-distance Via Francigena from Canterbury to Rome, which is 1,383 miles in its entirety and takes around 100 days to complete. Following in the footsteps of Archbishop Sigeric the Serious, the ancient pilgrimage route ticks off walled medieval hill towns like rosary beads, including Unesco-stamped San Gimignano, with its 14 towers, and the walled medieval town of Monteriggioni — mentioned in Dante’s Divine Comedy. To reach Lucca, you’re best off catching a speedy ItaliaRail service from Florence. Once on the trail, most hikers rest-up in cosy local B&Bs.

Tour du Mont Blanc

Start & end: Les Houches railway station
Time: 7-11 days

Getting this close to Mont Blanc (the tallest peak in the Alps at 4,808m) and its snaking Mer de Glace glacier makes all the cursing and blisters worthwhile. If you’re up for the challenge, try this epic multi-day Tour du Mont Blanc, throwing you in at the deep end of the French, Italian and Swiss Alps. A 20-minute ride from Chamonix, the three-country, 112-mile route loops around the Mont Blanc massif, vaulting over high-Alpine passes, skimming thundering rivers and crossing wildflower-freckled meadows. The off-the-chart beauty is matched by starry nights at remote mountain refuges, which offer hot meals and sometimes even private rooms. Hike it anticlockwise from late June to mid-September. Much Better Adventures also offers 10-day guided hikes that include accommodation and meals from £2,144.