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Explore Europe on Foot: Your Complete Guide to Planning a Cultural Hiking Adventure
Move over traditional sightseeing, throngs of visitors, and tourist traps! Explore Europe on Foot gives travelers an alternative way to discover Europe. A hiking vacation offers countless the time to admire the tidiness of a village farm, soak in the rugged alpine view from a rocky perch, and absorb a country through the smells of its landscape and encounters with locals. Explore Europe on Foot is a complete guide to conceptualizing, planning, and executing the slow-travel hike (or hikes!) of a lifetime.
Author Cassandra Overby tells you how you can spend all, or even just part, of your vacation enjoying scenery, small towns, and cultural experiences most travelers miss—all without carrying a big backpack. This guide offers all the nuts and bolts you how to choose a route that is right for you, how to plan, what to pack, what to expect, how to find accommodations and food, how to deal with challenges along the way, and so much more. These aren’t wilderness backpacking trips, but rather a wide range of town-to-town walks that offer the opportunity to have an authentic, affordable, restorative vacation.
Travelers will also appreciate overviews of fifteen long-distance trails in Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey, with itineraries that range from one to fifteen days. For those unwilling to go all-in, Cassandra also offers tips on incorporating day-hike outings into a more traditional vacation. The focus is on how to craft that more immersive vacation so users of the guide will be able to apply what they learn to their own dream destinations.
15 Handpicked Walks
Rota Vicentina, Portugal
English Way, Spain
Mont Saint-Michel, FranceTour du Mont Blanc, France and Italy
Cinque Terre 2.0, Italy
Lycian Way, Turkey
Alpine Pass Route, Switzerland
King Ludwig’s Way, Germany
The Moselle, Germany
The Ardennes, Luxembourg and Belgium
The Lake District, England, UK
West Highland Way, Scotland, UK
Laugavegur Trek, Iceland
The Sahara Desert, Morocco
Author Cassandra Overby tells you how you can spend all, or even just part, of your vacation enjoying scenery, small towns, and cultural experiences most travelers miss—all without carrying a big backpack. This guide offers all the nuts and bolts you how to choose a route that is right for you, how to plan, what to pack, what to expect, how to find accommodations and food, how to deal with challenges along the way, and so much more. These aren’t wilderness backpacking trips, but rather a wide range of town-to-town walks that offer the opportunity to have an authentic, affordable, restorative vacation.
Travelers will also appreciate overviews of fifteen long-distance trails in Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey, with itineraries that range from one to fifteen days. For those unwilling to go all-in, Cassandra also offers tips on incorporating day-hike outings into a more traditional vacation. The focus is on how to craft that more immersive vacation so users of the guide will be able to apply what they learn to their own dream destinations.
15 Handpicked Walks
Rota Vicentina, Portugal
English Way, Spain
Mont Saint-Michel, FranceTour du Mont Blanc, France and Italy
Cinque Terre 2.0, Italy
Lycian Way, Turkey
Alpine Pass Route, Switzerland
King Ludwig’s Way, Germany
The Moselle, Germany
The Ardennes, Luxembourg and Belgium
The Lake District, England, UK
West Highland Way, Scotland, UK
Laugavegur Trek, Iceland
The Sahara Desert, Morocco
- GenresTravelNonfiction
352 pages, Paperback
Published September 10, 2018
49 people are currently reading
304 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 26, 2019
If you’ve ever dreamed of a richer way to explore new places, an adventure beyond the traditional means of travel that surrounds you with the beauty of nature, extends its warm cultural embrace, one in which you surrender completely unto the world around you; then you have to travel slow, really slow, every step of way. This philosophy is as the heart of “Explore Europe on Foot,” Cassandra Overby’s latest guidebook to walking adventures throughout the European continent. In her own words, “I call it exploring on foot, this new kind of travel.”
Imagine a trip abroad where each day is filled with peregrinations through some of the continent’s most exhilarating scenery, idyllic settings, storybook villages and towering moutainscapes replete with moments of cultural enrichment through art, history and music. In the evenings, you'll enjoy meaningful exchanges with the locals and new friends as you share a long and leisurely dinner celebrating your triumphs of the day.
“Explore Europe on Foot” is a comprehensive resource guide to traveling on foot through some of Europe’s most spectacular, awe-inspiring and enchanting settings from Iceland to Italy over the Asian border to Turkey and beyond the Mediterranean to Morocco. And Overby is your virtual guide as she escorts you step-by-step through the planning process from dreaming of places to go, preparations for planning and packing, and making the most of your walking holiday. All the details and answers to some of the questions you may have about a walking holiday are addressed in four comprehensive sections of the book. Imagine everything you need to know about walking in Europe is at your finger tips in a single volume.
Be prepared to be inspired as you consider destinations such as the Swiss Alps, Bavaria or perhaps it's wine tasting along the Alsatian wine route. Whichever trail or trails you decide, each of them includes a wealth of information: location and detailed map, languages spoken, miles/kilometers walked, elevation, difficulty ratings, trail markers, not-to-miss sights and daily itineraries. Want to shorten or extend the recommended itinerary? Overby has you covered.
Lastly, at the end of the book are various checklists and a resource guide to help you find up-to-date information about places you're planning to travel through. And Overby has published a series of dedicated guidebooks chock full of information about a few of her 15 recommendations.
I loved it and for everyone who loves the outdoors, like I do, this is a must-read for any walking / hiking adventure!
Enjoy!
Imagine a trip abroad where each day is filled with peregrinations through some of the continent’s most exhilarating scenery, idyllic settings, storybook villages and towering moutainscapes replete with moments of cultural enrichment through art, history and music. In the evenings, you'll enjoy meaningful exchanges with the locals and new friends as you share a long and leisurely dinner celebrating your triumphs of the day.
“Explore Europe on Foot” is a comprehensive resource guide to traveling on foot through some of Europe’s most spectacular, awe-inspiring and enchanting settings from Iceland to Italy over the Asian border to Turkey and beyond the Mediterranean to Morocco. And Overby is your virtual guide as she escorts you step-by-step through the planning process from dreaming of places to go, preparations for planning and packing, and making the most of your walking holiday. All the details and answers to some of the questions you may have about a walking holiday are addressed in four comprehensive sections of the book. Imagine everything you need to know about walking in Europe is at your finger tips in a single volume.
Be prepared to be inspired as you consider destinations such as the Swiss Alps, Bavaria or perhaps it's wine tasting along the Alsatian wine route. Whichever trail or trails you decide, each of them includes a wealth of information: location and detailed map, languages spoken, miles/kilometers walked, elevation, difficulty ratings, trail markers, not-to-miss sights and daily itineraries. Want to shorten or extend the recommended itinerary? Overby has you covered.
Lastly, at the end of the book are various checklists and a resource guide to help you find up-to-date information about places you're planning to travel through. And Overby has published a series of dedicated guidebooks chock full of information about a few of her 15 recommendations.
I loved it and for everyone who loves the outdoors, like I do, this is a must-read for any walking / hiking adventure!
Enjoy!
December 13, 2018
THE BOOK I WISH I HAD WRITTEN
My wife and I have done a lot of hiking in Europe and live much of our life on the road. Cassandra Overby's "Explore Europe on Foot" contains a lot of information that we learned the hard way or through extensive research on our own.
It is so much more than a nice list of hiking trails. It's really about the right way to travel even if you're not a hiker. She also has excellent practical advice on everything from how to pack to how to travel.
Even though we hiked the Camino de Santiago route from France to Santiago and lived for three years in Germany, we still picked up some great advice and tips. Looking forward to trying out some of the handpicked walks she highlighted.
The book itself is very well laid out with great photos, illustrations, and helpful sidebars. A great Christmas gift for your adventurous friends and family.
My wife and I have done a lot of hiking in Europe and live much of our life on the road. Cassandra Overby's "Explore Europe on Foot" contains a lot of information that we learned the hard way or through extensive research on our own.
It is so much more than a nice list of hiking trails. It's really about the right way to travel even if you're not a hiker. She also has excellent practical advice on everything from how to pack to how to travel.
Even though we hiked the Camino de Santiago route from France to Santiago and lived for three years in Germany, we still picked up some great advice and tips. Looking forward to trying out some of the handpicked walks she highlighted.
The book itself is very well laid out with great photos, illustrations, and helpful sidebars. A great Christmas gift for your adventurous friends and family.
March 30, 2021
I started reading this book in preparation for my through hike in Luxembourg and Belgium. Cassandra has done much through hiking and had a ton of good suggestions for someone like me who has never done this type of walk. I was inspired by my 2018 trip and want to do it again. I finished Cassandra's book to help me narrow down where I think my next adventure should take me. I also learned a lot about to plan and pack for such an adventure. Great photos and suggestions for each big hike, as well.
November 29, 2018
very helpful! Exactly what I didn't known I was looking for . l was able to manage learning about the national trails in the UK but I kept getting stuck when I was looking on my own for continental European walking trails. This book had great suggestions and lots of tips, well a guidebook really for figuring out how to learn more for myself. (typos because I'm using a digital ink.)
November 21, 2023
3.5 stars. The trail descriptions are compelling. It paints an enticing picture of wildflowers, forests, WW2 relics.
I liked the breakdown of how to get there, stage lengths, mileage, days.
The second half seems like obvious advice. The section on choosing travel companions consists of "Choose someone you get along with" and "Plan with them in advance". It seems like common sense.
I liked the breakdown of how to get there, stage lengths, mileage, days.
The second half seems like obvious advice. The section on choosing travel companions consists of "Choose someone you get along with" and "Plan with them in advance". It seems like common sense.
January 2, 2022
I’ve been reading Cassandra Overby’s articles in the PNW Magazines for years now. I knew this would be a five star read before i opened the first page.
It’s good! Really good. And I think i’m ready for this adventure. Before or after Central America, i’m not sure.
It’s good! Really good. And I think i’m ready for this adventure. Before or after Central America, i’m not sure.
February 18, 2020
Great ideas about packing and routes for foot travel. As a seasoned traveler, the section on How To Take A Train was not needed in my opinion. Overall, very inspirational.
April 20, 2020
A really good resource. I will be keeping this book on my bookshelf. This book is a good starting point for anyone looking to do some walking in Europe.
January 12, 2022
So much fun to read: I want to hike all the trails!
May 16, 2020
Good book to give you ideas of places to travel hiking. A lot of multi-way trips.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews