Best walking holidays in April 2027

Spring has most definitely sprung by April, and snows are melting on higher ground, revealing many ancient walking trails, all beckoning keen adventurers. Just in time for those longer holidays that many of us are able to take around Easter, whether you’re looking to walk a camino or the Kumano Kodo, Bohemia or Lycia. And, if you don’t know where some of those places are, keep reading and get planning for a beautiful spring break.

Walking the Via Francigena in April

Cultural pilgrims flock to the Tuscan towns of Florence and Siena all year round, but nature lovers have the gift of the Via Francigena, an ancient pilgrimage route that opens up the sacred heart of Tuscany’s much worshipped interior. Walk in ancient footsteps between the medieval towns of Lucca and Siena, or go from Lucca to Rome. Off the main Via, there is a vast array of vineyards and valley trails to explore, and still pretty empty compared with the summer months. Fancy the Francigena in April? We think you’ll fall in love with it.

places to travel in april — Lucca, just one of many Italian idylls along the Via Francigena, a pilgrimage of pure prettiness.

Other alternatives to the Camino de Santiago in April

The world renowned Camino de Santiago can get busy in and around Easter, with many pilgrims planning their arrival at the Basilica in time for the most important Christian festival of the year. We have several alternatives for this time of year, however. For example, our Camino de Invierno walking holiday is a good option for April. Also known as the Winter Way, as it was taken by pilgrims en route to Santiago through Galicia to avoid tougher terrain during winter months, it’s also a much quieter way.

Another option is the Route of Padre Sarmiento which, although it also goes through Spain and ends up in Santiago, takes an alternative route that is one for littoral lovers. Taking nine days, it follows the route created by the priest Padre Sarmiento in the 18th century along the coast of Salnés in Galicia. Last but not least, the the Austrian Camino (St James’ Way), which opens towards the end of April, where you can walk its SalzburgerLand section, starting near Salzburg and concluding in the Tyrol region. This self-guided eight-day trip includes six days of walking, and covers a total distance of 123km. For more information on all of these, see our blog, Alternatives to Camino de Santiago trails.

The viewpoint Pena Do Castelo in Monforte De Lemos, which you reach on day two of the Camino de Invierno.

Best hiking trips in April in Japan

Japan is blossoming more than most at this time of year, especially when walking along the iconic Nakasendo, Kumano Kodo, or Yamanobe-no-michi and Yagyu Kaido trails, because this is when their famous cherry trees also come into full bloom. Another holiday that’s available from the beginning of April is our Shikoku Island 88 Pilgrimage which is on the smallest of Japan’s islands. For many, it’s also the most spiritual, with an ancient 1,000km trail that connects 88 Buddhist temples and shrines. Hanami is the name given to the tradition of appreciating flowers at this time of year and there won’t be any shortage of those on Shikoku.

In April, the weather is also mild and you are getting in before the May madness of Golden Week, which is a big holiday for Japanese people when places can pack out. It’s also a refreshing and uplifting time to walk the Michinoku Coastal Trail before the summer crowds and higher temperatures arrive.

Japan’s Nakasendo walking trail is always incredible, but travelling there in April is the cherry blossom on the cake.

Our top springtime sierra in Spain in April

As well as the Camino de Santiago, we have many Spanish walking holidays open for booking in April, and it’s hard to choose a favourite. Which is why we’re sharing our secret in the race for an April wanderlust winner. This is the Sierra de Francia in Spain’s southern Salamanca, a mountain region that incorporates Las Batuecas–Sierra de Francia Natural Park, also a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The whole adventure is peppered with medieval marvels, and hikes through valleys where the flora is already flexing its finery, from wild thyme, rosemary and rockrose to an array of oak and chestnut trees. Walk it in a week, or take a cheeky little springtime break in the same region over five days. Both will make you realise that Spain seems to have an endless array of adventures in places you’d never heard of before.

The Sierra de Francia will definitely put a spring in your step.

Where is hot in April for a walking holiday?

We have two hiking hotties that we highly recommend for April, one in Greece and the other in Turkey. In Greece, although we have around 30 walking holidays available this early in the year, we think that Karpathos kicks the proverbial, because it has some wonderfully quiet mountain trails. The highest peak is Kali Limni at 1,214m, which dominates the landscape on our Karpathos walking holiday, and where you explore villages perched on craggy mountain sides or sprinkled along the coast. This Aegean arcadia is also famous for its prolific mountain flowers that peek through deep gorges and rocky coast, in places where botanists seek out endemic orchids. So if you come here in April, when the tour opens, it feels like the Greek gods have laid out a green carpet for you.

The other hot hiking haven that opens its doors in April is the Lycian Way in Turkey. This is a 500km trail that boasts ancient coastal and inland villages, archaeological wonders like Olympos and the sunken city of Simena, as well as Mediterranean coastal landscapes that stop even the most hardened hiker in their tracks. You can walk the whole Lycian Way in 20 days, or the east and west sections over a week, although the Lycian will always lure you back for more. Doing one section in spring when the coastal hills and lower slopes turn into a colorful carpet of orchids, anemones, irises and rare peonies. And come back in autumn to make the most of the sublime swimming spots, when the water is still around 25C in October. For more information, see our blog, All our tales from the Lycian Way trail.

“*This was a great hike. It was well organised in terms of accommodations, route descriptions and digital route maps for each day and transfers. The guest houses were simple and clean with great food*.” – Five-star review of the Lycian Way from Pat in Scotland.

Hiking in Morocco in April

April is a wonderful time to explore the Atlas Mountains, which, although walking holidays here are available all year round, you really start to feel the heat in the hills in April. We have many options for trekking to Mount Toubkal and the surrounding mountains which, as with all our Morocco walking holidays, is privately guided. If you are new to summit challenges and big metre measurements, we recommend climbing Toubkal in the months of April and May before the temperatures start to go off the scale. It’s also the time when red poppies, wild irises, orchids and rockroses pepper the region’s reddish soils.

The mix of white, green and red earth are magical in Morocco in spring.

Bohemian Paradise, Czechia

The season starts to open up in Czechia after Easter, and no better place to witness its awakening than in the aptly named Bohemian Paradise UNESCO Geopark. In April, this spectacular hiking terrain feels just gloriously unreal, offering a stupendous way to acknowledge the power of nature. Known as Český ráj in Czechia, these are epic landscapes of naturally eroded sandstone rock towers peeking up over forest canopies, waterfalls tumbling into vertical cracks in the rock and trails through rock labyrinths or ancient rock ‘towns’ (of which there are twelve). This land of natural adventures is also just 100km from Prague, and so you can enjoy some seasonal city chic before going a bit Bohemian.

We hope this has given you a few ideas to get a spring in your step this April. To learn about other places to travel in April, from Albania to Snowdonia, the Camino to Crete, click here, and do not hesitate to contact us for more information. You may also enjoy reading our blogs, How to prepare for a hiking trip, Our most popular easy walking holidays and Hiking holidays with the best mountain walks.