Best hikes, treks, tramps in the world.
Jamaica is not exactly renown for hiking.
But Paul Clammer posted a list of the 6 best hikes in Jamaica for tropical adventurers.
Click PLAY or watch tourist highlights on YouTube.
One of our BEST VIDEOS.
Perhaps 25 waterfalls and spectacular canyons in series.
I can’t recall better anywhere else in the world.
Trail starts at massive Skógafoss and continues 8km (5 miles). The views just as good on the way back.
I waited about 5 days for a good weather window. Hiked the Waterfall Way twice, up-and-down, over 3 days.
I wanted the trail as empty of people as possible. And to catch the sun low in the sky.
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The Faroe Islands are one of the most scenic places I’ve ever hiked. No place is more than 5km from the sea.
I was there for 12 days summer 2024, arriving by ferry from Denmark en route to Iceland.
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Here’s my advice for Cycling / Hiking the Faroe Islands.
This edit was Inspired by Experience the John Muir Trail in Just 2 Minutes.
Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles
Almost every tourist to the Faroe Islands goes to see the lake hanging over the ocean. Unique and spectacular.
Sørvágsvatn is the largest lake in the Faroe Islands.
… surface is about 40 m (130 ft) above the level of the sea.
It is surrounded by a higher cliff which prevents it from emptying fully into the ocean, the waterfall Bøsdalafossur being the outlet.
The greater height of the cliffs on either side of Bøsdalafossur can give the illusion from certain perspectives that the lake is higher above sea level than it is.
The waterfall vista is great. But personally I liked even better walking the Trælanípan cliff — aka the ‘Slave Cliff’. Supposedly where slaves were pushed to their deaths.
There are many, many birds nesting on those vertical sides.
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In 2024 the hiking fee was 450 kr (USD $42) / adult (ages 15+) for a guided walk. 200 kr (USD $20) / adult (ages 15+) to hike on your own, as I did.
Price is $teep. And has been going up in recent years. Know that there are other great cliff walks free in the Faroe Islands. 😀
official website – tralanipan.fo
related – Moon and Honey – Lake Sørvágsvatn (Floating Lake above the Ocean) and the Trælanípa Hike, Faroe Islands
Moon and Honey – entrance
John Muir Trail is one of our top 10 hikes in the world.
Click PLAY or watch a 1-minute preview on YouTube.
If there’s a hiker’s paradise on earth, it’s the JMT in the Sierra Nevadas.
213 miles without a road. Fantastic weather. 11 high passes. Unbelievable nonstop vistas. And Mt Whitney.
Read more on our John Muir Trail information page.
Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles
I’ve seen most of the famous waterfalls of the world — and cannot recall a better series of falls anywhere.
Skógafoss is massive. Powerful.
The Skógafoss Waterfall hike (also called the Skógá Trail or Waterfall Way) is one of Iceland’s most spectacular easy walks. Perhaps 25 waterfalls and spectacular canyons.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
This trail starts at massive Skógafoss and follows the Skógá River upstream for 8 km (5 miles). If you reach the bridge, I’d say you’ve gone too far. 😀
In fact, hike as far as you want. Turn back when you like.
Elevation Gain: 500 meters
I waited about 5 days for a good weather window — and it was worth it. I even had some sunshine.
I hiked the waterfalls up and down twice over 3 days. Going early morning and late evening to minimize the number of other hikers on the trail.
The trailhead is at Skógar on the Ring Road (highway 1). There is a campground and hotels. Book well in advance.
Earth Trekkers posted an excellent trip report.
Skógafoss is also the start / finish of the challenging Fimmvörðuháls trail which ends at Thórsmörk. In good weather you can do the entire 22 kilometres (14 mi), 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) of climbing in a long day. It crosses a glacier between two recently active volcanoes — which you can also climb.
Of course Thórsmörk is the start / finish of the most famous hike in Iceland, the Laugavegur. If you have 4-6 days, the BEST hike is Landmannalaugar to Skógar. It includes the The Skógafoss Waterfall Way, connecting Fimmvörðuháls and Laugavegur.
I did the Laugevagur Trail as a YOYO in 2023.
related:
Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles
Fossurin í Fossá is one of the highest waterfalls in the Faroe Islands. Super popular with tourists.
140 metres to the sea in two stages.
You can drive to the base easily.
I did the surprisingly difficult scramble up in-between the two falls. It was a rush.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
One of the best — and free — highlights of the Faroe Islands is the tiny village of Gásadalur (13 inhabitants).
Tourists go to see the Múlafossur Waterfall — but the village itself is also charming.
If you look long enough, you’ll probably see some puffins near here.
Before 2004, people needed to hike over a mountain shoulder to get there — but after the Gásadalstunnilin tunnel (1.4 km) was blasted — it’s became possible to drive, cycle, or arrive by public bus.
I cycled. And it was a bit scary in that long tunnel.
On the way out I put my bike on a bus.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
related – hiking around Gásadalur, including the old Postman’s Trail
On the way to the waterfall, before the tunnel, you get great views of 2 sea stacks called Drangarnir — Stóri Drangur and Lítli Drangur.
Planning my own visit to the remote Faroe Islands, I watched Ryan Shirley’s video most.
You need your own motor vehicle and quite a few days to duplicate what Ryan did. Often you want to wait on the weather to see highlights.
Ferries are sometimes cancelled due to wind.
The capital and largest city, Tórshavn, receives the fewest recorded hours of sunshine of any city in the world.
There are about 500km of roads to navigate, though you wouldn’t normally need a 4 wheel drive for most.
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More than 1 million visitors / year, making Plitvice Lakes National Park the most popular tourist attraction in Croatia.
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In 1979, Plitvice Lakes National Park was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list, for its outstanding and picturesque series of tufa lakes, caves, and connected waterfalls. …
Sixteen lakes can be seen … all interconnected.
They are separated by natural dams of travertine, which is deposited by the action of moss, algae, and bacteria.
The lakes are renowned for their distinctive colors, ranging from azure to green, grey or blue. The colors change constantly depending on the quantity of minerals or organisms in the water and the angle of sunlight.
I decided — like most tourists — to sign up for a Plitvice Lakes National Park Day Tour.
U.S. $49.56 for travel and the guide. Plus $44.50 for Park entrance.
You can make the trip on your own, but logistics are simpler with a tour. Once in the Park, you can go wherever you like.
It’s crowded most days. Look for gaps in the mob.
Comparable phenomena to those prevailing at the Plitvice Lakes exist at Rastoke (Slunj), at the Krka National Park, at the rivers Una and the Pliva in Bosnia and Herzegovina and at the Krushuna Falls in Bulgaria. The Band-e Amir lakes within the Hindu Kush mountain range form a similar system of lakes and dams …
Calc-sinter formation processes that have not emerged along a river flow can be observed at the Mammoth Hot Springs within Yellowstone National Park (USA) or at Pamukkale in Turkey. Jiuzhaigou is a nature reserve and national park located in the north of Sichuan, China.
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