Walking vacations

Walking vacation is a trip dedicated to exploring a destination by hiking or trekking on foot. Perfect for a 10-day vacation away from it all if you like hiking. I collect treks sharing these features:

• Moderate walking of 5-8 consecutive days, with an average distance of 10-15 km per day, and relatively mild elevation change of around +/-600m per day. Any reasonably fit person can enjoy these treks.
• Light travel with a small backpack, relying mostly on public transport where needed, including taxis and cable cars (gondolas/lifts). This is one of the cheapest travel modes, compared to typical tourism like renting a car and staying at hotels.
• Walking exclusively from hut to hut or village to village, to avoid the need to carry any camping equipment like a tent, sleeping bag, stove and food. All nights are spent in cabins, huts or small pensions, and all food comes from local restaurants. We actually like camping very much, but no longer fit enough to carry all that stuff without hampering the enjoyment.

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Information about this specific type of trekking is not widely available, perhaps due to the strict requirements. This list is certainly not exhaustive, and based mostly on my own research and experience. Routes are devised from multi-day treks, long-distance trails, or by binding several day walks. The best season in many cases is June and September.

• Travel: valid passport, tickets and vouchers, credit cards with codes, cash, foreign cash, Wikiloc app with offline maps
• Essentials: 25-40 liter backpack, water bladder, phone with charger and earphones, camera, book, sandals or flip-flops
• Walking: good quality and not new shoes (preferably Goretex), wide brim hat, sunglasses, walking poles or sticks
• Weather: rain jacket or storm poncho, waterproof socks, fleece or light dawn jacket, thermal underwear, fleece hat and gloves
• Toiletries: travel toothbrush and small paste, deodorant, sun screen, first aid, laundry powder, spare glasses
• Clothes: long pants (detachable), a couple of long and short sleeved shirts, underwear, socks, swim suit

Timeline

• 1-6 months ahead: Pick your route and purchase air tickets.
• 1-6 weeks ahead: Book accommodation, especially if going at peak season (weekends and summer), at least for the first nights.
• 1-6 days ahead: Pack and go!