Lace up Your Hiking Boots and Set Out on 15 of the Best Hiking Trails in the World
Kungsleden, Sweden
Kungsleden translates to ‘The King’s Trail.” It’s royal indeed and definitely one of the top hikes in the world. It covers 270 miles of stunning Swedish countryside. It takes roughly one week to hike the whole trail, otherwise you can choose one of the many entry points and just walk one section of it.
The Arctic landscape is pure poetry, with wide-open tundra and massive glaciers encircling Sweden’s highest mountain, Mount Kebnekaise.
The Kungsleden is mostly visited during summer, when long days and warmer weather make the countryside a little more inviting. If you don’t mind the cold and like a bit of a challenge though, you can also explore this trail on skis in the wintertime. It’s not technically hiking, but skiing the King’s Trail is still worthy of any nature lover’s bucket list.
The Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim Hike, USA
Less than 1% of the 5 million people who visit the Grand Canyon annually venture below the rim. Yet if you really want to experience this natural wonder in its full glory, that’s where you need to go. The Rim-to-Rim hike is one of the great bucket list items in the United States.
The recommended route is from the North Rim to the South Rim, covering a distance of 24 miles. This is the easier direction as the North Rim is a thousand feet higher than the South. This version of the hike usually takes three to four days and requires a permit.
The best time to hike Rim-to-Rim is in spring and early summer. During March, April and May, temperatures are still mild and crowds are manageable. Later in summer, the heat makes walking difficult and even dangerous. Over winter, snow can transform the look of the canyon, but the cold is bitter and hiking is tough.
It is possible to go for a day hike in the Grand Canyon without a permit. If you go for this option, make sure you bring at least three liters of water and a good sunhat with you.
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Scottish National Trail, Scotland
The Scottish National trail is a 536-mile long walking route running the length of Scotland. It’s a deep dive into Scotland’s starkly beautiful scenery, so if you loved the scenes from the film “Skyfall” where Bond drove through those jaw-dropping landscapes, you’ll love this hike. The trail was only launched in 2012, so it’s still a bit of a novelty in long-distance hiking circles.
Scotland doesn’t have the towering mountains of some of the other locations on this list, so it’s a relatively easy hike. If you plan on walking the entire length in one go though, you would need at least five weeks.
Day hikers can also tackle sections of the trail — Scotland’s narrow shape means you’re never that far from an entry point and can easily make a day trip of it from Edinburgh or other cities.
