5 New Walking Trips For 2024

13.08.2023 - 04:39 / forbes.com / Lake Louise

Walking tours, don’t you know, may be the best way to see the world. The pace is slow, the better to take in all the new sights and sounds around you. You can savor the landscape, the architecture, and the people you encounter, just as you delight in the food and wine that invariably follows a day on foot. There are no crowds, no lines, no delays. Just a quieter way to travel. Here are five new walking trips for 2024 — in Scotland, Croatia, Spain, the Canadian Rockies and the French Alps — all terrific ways to see the world at a slower pace.

France Alps GR5 Trekking Tour

The France Alps GR5 Trekking Tour from MT Sobek is a historic trek in the Alps along ancient trade routes that lead from the mountains down to the Mediterranean Sea. Grand Randonnée 5, or GR5, has been used by traders and soldiers for thousands of years. It begins in the storied alpine world of the Mont Blanc Massif. You'll travel through remote valleys and wildflower-filled meadows, and explore three pristine French Alps National Parks: Vanoise, Queyras, and Mercantour. The finish line is the French Riviera and a dip in the Mediterranean. This 14-day trip is rated activity level 4, which translates to 5-9 hours a day of hiking at elevations below 10,000 feet. The trails can be rocky and steep, requiring stamina, excellent balance, and coordination. All prices mentioned here are from $8,295 per person, based on double occupancy.

Canadian Rockies Hiking & Camping

REI Co-op Adventures has announced that they will return to Canada in 2024. Among their trips are Canadian Rockies Hiking & Camping. This trip offers five days of hiking in four Canadian National Parks: Banff, Jasper, Yoho, and Kootenay, with hikes to glaciers. There’s time to visit Lake Louise, Banff, and Jasper and there’s also rafting on the Kicking Horse River. Rated 3 (moderate) which means hiking up to 11 miles with elevation gains and losses of up to 1,800 feet over uneven dirt and rocky trails. Rafting is on a glacier-fed river, on class II-IV whitewater, that is suitable for beginners. Since this is a camping trip, REI says that participants should have some camping experience and be willing to participate in camp chores such as cooking, dishes clean-up, setting up tents, and breaking down camp when departing. The six-day trip costs $3,199 for REI Members, $3,519 for non-members.

Croatia: Brač, Korcula & Mljet National Park

Country Walkers will offer a seven-day guided tour of Croatia: Brač, Korcula & Mljet National Park in 2024. While Croatia has been getting more than its share of visitors, this walk aims to show walkers “the undiscovered, intimate side of Croatia’s unspoiled Dalmatian Islands during an immersive, in-depth exploration.” Discovering the Greek,