Comparing our European Hiking Adventures

We have five different walking, hiking, or trekking adventures in 2026. How should you choose which to join? Outside of just picking a location because it appeals to you, a great step is to compare the difficulty of the five tours.

How to Judge Hiking Tour Difficulty

In judging the difficulty level of hiking tours, we like to consider a few factors:

• Hiking Distance: Obviously, the distance of the hikes each day is important.
• Elevation Gain: Some expert hikers look more to gross elevation gain to judge difficulty. Note this is not the same as net elevation change, which is zero if you return to the starting point.
• Options: Some of our hiking tours have options for shorter routes and others do not because we are hiking from point to point.

Our 2026 Hiking Adventures Based on Difficulty

Italy’s Apennine Mountains (May 3 – 9)

• Average Daily Distance: 8.4 miles
• Average Daily Elevation Gain: 1,041 feet
• Type of Hikes – Point to Point: On this tour we hike from inn to inn and so everyone needs to hike the distance each day.
• Options for Short Routes: There are few options for short routes as we don’t have van support. However, it is possible to skip Day 3 of the trip, which is longer (10.7 miles) and harder (2,303 feet of elevation gain) than any of the other days.
• Conclusion: Gaining 1,000 feet per day is quite moderate for a day hike. We achieve this by shuttling most mornings to the top of the Apennine Mountains so we eliminate large uphills from the valley towns where we sleep at night. You should be able to hike 8 – 10 miles per day but the hiking itself is not difficult. Difficulty: Moderate.

Portugal (May 16 – 22)

• Average Daily Distance: 5.9 miles
• Average Daily Elevation Gain: 522 feet
• Type of Hikes – Mixed: We have a variety of point-to-point and loop hikes. We often take a shuttle to the start of the hike and walk towards the town where our hotel is located, allowing you to hike back at your own pace.
• Options for Short Routes: Portugal has a great bus system, and even better, Uber is very affordable and widely available. Day 1 has an option for less elevation, and the remaining days have many options for extensions along the beach.
• Conclusion: The routes vary along cliff tops, through the trees, and on the beach. The hikes are not strenuous, and most have minimal elevation gain, but there are options available for more difficulty. You should be able to walk 6-8 miles on uneven trails. Difficulty: Easy to Moderate

Liechtenstein (June 10 – 15)

• Average Daily Distance: 7.1 miles
• Average Daily Elevation Gain: 966 feet
• Type of Hikes – Point to Point: We hike from inn to inn, although there are options to use public transportation to reduce the distances.
• Options for Short Routes: There is an excellent bus system in Liechtenstein and most days it is possible to use buses or taxis to reduce the hiking routes. Day 2, at 8.7 miles and 1,947 feet of elevation gain, is significantly harder than the other days and could be shortened or skipped.
• Conclusion: Similar to the Apennine Mountains in Italy, gaining under 1,000 feet per day is quite moderate for a day hike. This tour stays in the foothills of the mountains rather than climbs to big elevations. You need to be able to hike 6 – 8 miles per day but the hiking itself is not hard. Difficulty: Moderate.

Belgium (August 3 – 9)

• Average Daily Distance: 5.9 miles
• Average Daily Elevation Gain: Very little
• Type of Hikes – Mixed: We have a mix of walks, both loops from our hotels and one-way walks in the countryside using local public transportation.
• Options for Short Routes: The walks within cities can be shortened by simply heading back to the hotel on your own. Some of the walks in the countryside have shorter options also.
• Conclusion: We are walking moderate distances with plenty of stops and little elevation gain. You should be able to walk similar distances at home but this is not a strenuous tour. Difficulty: Easy.

Tatra Mountains (September 7 – 12)

• Average Daily Distance: 7.0 miles
• Average Daily Elevation Gain: 2,900 feet
• Type of Hikes – Out and Back or Loop: All our hikes start and end at the same spot. Some are out-and-back hikes and others are loops.
• Options for Short Routes: There are options for shorter routes that substantially decrease the mileage and elevation gain. Taking all the short routes would average 4.8 miles with 1,600 feet of elevation gain.
• Conclusion: The Tatra Mountains are real mountains. Our longer routes are strenuous with a lot of elevation gain. Even the shorter routes have significant elevation gain. We are not in a hurry at all but you should have experience hiking in the mountains. Difficulty: Moderate to Strenuous.

Private Adventures

These are just our locations offered as public tours in 2026. In addition to the above, we have options for Private Adventures including Greece Hiking, Hadrian’s Wall Trekking, Chamonix Hiking, Tuscany Walking, Scotland Trekking, Ireland Hiking, Georgia Hiking, and Czech Republic Walking. Contact us for more information.

Conclusion on our European Hiking Adventures

If you are interested in joining a walking, hiking, or trekking trip with us in Europe in 2026, it definitely pays to note the difficulty level of each trip. If you have questions, we are happy to help you select a tour!