What It’s Like to Thru-Hike in Europe (It’s Complicated) 

My 2 cents towards wild camping in Slovakia: You can wild camp anywhere except in National Parks and properties that are marked as "forests". What this means in practice is that if you're not in a National Park, find a clearing and wild camp there. Set up your tent once it's dark, pack up and leave early in the morning. Nobody is going to say anything to you, there are no rangers outside of National Parks. And if you're on a private property, if it's not fenced up, you can walk through. If they are at home, ask them if you can camp at their property and you're safe from any laws. Otherwise use common sense. The law's not super clear on this. Most places in the mountains are not private properties. They belong either to the state or to the Forests Slovakia, which is a state-owned company. However, from my experience, as long as you respect your surroundings and leave no trace, you'll be fine. In National Parks, there are always designated spots for wild camping. Usually next to huts or rifugios (útulňa in Slovak). Except in the High Tatras - no wild camping spots there. But, there are several well-maintained and serviced huts to spend the night in (for a fee, discounted for Alpenverein members, even German, Austrian, Polish, Hungarian, etc., which is nice. Some require a reservation in peak season). There is one thru-hike that spans the length of Slovakia, the SNP Trail. (Slovak National Uprising Trail). Ca 760 km. It only passes through one National Park (the Low Tatras), which is quite beautiful, to be honest, and there are multiple well-placed wild camping spots either next to huts or rifugios. There might be one or two that are only next to a water source, no hut. Other than that, we've got several 3-4-day crest trails that are worth an extended weekend. The Velka Fatra, Mala Fatra, Low Tatras (Nizke Tatry in Slovak), or Male Karpaty to name a few. Plus, all wild water sources in Slovakia are safe to drink unfiltered. The Czech Republic is somewhat similar, although they do have a law that allows "overnighting" outside of National Parks, if I'm not mistaken. The law understands "overnighting" as sleeping outside in a bivvy bag or a hammock, not a tent. You can only spend one night in one place. One more tip for hiking in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. We've got a massive net of hiking trails that are superbly marked and colour-coded. Download the app mapy.cz. It's free, usable offline, and it's got all the trails, water sources, huts, rifugios, and so much more. The colour coding of our trails is as follows: Blue and green - standard trail Red - crest trail or any longer trail Yellow - connecting trail EDIT/UPDATE: Outside of National Parks, there is one single entity you should give a VERY wide berth. The hunters. If you're going to camp on a clearing, make EXTRA SURE there's no hunting lodge/hunting tower nearby. Especially in rut season (september-october). It's best if you're in an area inaccessible to vehicles. Technically, the hunters don't own any of the land (most of the time) and have no right to bother you. That doesn't mean they won't. There's this weird hunter culture in Slovakia (a remnant of the commie times) where they sometimes feel like they are the lords of the wild and own everything the eye can see. Avoid them at all costs. I've had several run-ins with local hunters, almost none of them positive. Avoid hunters at all costs. They are armed and often inebriated, consider them dangerous. Fortunately, they usually can't be bothered to walk far and are almost completely reliant on their cars. (Understandable, I wouldn't want to carry a dead deer on my back either.) This is less of a problem in mountainous areas, but if you're hiking through the countryside in the lowlands, keep it in mind. Oh yeah, and we've got bears too. Not too many, they'll usually notice you before you even know they are there and they'll walk the other way, but it's nice to carry a small bear spray just in case. Hang your food far from your tent. You'll be fine. There's a big bear scare in Slovakia right now and the bears have become a political topic. They have been harassing some settlements close to the mountains by ravaging bins and walking around orchards. It's a problem for the locals, sure, but as a hiker, you haven't got anything to be afraid of. Just keep it in mind.

It's important to understand that some of these trails are really not what many people think of when they think of hiking. Many of the non-mountainous ones in more populated countries like the UK or Germany or Spain (and I assume that one in the Netherlands) are not in the "wilderness" at all. You will be mostly on broad tracks and will do a lot of hiking through farmland, sometimes you will be on little farm roads or even actual roads for a time, you will walk through or past farms and villages and even towns often.

In France you can do wild camping in many areas it’s called « bivouac » meaning you can sleep from 7pm til 9am, or sunset to sunrise, in the mountains you even see the signs sometimes. But you are not allowed to put your tent for longer than that. But if you are hidden and clean nobody will tell you anything. And it’s always a question of being respectful

I live (and hike extensively) in Romania. As long as you keep any food and food items away from your tent during the night, you won't have trouble with bears. Yes, most likely you WILL see bears when hiking, there's an insane amount of bears in Romania. But, if you don't provoke them or try to pet them, they're mostly afraid of or indifferent towards people. However, just because there's a lot of them, don't assume that they're friendly: all bears are wild animals and should be treated as such. Behave calmly around them and slowly move away without turning your back, they'll either carry on with what they were doing or leave the area. Shepherd dogs are a different thing... Not only are they usually both starving and aggressive but they live in packs of 5-12. A lot of shepherd dogs live semi-feral lives where they roam, scavenge and even hunt from autumn to mid-spring. If you see sheep or cows on the mountain, give them a wide berth: the dogs usually protect the immediate area around the flock and will give chase if the herd is approached. Don't count on the shepherd calling back the dogs if they attack (even if he does, 9 times out of 10 the dogs don't listen to him). If you're attacked by a pack of dogs DO. NOT. RUN. Carry bear spray and trekking poles and stand your ground while slowly backing away. Only use the bear spray if really necessary, usually there are more dogs than you have spray for. If you meet the shepherd before the dogs, try greeting him and shaking hands with him. The dogs interpret this as you being "part of the flock" and generally leave you alone or even act friendly towards you (that, however, depends entirely on how the shepherd treats them). Don't expect the shepherds to speak English or any other language than their own (sometimes they speak both Hungarian and Romanian, usually only one of the two). Natural springs are cleaner than tap water in most countries, they're completely safe to drink from.

For one of the biggest challenges in European Hiking theres the "E1". It runs about 7000km from the north Cape in Norway to southern Italy.

There are a lot of sweeping generalizations in this video, which is a bit problematic if you want to be informative. The reality is, lots of things don't just depend on the country, but also the region and how populated an area is. Shepherd dogs, for example, are often not aggressive at all, they're just trained to protect their herd from threats. If you let them figure out you're not a threat, they're generally fine. However, some areas in Europe, especially more remote ones in mountainous areas, might not have dogs that are very well trained, or who just aren't used to humans that much, and they can be dangerous. So the key is to pay attention to local signage and do some research for every area you're hiking through. Another thing: if you want to know about spending the night somewhere in a tent, you should look for 'bivouac' laws. Bivouac means to only spend the night, whereas camping often refers to more long term. Lots of countries allow bivouac under certain circumstances (often only between certain hours and away from houses, etc). And as for English, depending on where you are, people might be near-fluent in certain areas, but not speak a word of English in others. Generally, it's a good idea to know some key phrases and words, even if it's just to create some goodwill, but it certainly isn't true that 'no one will understand English' everywhere. Nordic countries especially are famous for their populations' English proficiency. So, in conclusion, if you want to prepare for certain hikes in Europe, you're better off looking up information that is specific to the countries and regions you will be hiking in/through, rather than looking up stuff about Europe in general.

Since I'm from Poland and I'm not a youtuber I will say that in theory there are designated woodland areas for camping, but in practice you can camp almost anywhere - except reserves and national parks. The only thing you can get into trouble is campfire, although many people do it anyway - you just need to accept the risk of paying fine.

Great video, thank you. We've a long trail in Germany since 2020, the NST - North-South-Trail. It goes from the nothern to the southern points and it includes 32 top trails of Germany. 3600 km long. The homepage is "Nord-Süd-Trail". They're working on the English version. The trail has a small but wonderful community of supporters and trailangels. This trail is not about wilderness - it's about cultural landscapes, history and good food, beer and wine. You are welcome....

Definitely don't agree with the language part. Yes, those 3 countries are an issue, but in the rest of Europe people are usually fluent in English and will gladly switch to English to accommodate tourists.

Some really key items are missing: The most dangerous animal, which kill the most hikers every year, are cows. People come to close to them, especially when they have calves, and those 500kg mothers don´t like that. Another point, it is not the rifugios you are describing, but the biwaks. Major difference. And the last point, really relevant for european thruhikers: All paths, huts etc are maintained by alpine clubs. SAS, DAV, ÖAV, to name a few. If you join one (50-80€ per year), your membership is respected in all countries. And your membership offers normally: Discount on sleeping in huts/cabanes,/rifugios.., getting a special, discount lunch and dinner in them as well, and also an insurance for rescue costs. Any thruhike related to the alps should consider such membership.

Great video. RU-vid is saturated with PCT/AT/CDT videos, it’s great to see Europe getting some love ❤

In Italy you can find also "Sentiero Italia" crossing the whole country, Sardinia and Sicily included, It's running on the mountain chains for almost 7.000 Km

Another interesting "trail" in Germany would be the Limes "trail" (Limesweg/Limeswanderweg). Basically, you walk all along the former border of the Roman Empire and come across lots of ruins of old military camps and watchtowers from 2000 years ago plus museums centered around ancient Roman life in the region. Something >500km, if I remember correctly.

Don't forget about Wales! We have gorgeous countryside here. The Pembrokeshire coast path and Snowdonia slate trail are a couple of long distance trails worth doing. Wild camping is technically not allowed but tolerated as long as you are considerate. The Cape Wrath trail in Scotland is another in the UK.

Shame you didn't include more trails from Scandinavia. Yes, they might not be as "popular" as fewer people are living here than in central/southern Europe, thus fewer thru-hikers, but they are popular and well-known trails for people living here. A few notable and demanding ones which definitely are not popular are the UKK-route about 1100 kilometers mostly in wilderness in Finland which is part of the E10 long-distance trail from Nuorgam Finland to Tarifa Spain. Also the White and Green Ribbon (color depends if you traveled it during summer or winter) trail from Grövelsjön Sweden to the Three-Country Cairn at which the international borders of Sweden, Norway and Finland meet sure sounds demanding as it goes along the Swedish and Norwegian mountains for 1300 kilometers. Would also throw in the various St.Olav Ways, the most northern pilgrim routes in the world. Thousands walk those during summer. Those will surely get more populated in the future.

The shepard dogs you mentioned aren't shepard dogs, they are herd protection dogs, trained to protect the herd from preditors, they are litterly trained to keep their herd safe and can be "agressive" towards hikers if they deem them a threat, when you see these dogs, do not go closer to the herd do not make threatening movements or shooing sounds towards the dog but walk away like described in the video. I am saying "agressive" because they are not likely to charge you unprovoked but will more likely growl at you and leave you be in peace when you distance yourself.

Sweden has marked trails criss-crossing the entire country. Each province has one or several trails crossing the entire province (and usually connecting to the trails of neighbouring provinces), as well as the other usual long distance trails like different pilgrim routes or specific trails through significant natural areas and stuff like that. Most of these trails are not particularly popular with tourists, but they are all marked and has maps and websites and stuff, and often wind shelters to stay the night in. It's mostly the trails up in the mountains (Kungsleden etc.) that are super popular. Camping is also allowed practically everywhere. Making fires and that sort of thing is allowed as a baseline, but nature reserves or parks usually forbid it, and there are often province wide bans on making fires during the summer months depending on how dry the weather has been (due to the risk of forest fires). That said, I think Norway is pretty much exactly the same but with amazing nature (mountains, fjords, waterfalls and shit instead of the endless pine forests of Sweden), so you should probably go there instead, haha. I guess if you really hate mountains then Sweden could be a good idea.

For anyone who is interested in the nordic countries there is also a 800 km long trail called Nordkalottruta (Nordkalotleden in Swedish or Kalottireitti in Finnish) which spans through Northern Norway, Sweden and Finland.

A thru-hike I’d recommend in Eastern Europe is the Kom - Emine trail in Bulgaria. The trail follows the ridge of the Balkan Mountain range so most of the trail will be above the tree line. There’s lots of huts on the trail as well so sleeping is not an issue.

I think the NST, Nord Süd Trail deserves a mention: a 2000km + through hike North to South of Germany. It combines some of the best existing trails.

Oooh really excited for the recipe video!

Rifugi (singular rifugio) are usually paid for. Bivouac shelters, which are more stripped down, are usually free.

I think the MASSIV trail in Norway definitely deserves mention on this list, as it's Norway's first thru hike!

There's also Skåneleden in southern Sweden. It's fantastic, 1250km in total, most of it is very well kept and there are some simple shelters along the way. Fly into Copenhagen, come by train to Malmö and you can set off from there.

Formally, in Poland there is no ban on pitching tents "in the wild", i.e. outside campsites. In practice, however, the problem with such camping results from the fact that the land always belongs to someone, and the owner has the right to independently decide whether it is admissible to pitch a tent on it.

The Pennine Way is what kickstarted my interest in backpacking - I'm American but worked for a company in Manchester for 2 years back in 2018-2020, and taking the train down to the Peak District became a favorite weekend activity when the weather was favorable, and I stumbled on the southern terminus of it and saw some wild campers starting the trek! It brought up old memories of seeing signs about the Superior Hiking Trail when I was a teen in Minnesota, and I got interested again in the people who were walking these super long trails, day after day. A few AT logs on youtube and info gathering later, I've done over a dozen 1-3 night mini trips, and am looking to do a shorter thru-hike for the first time this autumn!

Yes. Same here in France. I wish we could do like Scandinavians. But the truth is, our population is not as 'educated' as we wished. I just did parts of the GR5 in Norte eastern France last week and unfortunately I still see a lot of toilet paper around some spots of the track. I guess these folks believe it will just melt and disappear on the ground with the first rain. Unfortunately, it's not the case. More 'LEAVE NO TRACE' education is necessary! 😢

In Poland there is "Zanocuj w lesie" program, which allows you to camp legally in certain forests, and there are a few long distance trails up to 500km (longest is Main Beskid Trail)

Since the 1930's there is the Kéktúra / Blue Trail in Hungary, that is about 1170 km in length. It forms the Blue Circle (around 2600 km) with other two trails, the South-Transdanubian/Pál Rockenbauer Blue Trail (around 540 km) and the Lowlands Blue Trail (around 870 km). This is the most popular and the longest hiking trail in Hungary.

I'm in Europe and with old age starting to appreciate travelling more and more. Thanks for this video

In italy, you can actually put a tent, but only in mountains from 20:00 to 8:00 only to sleep, out of parc areas. In this way it wont be considered camping but only "bivacco notturno" and it will be permitted, but as always no fire

For a few years now we have a trail that goes around the whole country its named Via Czechia long 2000km.

🐝Thanks for the great video🌻 Love the europe ways!!!

The West Highland way is the best known in Scotland but there are more challenging ones More Scottish trails: The CWT - Cape Wrath trail - 370 km unmarked trail across some very rugged terrain The East Highland way The Southern uplands way The John Muir trail The 864km Scottish National trail linking trails and running the length of Scotland. The handy thing is thatlike many Scandinavian countries, wild camping is allowed as long as you follow the Scottish outdoor access code.We also have a bothy network. Free, open refugios They could often be full so take a tent in case Scotland is a wee country with some impressive walks.

I don't know why more people isn't hiking Norway and Sweden. Such beautiful nature. Hiking Norway from South to North is my next goal.

in germany, wild camping is not prohibited, per se you are allowed to just walk into a forest and sleep there, but its NOT allowed to: sleep inside national parks, private property or nature preserves use tent or tent pegs pegs, damage the ground, damage any trees or tree bark, to be loud so its prohibited, because there is no way to find any land that no one owns. so you always need to ask for permission

As Ukrainian, I was very surprised that there are places in the world where wild camping is illegal. I'm hoping, soon we will be safe enough to attract a lot of tourists to our nice mountains and beaches.

Not only trails from north to south USA are common, but also many people go from Canada to Argentina in a motorcycle. The entire (longest) continent. It's crazy because it's more common than one would expect.

In Poland, since a few years, there is a national program allowing wild camping in many parts of the National Forest aerial.

dude why you talk about EUROPE and completely miss Central European countries? Like Czech republic and Slovakia have the best trail marking system in whole Europe (it´s not complicated, you cannot get lost there) as well as long distance hikes (in CZ longest trail has 2000km and in Slovakia 770 km). Also Slovakia has around 1200 bears. Worth to mention, don´t get it why u skipped these countries man.

So useful! Thanks!

Thanks for this video. I have an addition though: in France wild camping is known as 'bivouac" and is legal between sunset and sunrise, for 1 night, in a small tent. Except in some National Parks (Vanoise) but the reason I like to hike in the French Alps is the possibility to camp almost anywhere you want.

Do Not forget the NST in Germany, a newer thru-hike of mire than 3000 km similar to the Appalachian Trail system...

'Bivouac' is allowed in the french pyrenees and alps, provided it's a 1 person tent, you set up after sunset and leave at sunrise, and are away from buildings.

The availability of baguette, rillettes, cheese and cornichon almost everywhere in France is highly underrated.

This was great!

Great video! Nice that you give thru hiking in Europe some space on youtube. To be honest hiking is extrem popular here, but more on a weekend basis than as a multi weeks trip. My parents do 20-30km every weekend since i was a little child. I did some of the hikes you named and I really want to point out the GR20. What a beauty! Kind regards from Germany.

Brought back memories seeing the baguette :D I hiked through Spain (GR11 east-west and the continued to Santiago) and my breakfast was exactly that.

Will be doing the Padjelantaleden this year, probably ordering a customized poster afterwards!

Great video man ! Loved the background aswell, i'm now looking at the Lofoten Crossing with interest. You missed a great thru-hike that was created 2 years ago by french hikers who thru-hiked in the US and decided to create something similar in france ! It's called the Hexatrek and is approx 3000km long goes from northeastern france along every french moutains (vosges, alpes, pyrenees) right near the spanish border. Highly recommend you to check it out, it's definitely on my bucketlist btw there's a website by the same name with a lot of info

The Baltic Forest and Coast Trails are also good options. They are easy and a great option for beginners to get into thru hiking.

Have a look to the Hexatrek 3034 km in France.

In Spain, you can camp from 8pm to 8am in almost everywhere. Some natural parks have their own restriction but it is always free above certain height. Thats because there is a diferent law for camping and spending just one night (which we call ‘pernocta’).

Nice advice 👍

Walking in Europe is a cultural experience before it is a sporting challenge, because with the exception of Scandinavia, there is no longer any ‘wilderness’: every place has a history. And culture is also about language and food - even in the mountains, you can easily find cheese and other products to buy. And before Schengen and the Euro, it was much more complicated to travel (not to mention the Iron Curtain).

10:00 I wish you'd mentioned NPL (Norge På Langs), or Norway Lengthwise. About 3000 km and 53km of total elevation gain in ~100 days. It's my dream trip. It goes through a lot of varied terrain and several mountain ranges/plateaus (Hardangervidda, Jotunheimen, Rondane, Trollheimen og Saltfjellet.)

This video and the comments section are a hidden gem for european hiking!

looks awesome, definitely want to do lofoten at some point

Actually few years ago was introduced “zanocuj w lesie” (sleep in the forest) program in Poland and it lets you sleep in the designated areas, theyre set pretty often, so there should be no problem in finding good spot while hiking. However there are plenty of hikers I know that regularly sleep anywhere they want and didn’t get any ticket. I got once “catched” wild camping and just got asked to leave the camp in an hour with no other consequences but it’s rather very rare.

In Poland there are couple of long distance trails, the longest being Główny Szlak Beskidzki (Main Beskidy Trail) going across whole southern part of country. Wildcamping itself wont get you (mostly) in any problems, as long as you are not camping in national parks. Camping in forests is allowed in designated areas... if you want to follow the law. Most of the young people speak english.

Here in Spain laws are awful. We must practice "stealth camping" to avoid autorities; just for enjoying the nature. It's sad af.

In Hungary you can wild camp, exception is private properties (fence or sign) and protected areas. If you are normal and just setting up a tent for a day, no one will brother you anyway.

Actually, in Hungary you can wild camp almost everywhere for 24 hours. After 24 hours, you must move, at least a few meters. Of course, there are some places where you are not allowed to go camping, but it is written on a board.

I'm from Portugal and I want to point out that camping here is different from just laying your tent for one night as needed, this is called "pernoitar". You can "pernoitar" in any area that is not protected by environmental laws or beaches, there are some websites that have maps of these areas.

Awesome video. I would definitely enjoy seeing the Bulgarian trails because they are so beautiful, they are cheap out here, and there are generally good conditions for hiking. I would recommend the E3 part in Bulgaria (Kom - Emine), which is crossing it side to side (650 km) all while on top of the longest mountain in the country. Other very good and extremely beautiful routes are the E4 and E8 parts, which are packed with hills and peaks.

SNP Trail - from Dukla to Devin castle (768km in Slovakia)

small detail to consider in most countries that ban wild camping you are totaly allowed to bivac for example you can sleep in the wood in germany using a tarp but not a tent. leaving your place in a mess tho will get you fined up to 10000€ depending on the location and mess you made. Also open fire in a forest and its vicinity (closer than 100m to the treeline) is forbidden not matter what

Scotland also has many mountain huts called "bothies". These refuges are used on a leave them as you find them (or better!) basis with no charge . Given the way in which Scottish weather can turn very wild very quickly, knowing the location of bothies in the area might be a good idea even if you are on a self-sufficient camping trip with all the gear. The Mountain Bothies Association keeps many of these huts maintained. And yes Scotland does have right-to-roam (and camp) laws much like in Scandinavia.

There are also "refugii" in Romania - unstaffed huts that are free to sleep in, that have some bunks (you need a sleeping bag and mat) and maybe a table. But the same warning applies - it might be full when you arrive, or might be in a bad state because of weather events or people. Usually I carry a tent so I have the option of setting up next to the refugiu, then you also have a place to lock your food overnight.

Recently found your channel and I like it a lot! I like your style! However I didn't find the video on your tips regarding light weight food :) Did you already publish it? Keep up the good work!

Came to the video to learn something more before a first long thru-hike which I'm going on this summer. Ended the video with few new routes planned... hahah

I've camped next to so much cow poo haha. Thanks for sharing the thru-hike excitement in Europe! Looking forward to do the GR11 with my dog this summer :)

There is also the Via Dinarica, a thru hike that crosses 5 countries in the Balcans! You should check it out :)

Hey Oscar, happy to find your channel! I’m preparing myself to do the GR 10 the same direction as you did -Mediterranean to the Atlantic and I’m wondering now with the more experience that you have if you would have redone the GR 11 again would you have brought the guide in paper?

A lot of forest/mountains/moors in the UK have some kind of livestock grazing, typically sheep unless you're in the New Forrest in which case it's horses. Sheep will usually ignore you if you ignore them and don't get too close. You need to be more careful around horses, but so long as you act calm and don't spook them, they're fine to be around. I'd never camp in the same field as cows.

Did the WHR in 2022 and since it is more or less remote we came up with a food strategy you didn't mention. We just send the food to different campgrounds. Usually they are really friendly and take your package. Maybe give them a call beforehand. Just one tip for Switzerland in particular. You are not allowed to ship something from outside of the country. So we just brought our stuff and send it after we arrived in Bern/Chamonix

nice, do more about europe cominnity

Maybe check Croatia Via Adriatica Trail (1100 km) and Croatian Long Distance Trail (CLDT) ( 2200 km) . Mountain ranges, sea, rivers, lakes, 8 national parks and we still have wild animals 😉, bears, wolves, lynxes, boars and all other standard European animals . You want an adventure? Come to Croatia 😊

I hiked few years in europe but this year i tried something new and went to himalayas nepal and oh boy its much better overall for me

I don't agree. In Poland you cannot camp in national parks, except for designated places, but in the rest of the public forests there are many places you can camp. There is even a governmental app that shows you those places on a decent map. People are encouraged to camp in the woods by the governmental project called "Zanocuj w lesie" ("Spend a night in the forest").

I wish, camping rules where more lax in Germany. Sorry, we aren't more accommodating towards hikers here 🫤

Slovakia and Poland have brown bears . In the Tatra Mountains. I didn’t know and went solo hiking there alone in the night through the forest ascending to Rysy Mountain . While live streaming Someone told me , I almost sht my pants and kept singing loudly 3am in the night alone in a dense forest .

in the Czech Republic there is a difference between camping and camping.. In short, it is legal to sleep anywhere, if it is for one night, you only have a tarp shelter/hammock and you are not allowed to do open fire (There are exceptions ).

Sehr gutes Video, danke für die Arbeit! Ich bin auf die Rezepte gespannt.

Note on the language part I'm a polish guy who studied in the Netherlands. English fluency differs from country to country. The Netherlands or Sweden are very chill with English. It is rare to find someone who cannot speak it on a communicative level. In Poland most young people know how to speak English (at least on the basic level). I would assume it is similar in different EU countries.

Nice video, i was wandering recently if there is a minimum length/days to classify a hike a thru-hike?

Hi! Nice video. I started following the channel today. If you return to Italy in future, I recommend paths around Mount Adamello in Northern Italy. Very rocky, wild and with several lakes (ex. Aviolo lake) and many grazing animals. 😅

niceeee definitely visit the website to get some next inspiration. Another good hike on Corse is Mare e monti that goes zigzag from forest inland and coast. I did one part.

From my expirience (czech republic), Just sit somewhere, wait for the dark, lay your sleeping bag in the open (covered with tarp when rainy) and leave in the sunset. 0.01% someone will find you, forestmen and rangers have better things to do than search for campers in the night. And if someone does, tell them you got lost or ill, they will treat it as emergency and wont give a shit.

In northern sweden/norway you really dont need a water filter. You can just fill your bottle from the small rivers. As long as the water is moving, it is clean. It comes from snow melting in the summer

Guys in italy there is path called sentiero italia that goes through every region of Italy, from north to south.

Wild camping is not allowed in Ireland except some national parks and state forests.If you ask the landowner they may let you. In the National parks you have to be 400 metres from a road, no fires, leave no trace and don't poop near water sources. As for Long distance paths, there are quite a few. The busiest is the Wicklow way.

In Poland Recently there were many allowed camping areas established "Zanocuj w lesie", in some of them you can use gas stove legally, but in general if you're carefull it's unlikely you get fine...

Off on my first proper ling distance walk this year in may The Cambrian way 300miles across wales ❤

Hi @OscarHikes , I love your videos! Where did you get the overview maps of the through hikes?

Excellent video! One set of trails you haven't mentioned are the European Long-Distance Paths ("E-Paths"), a set of 12 trans-European trails that cross the whole continent. I've been trying to advocate for them as an alternative to the US long-distance trails, because some of them are truly enormous undertakings (the E1, for example, runs from Nordkapp on the northern coast of Norway all the way south through Scandinavia, Denmark, Germany, down through Italy, and eventually to Sicily, a distance of over 7,000km). I've been gradually hiking the E10 in Germany (it runs from Rügen on the Baltic Sea down into Czechia, then across Austria, then meets the E5 in the Italian Alps), and I can confirm everything you've said about the difficulty of camping on the trail here. "Camping" for Germans seems to mean with a caravan or trailer, and the idea of a through-hiker backpacking through seems almost completely alien. But the trails cover such a wide variety of terrain, across such beautiful landscapes, I really wish more people would hike them. Anyway, thanks again for this video, and please keep advocating for long-distance hiking in Europe.

Wild camping is legal in Hungary too, except some areas in the natural parks, but you can not go to most of those areas anyway, dayhikers are also banned to enter.

The GR7 is the best hidden thru-hike in France. It's the water divide trail.

I am living in one of the bear regions of Europe (they get as close as 150 metres to the house I live in) and I can confirm that European brown bears are very shy and they avoid contact with humans at all costs.

the language barrier is very different between young and older people. meeting a 20 something dude in the bavarian alps and you'll get by with english. meet someone above the age of 50 and even if you speak perfect high-german you won't get through the dialect lmao. but learning the words for "good morning" "goodbye" and "thanks" in the local language does wonders! and if you want to be extra learn the greeting phrase for the local dialect instead. that's extra points!!