8 of Europe’s greatest rail-to-trail hikes

Start & finish: Lucca/Siena
Time: 7-8 days

Bells tolling in clocktowers. Poppies and sunflowers lighting up fields. Chianti corks popped because the solar dips over vine-ribbed hillsides. The Tuscan dream is inside grasp on this week-long, 83-mile trek from Lucca to Siena, one of the vital scenic sections of the long-distance Via Francigena from Canterbury to Rome, which is 1,383 miles in its entirety and takes round 100 days to finish. Following within the footsteps of Archbishop Sigeric the Serious, the traditional pilgrimage route ticks off walled medieval hill cities like rosary beads, together with Unesco-stamped San Gimignano, with its 14 towers, and the walled medieval city of Monteriggioni — talked about in Dante’s Divine Comedy. To attain Lucca, you’re greatest off catching a speedy ItaliaRail service from Florence. Once on the path, most hikers rest-up in cosy native B&Bs.

Tour du Mont Blanc

Start & finish: Les Houches railway station
Time: 7-11 days

Getting this near Mont Blanc (the tallest peak within the Alps at 4,808m) and its snaking Mer de Glace glacier makes all of the cursing and blisters worthwhile. If you’re up for the problem, do this epic multi-day Tour du Mont Blanc, throwing you in on the deep finish of the French, Italian and Swiss Alps. A 20-minute trip from Chamonix, the three-country, 112-mile route loops across the Mont Blanc massif, vaulting over high-Alpine passes, skimming thundering rivers and crossing wildflower-freckled meadows. The off-the-chart magnificence is matched by starry nights at distant mountain refuges, which supply scorching meals and typically even personal rooms. Hike it anticlockwise from late June to mid-September. Much Better Adventures additionally gives 10-day guided hikes that embrace lodging and meals from £2,144.