Get your boots on: The world’s five best new hikes

The Balkans, New Zealand, Georgia and Japan are starters in the quest for the world’s best new hikes.

Hike in peace through the western Balkans

• Start Split, Croatia
• Finish Tirana, Albania
• Duration 10 days

The Karanfili Peaks in the Prokletije Mountains, Montenegro.Credit: iStock

For anyone that can remember the Balkans conflict of the 1990s, it’s hard to believe there’s now a hiking trail through the heart of this once war-torn region – an epic 2000-kilometre-long route from Slovenia to Albania that traverses Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.

In addition to celebrating the region’s reconciliation, the Via Dinarica hopes to lure visitors inland, away from the Balkans’ celebrated coastline to its lesser-known mountainous interior.

Intrepid Travel’s 10-day Hiking the Balkans trip from Split to Tirana showcases some of the trail’s most spectacular portions via six hikes that are both scenically stunning and surprisingly varied.

Highlights in Bosnia and Herzegovina include meandering through wildflower-peppered valleys enroute to Outlaw’s Gate, a striking natural stone archway located almost 2000 metres up Cvrsnica Mountain. You’ll also comb the windswept foothills of Cincar Mountain looking for wild horses and visit Lukomir, the country’s highest and most remote village – a cluster of tin-roofed shepherd huts surrounded by 12th-century medieval tombstones.

Fitting finale: Thethi National Park, Albania.Credit: iStock

In Montenegro, you’ll skirt forest-flanked glacial lakes in UNESCO World Heritage-listed Durmitor National Park, enjoy a sunset drink overlooking Tara Canyon, Europe’s biggest and deepest canyon, and visit a trifecta of 2000-metre summits in the Accursed Mountains that offer spellbinding views of the Karanfili peaks. This eruption of soaring snow-dusted granite spires is more than a match for anything you’ll find in the Dolomites. The difference? You’ll probably be the only ones there.

The Albanian Alps provide a fitting finale with the 19-kilometre trek from Theth to Valbona, a taxing climb over a 1795-metre-high mountain pass that delivers arresting vistas of two sweeping valleys flanked by towering peaks and plunging forested ravines.

Along the way, the trip visits some of the region’s most intriguing cities, including Split, whose atmospheric Old Town contains one of the world’s best-preserved Roman residences (the sprawling Diocletian’s Palace), and the Albanian capital of Tirana, which is enjoying an explosive period of prosperity after 40 years of isolated communist rule.

But if there’s one city that encapsulates the region’s heartbreaking history, it’s Sarajevo. During the Balkans War, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina endured a horrific four-year siege, evidence of which can still be seen today in its shrapnel-scarred buildings. But much like the rest of the Balkans, it has recovered, and is once again a busy, vibrant metropolis with atmospheric alleyways, crowded cafes and a photogenic jumble of mosques, synagogues and churches. See intrepidtravel.com

New tracks through Georgia

• Start Tbilisi
• Finish Tbilisi
• Duration 10 days

The village of Ushguli in Georgia, Europe’s highest permanently inhabited village.Credit: iStock

When fully completed, the Transcaucasian Trail will squirm for 3000 kilometres through Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia – a dramatic, mountainous region wedged between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Straddling Europe and Asia, the area is home to some of the world’s oldest civilisations and countless UNESCO World Heritage sites.

The Georgian section is the best-developed and during World Expeditions’ 10-day Transcaucasian Trail Hike Georgia you’ll experience the vibrant food scene, art nouveau architecture and spectacular riverside setting of its intriguing capital, Tbilisi. You’ll also trek to 2200-metre-high Ushguli, Europe’s highest permanently inhabited village, stay with a family in the remote settlement of Adishi and summit the Chkhutnieri Pass for sweeping views of the glaciers surrounding 4858-metre-high Mount Tetnuldi.

Along the way, you’ll learn about the region’s absorbing history, an epic 6000-year saga written by the Persian, Ottoman and Russian empires. See worldexpeditions.com

In the footsteps of English kings

• Start Brighton, England
• Finish Eastbourne, England
• Duration Three days

The Seven Sisters of Sussex.Credit: iStock

When it’s finished, the King Charles III England Coast Path will be the world’s longest coastal trail, a squirming 4500-kilometre-long path following every inch of England’s featured foreshore. The vast majority should be open by the end of the year, but even now there are more than 1700 kilometres of signposted trails to choose from – a bewildering array of options that showcase everything from Cornwall’s pristine beaches to Northumberland’s castle-peppered coastline.

Our recommendation? Jump on a train from London to the cheeky south coast resort of Brighton and spend three days tackling the 40-kilometre section to Eastbourne, another popular coastal retreat known for its grand Victorian architecture and handsome 19th-century pier.

Along the way, you’ll climb up and over the Seven Sisters, seven striking chalk bluffs that are a gentle prelude to England’s tallest chalk sea cliff, the soul-stirring 162-metre-high Beachy Head. See nationaltrail.co.uk

Pilgrim path less travelled

• Start Kii-Tanabe, Japan
• Finish Kii-Katsuura, Japan
• Duration 10 days

The Kumano Kodo is a lesser-known World Heritage pilgramage route.

If you haven’t done the Camino de Santiago hike yourself, you probably know someone who has. This ancient pilgrimage in north-west Spain is only getting more popular thanks to countless books, movies and celebrity endorsements. Less well-known is that there’s another UNESCO World Heritage-listed pilgrimage route in Japan’s Kii Peninsula called the Kumano Kodo.

There are three main routes, but the easiest and most popular is Nakahechi. Looping from Kii-Tanabe on the west coast to Kii-Katsuura on the east, it visits several sacred Shinto shrines hidden among the peninsula’s dense temperate forest.

On World Expeditions’ 10-day self-guided Kumano Kodo Coast to Coast hike, you’ll walk around 110 kilometres of the route’s ancient cobblestone paths, staying at traditional ryokans and enjoying delicious Japanese cuisine and restorative onsens.

This is one trek that’s all about the journey – savour the meditative solitude as you retrace the ghostly footsteps of emperors, aristocrats and samurais. See worldexpeditions.com

NZ tramping tasters

• Start Te Anau
• Finish Te Anau
• Duration Three days

Sample the best bits of New Zealand’s Great Walks.

New Zealand has done such a good job of promoting its 10 Great Walks that places on the most popular hikes, particularly the Milford Track, sell out within hours of being released. If you do manage to get a spot, you’ll have to carry all your belongings and stay in basic, dorm-style huts.

If only one could sample the best bits with just a day pack while staying in a comfortable hotel. Cue Trips and Tramps’ new Fiordland Great Walk sampler, an ingenious three-day package that includes guided day walks on the Kepler, Milford and Routeburn Tracks plus luxury accommodation in Te Anau.

The view across the Kepler Mountains and Lake Te Anau.

Each hike is deliciously different. Kepler starts with an exhilarating heli-transfer before a scramble up the rocky slopes of Mount Luxmore, Milford is a gentle stroll through verdant rainforest to a spectacular waterfall and Routeburn culminates in a picnic with spellbinding views over the Hollyford Valley. See tripsandtramps.com

Q&A: Martin Ruffo
The journey planner, Inspiring Vacations

Inspiring Vacations’ Martin Ruffo.

My job involves… working alongside a group of talented individuals to craft unforgettable trips that are great value for money.

My definition of a great journey is… when I return home and I am physically tired from exploring, with a memory stick full of local faces, and a better understanding of the local culture I visited.

My greatest journey ever was… kayaking in the Lacandon jungle in Mexico, alongside a team of local explorers and an archaeologist, in search of a Mayan site that hadn’t been documented for hundreds of years.

The most amazing thing I’ve ever seen on a journey is… the first time I saw Machu Picchu in Peru. The setting, the magnitude, the perfection of that Inca site is something that truly took me by surprise. It really deserves its well-earned spot on everyone’s bucket list.

The great journey I still really want to do one day is… the Himalayas. I can’t wait to walk along Himalayan valleys, through local communities and maybe climb a peak or two.

The world’s next great journey destination is… South America consistently captures the interest of avid travellers, and it’s easy to see why. This vast continent offers an incredible diversity of cultures, landscapes and experiences. You could do several trips and have a brand new and exciting adventure every single time. To truly experience the breadth of what South America has to offer, I recommend taking a guided tour to focus on enjoying the journey and tick off truly bucket list items like Machu Picchu, the Amazon jungle, Iguazu Falls and the Galapagos Islands.

My best tip for getting the most from a great journey is… be curious. Be inquisitive. Ask questions. Interact with locals – anyone you come into contact with! – and learn from them. It’s up to you to make the most of it. Touring is the perfect way to explore a destination – you can be guided by experts and make the most of their local knowledge, insights and support. See inspiringvacations.com