UKH

My time off for 2020 is already booked in for April, May and September! 2 weeks April, 1 week May, 1 week September. Trying to figure out where to go!

Would love to go abroad and do a week long hike in different countries - never hiked outside of the UK but I know there's some insane trails - reading up on the Kungsleden and watching videos on it totally inspired me to start thinking further afield.

Any cool places in mind that you could do a week trail in? Tried posting this on the hiking sub but was unfortunately removed as it's another suggestions post - admittedly it is but that's really all I'm after!

what sort of walks do you prefer ? complete autonomy (with the resulting heavy sac) or hut to hut/bunk house/B&B ? Big mountains ? any particular interests, eg architecture, wild life ?  If you can give a bit more information you'll be more likely to get useful suggestions.

Hut to hut in the alps would be nice. We did it in Austria in the Hoch Konig area in the Berchtesgaden alps for 3 days but could have gone longer. We did find the Swiss huts quite expensive if youre on a budget but the food and service was wonderful.

The Northern half of the GR20 in Corsica could be an option but do your research on that as the huts have bed bugs and the logistics need thought.

April and May will involve snow in most of the high bits of the Alps, but you could look at doing stuff below 2000m. September is ideal alpine walking time, be aware that lifts and huts start to close around the third week. Plenty of long distance trails you can do hut to hut on - Alta Vias, Adlerweg, the 'E' series routes etc.   I'd suggest avoiding the really high bits of the Alps as they're too high to get summits in without glacier stuff. Lots to do in northern Austria / southern Germany & Dolomites. 'Walking in the alps' by Kev Reynolds would be a good starter for ten for alpine walking ideas.

Spent the last few years hiking all over so thought I'd recommend a less popular option - Armenia. Incredible variety of landscapes and scenery, friendly people, and you are guaranteed to have some unique experiences. It will also be fine earlier in the year ( some areas probably not passable on foot in April though).

Check out the Transcaucasian Trail: https://transcaucasiantrail.org/en/home/

A few pictures here, I'll do a write-up when I have time: https://www.spektakl.co.uk/category/hiking/

The selvaggio blu on Sardinia is amazing but not to be underestimated. The longest 40k I've ever walked! The sections of climbing are pretty trivial but there's a few abseils up to 50m so you need gear.

I've been twice to the Pyrenees in summer. First time was Lescun to Cauterets, second time from there to Gavarnie. Excellent walking on good tracks but I also threw in a few peaks along the way - Pic du Midi and Grande Fache. Sometimes on the HRP, sometimes not. Used trains to get down there although this was pre Eurostar days.