The sun’s out, the trees are blooming and the days are getting longer. It’s time to spend every possible waking moment in the outdoors, no excuses. One of the best ways to get max vitamin D? Take a hike, duh. We’re spoiled for choice when it comes to spectacular walking trails in the UK, and now the Independent has named two of them among the best in all of Europe.
First up: the South West Coast Path. Stretching 630 miles, this is Britain’s longest National Trail. It runs all the way from Minehead in Somerset, across the Cornwall and Devon coast, before reaching Poole Harbour in Dorset.
The Independent said that that highlights along the way include ‘dramatic cliffs of North Devon and the historic tin mines of Botallack, Cornwall, to the lush tropical gardens of the Cornish Riviera and the iconic limestone arch of Durdle Door’.
If you want to do the whole thing at a steady pace, it’s recommended that you set aside around 52 days. For somewhere to rest your head during that time, check out our lists of the best hotels or Airbnbs in Cornwall. Or you could just do a bit of it.
For the other British hike spotlighted by the Independent, you’ll have to travel more than 400 miles north. The West Highland Way in Scotland featured for its ‘diverse landscape of pristine lochs, desolate moorlands and glacier-carved valleys’ and its wild residents like red deers and golden eagles.
The 96-mile trail begins in Milngavie (a suburb of Glasgow) and leads hikers by the shore of Loch Lomond, across the rugged wilderness of Rannach Moor and through Glencoe, ending up in Fort William just beneath Ben Nevis. This one is a bit more realistic to do in one go – most people can complete it in around six to eight days.
Did you see that the UK is getting its first national forest in 30 years?
Plus: 75 miles of coastal paths in Cornwall have had a glow-up.
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