Australian Hiker’s Multi-day International Bucket List Hikes
When you want to leave home
In this article we identify our ‘still to do’ bucket list of overseas (outside Australia) multi-day hikes. Each of these hikes, regardless of their length, has something that resonates with us for one reason or another. However, they may not be your cup of tea, given that most of them are long distance trails ranging from 75 km all the way up to the longest trip on the list at around 3,000 km.
Use these walks as a guide and hopefully it will spark some enthusiasm for you to add one or more of these walks to your bucket list – maybe it will inspire you to try something that you hadn’t thought about!
1. West Coast Trail
- Distance: 74 km
- Country: Canada
- Start point: Pachena Trailhead, Vancouver Island
- End point: Gordon River Trailhead
- Duration: 6-8 days but be prepared for a longer trip due to environmental conditions
- Best time: May to September
This is a trail that most Australian hikers wouldn’t know exists but for us it holds a special place. It was this trail that I came across around ten years ago in our local newspaper – it sparked my interest in North American hikes and sent me down a rabbit hole of internet researching that made me fall in love with long distance hiking.
Is this hike for you?
- All group members need to be proficient in multi-day overnight backpacking
- Able to hike long distances through rough terrain carrying a heavy backpack containing everything needed to be prepared for a wilderness experience
- Flexible with their hiking plans to adjust if conditions warrant delays. Injuries, weather patterns, or other factors could mean a longer hike than anticipated. Hikers may have to wait several days during heavy rain to cross rivers safely
To note:
- The recommendation is for at least one member of the group to carry bear spray
- You need to book this trail
- Try to avoid fire season
West Coast Trail Websites
A few challenging steps on the West Coast Trail (image: https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/bc/pacificrim/activ/sco-wct#plan)
2. Camino de Santiago (The Way of Saint James)
- Distance: 774 km
- Countries: France to Spain
- Start point: Saint Jean Pied De Port, France
- End point: Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- Duration: 33-45 days
- Best time: April to October
One of the world’s best known long distance hikes and one that has spawned numerous books and movies. This pilgrimage walk is one that sits on many hikers and walkers bucket lists. It starts in France and spends much of its 774 km distance in Spain and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This trail is a well known pilgrimage trail and for many walkers a healing trail.
Camino websites
Camino de Santiago trail marker
3. John Muir Trail
- Distance: 340 km
- Country: USA
- Start point: Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley (North)
- End point: Mount Whitney (South)
- Duration: 21 days
- Best time: July through to September
Many people may know of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) but what about the John Muir Trail (JMT)? This 340 km trail takes in some of the best parts of the well known PCT and is a fraction of the distance. The JMT takes in some of the best of America’s parks including Yosemite, John Muir and Ansel Adams Wilderness.
The difficulty with this trail is that it’s so popular you make take a number of years to snag yourself a trail permit.
John Muir Trail websites
- https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/jmt.htm
- https://www.pcta.org/discover-the-trail/john-muir-trail/
John Muir Trail Patch
4. GR20
- Distance: 200 km
- Start: Corsica (France)
- Start point: Calenzana
- End point: Conca
- Duration: 12-16 days
- Best time: June to September
The GR20 is a long distance hiking trail that traverses the island of Corsica diagonally, from Calenzana in the north, to Conca in the south. This is one of the harder GR routes but also one of the most unique. We were planning on doing this walk a few years ago but life (and Covid) got in the way!
GR20 websites
GR20 (image: https://www.le-gr20.fr/en/)
5. Coast to Coast Walk (UK)
- Distance: 317 km
- State: UK
- Start point: St Bees on the west coast
- End point: Robin Hood’s Bay on the east coast
- Duration: 12-16 days
- Best time: May to June or August to September
As the name suggests this walk takes you from one side of England to the other in around two weeks. It can be done in either direction and is one of the best known British walks. In 2022 this walk joined the National Trails Network and is being progressively upgraded with work due for completion in 2025. How many people can say they have walked across the country, literally!
Coast to Coast websites
- https://ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show_path.php?path_name=Coast+to+Coast+%28Wainwright%29
- https://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/en_GB/coast-to-coast/
Mike Railton near the ‘Haystacks’ in the Lakes District, Cumbria (image: Mike Railton)
6. Te Araroa New Zealand
- Distance: 3,000 km
- Country: New Zealand
- Start point: Cape Reinga (North)
- End point: Bluff (South)
- Duration: 100-130 days
- Best time: October to April
New Zealand’s long trail and one that around 2,000 hikers complete each year. This is your chance to see what the land of the Long White Cloud has on offer as you walk from the north of New Zealand all the way down to the south for a distance of 3,000 km!
Te Araroa trail logo (image: https://www.teararoa.org.nz/)
7. Tour du Mont Blanc
- Distance: 170 km
- Countries: France, Italy and Switzerland
- Start point: Les Houches, Chamonix Valley
- End point: Les Houches, Chamonix Valley
- Duration: 11 days
- Best time: June to late September
The Tour du Mont Blanc is one of the most popular long distance walks in Europe. It circles the Mont Blanc massif, covering approximately 170 km though France, Italy and Switzerland. It is done in a loop so the starting point is really up to you. This is one of the world’s most recognised hikes!
Tour du Mont Blanc websites
Tour de Mont Blanc (image: https://www.autourdumontblanc.com/en/)
Final thoughts
While not my intent, we (I) ended up choosing a range of multi-day walks for our overseas bucket list hikes (that we still have left to walk). Having said that, we chose these walks because they resonate with us for one reason or another. Some of these walks are really well known and others you’d be hard-pressed to locate on a map but they all have the potential to create life long memories.
A number of these walks, in fact most of them, are only going to be for serious walkers but for those of you who like their walks on the longer side, there are some great ones to choose from!
The only thing for us to decide is which one we’ll do first!