As an active traveler, lying on the beach is not your idea of a vacation well spent. For you, the height of a great travel experience is had when you are exploring a destination’s natural assets, trekking to mountain ridges, secluded waterfalls, and alongside ruggedly beautiful sea coasts.
The world has much to offer the avid hiker, making action paralysis a very real possibility when attempting to plan a trip for this purpose. In order to give you ideas that will get you on a plane and onto a trail in a foreign country, we have come up with three outstanding locations spread across the globe that rank as some of the best places to hike in the world.
Let’s start this discussion by talking about…
1) West Coast Trail, British Columbia, Canada
For those looking to get in touch with the wildness of the Pacific coast in Canada, hiking the vaunted West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island is the ideal way to accomplish this goal. Stretching 75 kilometres between Bamfield and the fishing outport of Port Renfrew, this epic route passes by numerous waterfalls, enormous old-growth trees, shapely rock formations carved by the tide, and of course, long flat beaches that are pounded by the often tempestuous Pacific Ocean.
2) Tour du Mont Blanc, France/Switzerland/Italy
The European Alps are a mountain chain that has spawned many memorable hiking routes, but few are quite as noteworthy as the Tour du Mont Blanc, which spans the French, Swiss and Italian portions of this famous range. Circling the famous peak in a circular route that measures out to about 170 kilometres in total, this challenging, but breathtaking trek delivers awe-inspiring vistas of snow-laden peaks, glacial lakes, and the many plants and animals that call the alpine zone their home.
3) 100 Waterfalls Trek, Laos
Those who prefer to vacation in warm weather destinations instead of freezing their butts off by hiking alongside a damp coast or up the chilly slopes of a steep mountain range can still find rewarding treks in tropical portions of the globe. If Southeast Asia is one of favourite places, we recommend that you check out the 100 Waterfalls Trek, located a few hours from the northern Laotian city of Luang Prabang. This walk takes you into the largely untrammeled Nam Ou Valley, where countless waterfalls cascade down its walls, from small flows to 20 metre high monsters. In addition to spending time swimming about in the refreshing pools, you will also get a chance to visit Nong Khiaw, an authentic village in Laos largely unspoiled by the ravages of mass tourism.
With these hikes, we hope that we have opened up your mind to some truly life-changing journeys. By walking past some of the world’s most precious natural scenery, it can inspire you to make changes in your life, so that assets like these can be preserved for many generations to come!
This article was originally published on www.routelessme.com. Read the original here.
*Image of British Columbia via Shutterstock
