You know the way a short film, short book or short song can hit the spot just as much as an epic one sometimes? It’s just the same with short breaks, especially when life has been full to the brim with drama or just feeling a bit dreary. You may also just need a quick hit of ‘me-time’, and many of the trips listed below are suitable for solo travellers. So how do we define our short walking breaks? Well, some of them are manageable over a long weekend of four days, others are five or six days long, following highlights of longer trails such as the Lycian Way or the Salzkammergut Lake District. They may be short, but we never leave you feeling short changed when it comes to adventures.
Short walking breaks in the UK
If you want to immerse yourself speedily yet intensely in British culture, there are three quick ways to do it, and all very different. For a soothing, cream tea sort of break, head to the Cotswolds for four days to follow a circuit that starts and finishes in the handsome market town of Moreton-in-Marsh, just 1h 30mins by train from London. If you prefer a slice of Welsh cake, then head to the hills on our five day self-guided trek in Eyri, formerly known as Snowdonia National Park. This is a centre-based classic, with the summit of Yr Wyddfa, the highest mountain in Wales at 1,085m, included in this short but stunning itinerary. Finally, if you want a hit of British history, go ‘roamin’ for five days on one of the best sections of Hadrian’s Wall between Chollerford and Walton. This itinerary includes one of England’s finest hikes through Northumberland National Park.
Short walking breaks in Morocco
We understand that not everyone wants to spend a week hiking in the Atlas Mountains and that Morocco’s superb cities and coast are a pull for many. Which is why we have a couple of jauntier journeys into this colossal mountain range. You will feel as if you’ve been swept off your feet on our four day hiking break in the Atlas, where you are met in Marrakech in the morning and stride out on a five hour guided hike in Imlil and Assif N’ait Oussaden Valleys in the afternoon. With three more days of hiking after that, including ascents to the likes of Tizi-n-Tegdalt Pass (2,700m), this quick trip is like going through a portal into another world. If you want to take on the Atlas’ star, Mount Toubkal, you can also do this speedily on our two day or three day itineraries. That’s a formidable and fast four thousand metres.
Short walking breaks in Bulgaria
The opportunities for Bulgarian walking holidays are exquisitely endless, and yet it’s still one of Europe’s best kept secrets. We have three five day shorties that still feel substantial, however. One in the Rhodope Mountains, another in Rila National Park and the third in the Balkan Mountains. All are centre-based tours with quick and easy access to some of Bulgaria’s most remote and revered landscapes. In the Rhodope Mountains, you’re based in the mountain village of Trigrad, and follow easy to moderate trails to limestone gorges, caves and ancient forests. In the Rila Mountains, you get to push yourself a bit harder, with treks to Mount Musala (2,925m) and Mount Malyovitsa (2,729m) as well as the famous seven Rila Lakes. And in the Balkan Mountains, your base is Veliko Tarnovo, with trails to the village of Arbanasi, set on a high plateau, ancient monasteries, Derventa Gorge and Kartala Waterfalls.
Short walking breaks in Spain
Spain is so much more vast and varied than many of us realise. If you want to experience its array of adventure playgrounds, treat yourself to a train journey from say, Madrid to Málaga or Barcelona and make sure you reserve a window seat. If you’re short on time, however, you may just want to fly in, dig your heels in and fly out again, and we have several Spanish shorts that work perfectly for that. In the south, you can mellow out in Málaga, where we have two five day, centre-based holidays: on this holiday you stay in Canillas de Albaida and, on this upgraded version, the hotel is in Cómpeta, both villages being typical whitewashed beauties of the region.
In Catalonia, you can explore the trails around Montserrat Mountain over four days, with a chance to stay at the iconic Montserrat Monastery. All just a heartbeat from Barcelona for a quick break. And, last but not least, in the north, on the Camino Lebaniego, you spend five heavenly days walking from the Green Coast of Spain along an 8th-century pilgrimage route to the monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana in the Picos de Europa Mountains.
Short walking breaks in France
Un petit peu de France always leaves you wanting an encore, but the good news is that there is always more. With a world of GR routes, great river trails and a ravishing Riviera for rambling, France’s landscapes are fecund. However, if you just need a teaser trail, we have plenty on offer. To combine history with hiking, head to Normandy where we have three short breaks, each four days long. So they are easy to combine with a citybreak to Paris, for example, exploring around Cherbourg, the Côte Fleurie or the D-Day Landing Beaches.
Heading further south, we have some Mediterranean moments that still feel magical over a few days. Walking from Vence to Menton, for example, is a trio of trekking treats packed into five days. It’s a quick dip into Provence’s prettiest of perched villages, a speedy but leisurely immersion into its Mediterranean marvels, and a delicious hit of Alpes-Maritimes mountains. Heading further west, but still clinging to the coast, our five day walking holiday in Calanques National Park, is a sublime soupçon of what these fjords and peninsulas have to offer. With three nights staying in a small, three-star hotel in the small fishing port and town of Cassis, and one in the Vieux Port area of Marseille.
Short walking breaks in Germany and Austria
We’re putting these two great homes of hiking together because one of our most popular short walking breaks takes you through both. The Lechweg Trail short break is a quick dip into this binational 125km long-distance trail over six days. It’s shorter because we have cut out the first stage. Instead, you start in the traditional Austrian alpine village of Steeg, from where you walk through the Arlberg Alps and Lechtal Nature Park in Tyrol as far as Füssen in Bavaria.
For a brisk and beautiful hit of Austria, our Salzkammergut short break takes in three of the main lakes of the country’s famous lake district over six days, compared with our longer eight day itinerary. It also starts just 37km from Salzburg, and is accessible by bus so it’s a speedy addition to a city break. Another short walking break to combine with a city break is this section of the Rheinsteig. It starts in Rüdesheim, just over an hour from Frankfurt by train, and perfect for five days of river views, Riesling and romantic castle views.
Short walking breaks in Greece
We have three Greek shorties that are sure-fire serotonin lifters at the end of the summer and beginning of autumn. Both are on islands with international airports, so you can get low season bargains too. Fly either to Crete for our five day walking holiday along the coastal UNESCO Geopark of Sitìa, or to Corfu for a sumptuous section of the Corfu Trail. Both are available between April and October for a speedy seasonal hiking lift. Our four day, self-guided walking holiday in Aegina is also another quick Hellenic hiking hit. One of the Saronic Islands, it’s just an hour by ferry from Athens.
Short walking breaks in Italy
Italy always leaves you begging for more, but sometimes we can only treat ourselves to a dip into the dolce vita rather than a deep dive. But dips can be delicious too, as you can see on our five day, walking holiday along ancient trails of Umbria and Lazio. Starting and finishing in the handsome hilltop town of Orvieto, highlights include the exquisite Etruscan city of Civita di Bagnoregi, and some waterfront time at Lake Bolsena too. For another luscious lake break, Garda’s trails over five days are always a treat.
Another classic is our five day Cinque Terre walking holiday, which takes you into the heart of the eponymous national park that’s named after its five villages of Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. On this holiday you walk to four of them, but it’s still a high five of short breaks. Our other veloce-vacay is much further north, on the Via Spluga, which is a little-known 70km trail between Switzerland and Italy. This is a shortened version of the complete trail along alpine mule trails up to Splügen Pass (2,115m), where you cross the border on day two into Italy. It may be a speedy Spluga but it’s a splendid one.
There are many reasons we need to take a break, and we hope that this guide has helped you realise that sometimes you are only a few quick steps away from an uplifting change of scene. Often it’s during the season of shorter days that we need a healthy hiking boost, and so you may find these blogs useful to find the right time and place to do that: Top places to go in October; Top places to go in November; Top places to go in December and Top places to go in January.
Walking the North Cotswolds in 4 days
Hadrian’s Wall Short Break
Snowdonia Short Break
Hiking in the High Atlas Mountains Short Break
Mount Toubkal Express
Mount Toubkal Trek
Walking in the Rhodope Mountains Short Break (Centre-based)
Rila Mountains Walking Break (Centre-based)
Walking in the Balkan Mountains
Walking in Málaga (Centre-based)
Walking in Málaga in Comfort (Centre-based)
