Most Incredible Long-Distance Hiking Trails in the World
There’s nothing better than a good long hike. It’s the perfect way to clear your mind, live off of whatever you can hold on your back, and see some of the most beautiful places in the world that aren’t accessible by car.
There are hiking trails all over the world that you’ve never heard of that will be sure to amaze you and leave you awestruck as you look over epic landscapes at the trails that lie before you. Here are the most incredible long-distance hiking trails in the world.
Pacific Crest Trail, USA
If you are looking for a classic long-distance hiking trail, the Pacific Crest Trail is for you! It’s 2,650 miles of trails that starts in Southern California on the border of Mexico and ends in Northern Washington on the border of Canada. There have been lots of books written about this trail but my favorite is “Wild”. This book will get you inspired and ready to hike!
The PCT takes about 5 months to complete and there are lots of day hikes and detours you can take along the way. The most famous “day hike” is climbing Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the Contiguous United States. If you are looking to fast pack the trail, the time to beat is 46 days, 12 hours, and 50 minutes.
Tour du Mont Blanc, France, Italy, Switzerland
This is probably the most famous hike in all of Europe. The trail circumnavigates Mont Blanc, the tallest mountain in Western Europe. It’s about 100 miles long, takes about 10 days to finish, and goes through some of the most epic landscapes in the world.
If hiking this trail sounds too easy for you, then you have the option to run the trail in a race called “UTMB” or “Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc”. The race follows the route and has a 46-hour cut-off time. Sounds easy enough, right?
Everest Base Camp, Nepal
Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world and stands at 29,031 feet. Multiple people die each year attempting to summit this behemoth mountain, but what a lot of people do is just hike to the Everest Base Camp. The hike starts and ends in Lukla and ascends to the base of Mount Everest where the people who are planning on summiting it start the climb.
The trail is 80 miles long and reaches an altitude of 18,192 feet. When my wife and I did this hike in 2019, it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. About a third of the way through the hike at Namche Bazaar, I projectile vomited and wasn’t able to eat anything for the rest of the hike. I was able to complete the hike up to Base Camp, but had to be helicoptered down the mountain after that. Altitude sickness is real people.
Appalachian Trail, USA
Another world-famous American hiking trail is the Appalachian Trail. It’s on the east coast of America and goes through the Appalachian Mountains and is 2,200 miles long. This is the trail to do if you really want to test yourself and see how much you can put your body through. This trail has lots of wild animals, lots of bugs, and you’ll be in the trees for most of the hike with nothing to see but a rocky trail in front of you.
The cool part about the AT is the number of people who do this hike. Each year there are about 3,000 people who attempt to through hike this trail so you’ll most likely not be alone. And yes, there are people who have been murdered on this trail but only 13 since 1974, which is like one every four years! And for this reason, I’m out.
Walker’s Haute Route, France, Switzerland
The Walker’s Haute Route is a trail that starts in Chamonix, France, and ends in Zermatt, Switzerland. It’s 137 miles long and takes between 8 and 15 days depending on how good of shape you’re in. This route will give you incredible views of Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn, and everything in between.
The thing that I don’t like about this hike is that you have to hike from hut to hut and can’t camp on the trail. This means that you’ll need to make reservations months in advance for the huts and have everything coordinated before you start the hike. Because of this, you’ll have a rigid schedule you have to follow and hope that nothing goes wrong along the way. Other than this small predicament, you’ll be able to spend your days walking past mountain lakes and glaciers, up high mountain passes, and through little Alpine villages.
Alta Via 1, Italy
This is a hike that needs to be on your bucket list. If you are a hiker, then you know about the Dolomites, a mountain range in Italy. The Domolites are known for jagged mountains, incredible viewpoints, and beautiful little Italian villages.
The Alta Via 1 is a 78-mile-long hiking trail that goes from Dobbiaco to Belluno. Italy is another country that unfortunately does not allow wild camping so you will need to stay in huts every night and you will have to plan about six months in advance because they do fill up quickly. It takes 9-11 days to complete this trail depending on how many miles you can do in a day and if you want to do any mountain summits along the way.
Aconcagua, Argentina
This is the tallest mountain in North and South America and stands at 22,831 feet. It’s right on the border of Argentina and Chile, but the trail up to the summit is all in Argentina. The cool thing about this summit is that you can do it without a guide, but it is recommended that you go with an official guide so you can get properly acclimated and not have to carry up as much gear.
It starts at 9,000 feet in the small town of Penitentes. The hike takes seven days to complete and is 43 miles long. The crazy part about this summit is that even though it’s the highest point in the Americas, there is no snow at the top (if you are there at the right time of year). You will be hiking the whole time, mostly surrounded by a desert landscape, but don’t let that fool you. It’s still freezing cold and the weather at the summit is usually zero degrees Fahrenheit and super windy.
GR20, France
This is known as the most difficult hike in Europe. It crosses the island of Corsica (a French island off the coast of Italy) and has very technical terrain, is very remote, and the weather can be unpredictable. The trail is 115 miles long and has an elevation profile of 42,650 feet. Not a lot of people know about this trail except for Europeans, but it’s a trail that needs to be on your to-do list.
The hike is a lot of scrambling up and down steep rock faces with some hikeable sections and, of course, incredible views the entire hike. The average time that it takes to finish this hike is one to two weeks depending on how comfortable you are on technical terrain.
Colorado Trail, USA
Almost every state in America has a hiking trail that crosses it, but the Colorado Trail is by far the most challenging and rewarding. The lowest point of the hike is 5,500 and the high point is 13,271 feet and the trail itself is 486 miles long. The trail starts outside of Denver and finishes in the little town of Durango. Some of the trail is in the San Juan Mountains which is arguably the most beautiful mountain range in America.
If you love being in the high mountains with nothing but hundreds of miles of mountain landscapes surrounding you as you hike for a month, then this is the trail for you.
Snowman Trek, Bhutan
If you thought the Everest Base Camp trek sounded fun, then you need to check out this little-known trail called the Snowman Trek. It has been on my bucket list from the second I heard about it, but the problem is it’s in the country of Bhutan, which has a $100 per day visa fee! The price used to be $250 per day, but it’s come down in recent years.
Anyway, the Snowman Trek is known as the world’s toughest trail and is 216 miles long. For almost the entire duration of the hike, you will be above 13,000 feet, with the highest point being 17,160 feet. You are also not allowed to go anywhere in Bhutan without a guide, so the best way to do this hike is to book a group tour before you get there.
West Highland Way, UK
This 96-mile hiking trail is known as Scotland’s best-loved long-distance hiking trail. If you want to be immersed in Scottish culture and landscapes, there’s no better trail. You can wild camp along this trail or you can book accommodation ahead of time if you don’t want to get rained on (because it will rain on you during this hike).
This is a hike that is suitable for all levels of hikers, which cannot be said for most of the other hikes on this list. It’s at low elevation and only has about 10,000 feet of elevation gain during the entire 96 miles, meaning that you will mostly be hiking in the valleys and looking up at the green rolling mountains.
Grande Traversée des Alpes, France
This is another favorite of mine. The Grande Traversée des Alpes is a trail that traverses the entire French Alps. It starts at Lake Geneva up near Switzerland and ends in Nice, France, on the Mediterranean Sea. It’s 372 miles long and passes through all the most beautiful parts of the French Alps, including views of Mont Blanc, the beautiful city of Briançon, and lots of mountain lakes and incredible vistas.
The hike takes around 35 days to complete and has numerous mountain passes and technical, high mountain sections. You’ll be above the treeline for most of the hike and there’s about 100,000 feet of elevation gain over the almost 400-mile trail.
Via Alpina, European Alps
So the Grande Traversée des Alpes only crosses the French Alps, but if you want to cross the entire European Alps, this is the trail for you. It crosses through eight countries and connects five long-distance hiking trails into one giant adventure. It’s 1,242 miles and usually takes 161 day days to complete. That’s about five months of intense hiking! Most people break up the trail into five sections and do them one by one while taking breaks between them, but if you want to drop everything and hit the trails for five months, this is your chance!
The trail starts in Trieste, Italy, and ends in Monaco while passing tough hundreds of little Alpine towns, mountain passes, mountain lakes, viewpoints, and everything else you could possibly imagine.
Transcaucasian Trail, Georgia, Armenia
This is the one trail on this list that is not 100% finished yet, but when it’s finished, it will be one of the most amazing long-distance hiking trails in the world. At 957 miles long, this trail crosses through Armenia and Georgia, which are probably two of the most underrated countries in Europe.
So far, the Armenia part of the trail has been finished, but the Georgia section still has a while to go. You can still do the entire hike, but just know you’ll be off-trail and need to have good navigation skills when crossing through Georgia. You can also go volunteer in Georgia to help finish the trail, which is a great way to meet new friends, spend time in the great outdoors, and work hard on something that will help other people get outdoors and be active.
What Do You Think?
Did I miss any of the most epic long-distance hiking trails in the world? What’s your favorite one on this list? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading!
