Category: coastal

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North Coast Trail – Vancouver Island, Canada

A shortened version of the trail over 4 days and 3 nights.

This backcountry trek is not for the first time hiker. The trail is in a remote area, and there are many opportunities to get hurt. Do your homework and make sure you are prepared. …

North Coast Trail is an adventure for the hard core.

A much easier itinerary — in our opinion — is starting at Cape Scott Trail parking lot (getting there by personal vehicle or Shuttle Van) -> hiking as far into the North Coast Trail as you wish -> then backtracking to the parking lot.

IF you insist on doing the full bushwhack, watch this video. 😀

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

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Hiking / Travel Vancouver Island

I’ve spent many months hiking Vancouver Island out of my parent’s home in Parksville.

BEST is the climate. You can hike year round.

Englishman River Falls

This is not true in most of the rest of the Great White North. Winters are harsh.

Gemma and JR posted a terrific summary of what to do when on Vancouver Island.

My favourite weeks are September to early October. The crowds are gone. But the weather still (usually) quite warm.

Read more:

Best Time to Visit Vancouver Island: A Seasonal Breakdown

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4 days Skye Trail in Scotland late April

Kraig Adams lucked out. No rain. No bugs.

A wonderful trip.

END of video he goes over logistics of how we can do it ourselves.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Surprisingly, he passed another prominent YouTuber on the trail ➙ Eva zu Beck.
She had more problems:

I Took My Dog on Scotland’s Most Dramatic Trail (75 Miles)




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Walking Malta

By BestHike editor Rick McCharles

Short montage from my unexpected visit to Malta in the Mediterranean, March 2026.

Great destination for a day hiker. I walked a lot both on the pretty coastline and in the ancient cities. Malta is particularly spectacular at night.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

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Best Hike in Africa ➙ Otter Trail

Our favourite hike in Africa is the Otter Trail on the Garden Route of South Africa.

I hiked it in 2013. And it instantly went on to my list of top 10 hikes in the world.

Darren Solomon loved it too.

The biggest challenge is creek and river crossings. And scrambles. I got lost and made a BIG scramble myself. 😀

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. (2022)

If you get to South Africa, don’t miss this unique adventure.

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King Charles III England Coast Path 2,689 miles

The King Charles III England Coast Path (KCIIIECP), originally and still commonly known as the England Coast Path, is a long-distance National Trail that follows the coastline of England.

Opened on 19 March 2026 by King Charles III, the trail extends for 2,689 miles (4,328 km).

Existing coastal trails in England will be incorporated into the King Charles III England Coast Path. Signage along the whole route now falls to a uniform design:

West Somerset Coast Path: 58 miles (93 km)

Bournemouth Coast Path: 20 miles (32 km)

Cleveland Way (coastal section from Filey to Saltburn): 50 miles (80 km)

Cumbria Coastal Way: 185 miles (298 km)

Durham Coastal Footpath: 11 miles (18 km)

Isle of Wight Coastal Path: 67 miles (108 km)

Lancashire Coastal Way: 66 miles (106 km)

Norfolk Coast Path: 45 miles (72 km)

Northumberland Coast Path: 63 miles (101 km)

Saxon Shore Way: 163 miles (262 km)

Solent Way: 60 miles (97 km)

South West Coast Path: 630 miles (1,010 km)

Suffolk Coast Path: 50 miles (80 km)

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

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Hiking the Popeye Cliffs, Malta

Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles

My first hike in Malta was organized by Marco Polo hostel in St.Julian’s. In fact, they offer a tour for customers almost every day.

Leaving the hostel before 2pm, we first took the public bus to Popeye Village, a purpose-built film set village for the 1980 live-action musical feature film Popeye starring Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall. 

Opting not to join the tourists down there, we instead headed out on what Google Maps calls the Popeye cliffs.

Screenshot

The ocean clear and gorgeous.

From there you have many options. Our volunteer guide, Paty, took us along the cliffs for some kilometres, then inland where we stopped to tour an impressive farm.

Most of Malta’s food is imported — but they grow terrific strawberries.

Malta is one of the the most densely populated nations on earth. These cliffs are one place you can get away from people.

It’s densely populated with tourists and retiree expats, as well. 😀

Our group split at this point. I stayed with Paty for the beautiful sunset.

No photo editing.

We then continued to the town of Mellieha to see the Church of Paris. Service was in progress.

Finally, to the nearby Miraculous Grotto. An underground natural cave which was consecrated as a church at some point in distant history. According to tradition, the cave was originally a place of worship for the nymph Calypso, but it became a Christian site after St Paul‘s shipwreck on Malta in 60 AD.

It was back to the hostel by 9pm. The other half of our group had finished earlier, carrying on at the popular hostel Bar.

The other Canadian on the trip, age-19, was learning about hostel party life.

I skipped the drinking and went to bed instead. 😀