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Area guide

Hiking Europe

104 destinations across 25 countries, from 94 to 2572 metres, ranked by their strongest scored month.

When the area opens

Most of it is walkable in September

  1. 25Jan
  2. 27Feb
  3. 36Mar
  4. 52Apr
  5. 71May
  6. 87Jun
  7. 102Jul
  8. 102Aug
  9. 103Sep
  10. 85Oct
  11. 58Nov
  12. 22Dec

How many of the 104 destinations clear the recommendation gate in each month.

Ranked by best month

104 destinations

North MacedoniaŠar Planina landscape
North Macedonia

Šar Planina

88/100

July · August · September

↕1,525 m✓7/12 months
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United KingdomPeak District landscape
United Kingdom

Peak District

86/100

May · August · September

↕335 m✓11/12 months
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United KingdomBrecon Beacons landscape
United Kingdom

Brecon Beacons

85/100

June · July · August

↕353 m✓11/12 months
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United KingdomEryri (Snowdonia) landscape
United Kingdom

Eryri (Snowdonia)

84/100

May · June · July

↕338 m✓11/12 months
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United KingdomYorkshire Dales landscape
United Kingdom

Yorkshire Dales

84/100

May · June · September

↕430 m✓11/12 months
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United KingdomCairngorms National Park landscape
United Kingdom

Cairngorms National Park

82/100

July · August · September

↕703 m✓8/12 months
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SloveniaTriglav National Park landscape
Slovenia

Triglav National Park

82/100

July · August · September

↕1,465 m✓7/12 months
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When to hike Europe

In September, 103 of 104 destinations clear our recommendation criteria, more than in any other month. The area is quietest in December, with 22 of 104.

Averaged across the destinations, July is the warmest month at 17 degrees in the hiking window and January the coldest at -1.

How far apart the destinations are

The selected grid cells run from 94 metres at Lofotodden National Park to 2,572 metres at Ortler, with a median of 1,171 metres. Lofotodden National Park clears the criteria in 7 months (from April to October), Ortler in 3 months (from July to September).

The longest season belongs to 16 destinations, including Tenerife and Madeira, at 12 months each; the shortest to Sarek, at 2 months (in July and August).

What closes the missing months

Where a destination loses months, a critical climate component falls below the threshold at which we stop recommending a month. The main reason is snow cover for 77 of the 104 destinations, short days for 9 and heat for 2. 16 are recommendable in all twelve months.

In December, the quietest month, 82 of 104 destinations are closed, 73 of them by snow cover.

Not counted here is one further destination for which we publish no recommendation. It is listed below with the reason.

Conditions in September

September is when the open destinations score highest on average. Hiking-window temperature then runs from 3 degrees at Jotunheimen to 24 at Mallorca, and rain falls on 9 to 72 percent of days depending on the destination.

What these figures cover

Each destination is described by one selected ERA5-Land grid cell, averaged over 1991 to 2025. The figures above summarise those 104 cells. They are not a map of the whole area or of any route, and they are not a forecast.

Withheld

1 destination is not recommended here

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Related hiking areas

Regions within it

AlpsBalkansBritish IslesScandinaviaCarpathiansCentral European UplandsApenninesIberian Mountains