The Great Walks of Europe

From the high-level route across the Pyrenees to the scenic Kerry Way in Ireland, from a descent through the Samaria Gorge in Crete to an ascent of Helvellyn in the Lake District, this book identifies the greatest walks in Europe: twelve of the best long-distance walks (taking from four to fifteen days to complete) and twelve extraordinary day walks.
Among the long-distance walks are the incomparable GR20 in Corsica - a coast-to-coast journey through jagged peaks and deep, forested valleys; the ancient Ridgeway across English downland; the Jungfrau Horseshoe in Austria, which visits the best viewpoints of the Bernese Oberland's most famous alpine peaks; and the Kungsleden, or Royal Trail, through the Swedish wilderness. Short walks include the Snowdon Horseshoe, one of the finest mountain walks in Britain; a walk through the Verdon Gorge in France, Europe's equivalent of the Grand Canyon; and an excursion to the Inaccessible Pinnacle on the romantic Isle of Skye in Scotland.
Richard Sale describes each route, explaining noteworthy features of all kinds and giving historical and cultural details as well as useful information about maps, statistics and the like. His lavish and spectacular photographs of landscapes and wildlife capture the walks' spirit and character. The book will be a boon and a delight to walkers, inspiring them to relive past adventures and tempting them to plan expeditions for the future.

Long Walks

Alta Via 1, Dolomites, Italy

Bernese Oberland Horseshoe, Switzerland

GR5 France (but mentioning the Tour de Mont Blanc/Haute Route/Tour of the Matterhorn)

GR7 Andalucia, Spain

GR20, Corsica, France

HRP, France/Spain (but mentioning GR10 and GR11)

Kerry Way, Eire

Kungsleden, Sweden

Ridgeway, England

Stubai Horseshoe, Austria

Via Alpina, Bavaria, Germany

West Highland Way, Scotland


Day walks:

Campanile Basso, Brenta Dolomite, Italy

Cares Gorge, Picos de Europa, Spain

Edges of Helvellyn, Lake District, England

Gleann Mhor Horseshoe, Connemara, Eire

Inaccessible Pinnacle, Isle of Skye, Scotland

Konigsee and the Jenner, Berchtesgaden Alps, Austria/Germany

Partnachklamm, Bavarian Alps, Germany

Samaria Gorge, Crete. Greece

Schynnige Platte, Switzerland

Sella Traverse, Val Gardena, Italy

Sentier Martel, Verdon Gorge, France

Snowdon Horseshoe, Wales

Day Walk:
The Snowdon Horseshoe
Relentlessly sliding over the mountains of what is now the Snowdonia National Park, the ice of the last Ice Age carved the Llanberis Pass, one of the most famous rock-climbing areas in Britain, and sculpted the peaks to form cwms. The Welsh word is now often used to describe the geologically feature more correctly called a cirque, a steep-sided, horseshoe-shaped valley. One such horseshoe includes the highest peak of the National Park, and the highest peak of England and Wales, Snowdon, or Yr Wyddfa to give it its correct name, and the walk around it is one of the finest mountain walks in Britain.
The horseshoe walk starts from Pen-y-Pass, (1178ft - 359m) at the head of the Llanberis Pass where a café awaits the returning walker and a pay machine confronts the arriving motorist. Leave the car park from the gap in its far right wall (as viewed from the entrance), following a rugged, engineered path known as the Pig Track. The derivation of the name has exercised walkers for decades - is it because it leads to Bwlch Moch, the Pass of the Pig? But moch can also mean 'quick' so it could merely be the fastest way to cross the shallow ridge. Perhaps Pig just means 'peak'. To add to the confusion, the Ordnance Survey spells the name Pyg, allowing others to believe it derives from Pen-y-Gwryd, the nearby hotel, though as the name predates the hotel that is the least likely explanation.
Bwlch Moch overlooks the glacial hollow filled by Llyn Llydaw, with the imposing rock wall of Crib Goch to the right. The route heads up that wall, following scrape and other boot marks on the rock, the only clues to the easiest route. Near the top, the wall steepens. Be careful here as a slip could lead to a serious fall. Finally the top is reached, the narrow, exposed edge of rock that is the summit of Crib Goch (Red Ridge, 3027ft - 923m). The ridge is now traversed towards the sharp, angular pinnacles that appear to bar the way to further progress. The traverse is exposed, and care is needed, particularly in winter. The pinnacles prove much easier than expected, soon allowing a brief descent to Bwlch Coch (2814ft - 858m). From here the walk continues along a much easier path, climbing the wide ridge to the trig-point summit of Crib-y-ddisgl (3493ft - 1065m), then descending easily to Bwlch Glas (3273ft - 998m) and the track of the Snowdon Mountain Railway. The 5 mile (8km) track has a gauge of 2ft 7_ins (80cm) and an average gradient of 1 in 7 (the steepest section being 1 in 5.5). The track was laid in just 13 months in the mid-1890s, but the opening day (6 April 1896) was marred by the only fatal accident ever to have occurred on the line when one of two trains descending from the summit left the track and plunged down the mountain. One passenger, thrown clear of the wreck, died from his injuries. The remaining passengers, and a group of walkers who were narrowly missed by the plunging wreckage, survived with minor injuries.
Now follow the track to the summit of Snowdon (3560ft - 1085m). The Welsh name, Yr Wyddfa, The Grave, recalls a legend that the area was once the home of a giant, Rhita Fawr, who amused himself by cutting off the beards of passers-by, stitching the beards into a cloak which he used to ward off winter's chills. When he tried to cut off King Arthur's beard, he had met his match, the legendary king cutting off the giant's head. Over time earth and rock covered the giant's body, and the mountain was formed. From the trig-point summit, on a clear day, the Lake District, the Isla of Man and Ireland's Wicklow Mountains are visible.
Just below the summit is the latest building to adorn the mountain. The first was a hotel built soon after the railway opened in 1896. This was replaced in the 1930s by a café/shop designed by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis whose Italianate village of Portmeirion (about 20 miles - 35km - or so south of Snowdon) is still much admired by architects and visitors. Sadly the same could not be said of his Snowdon building. Lack of care led to the building becoming increasingly shabby so that Prince Charles, well-known for his comments on things architectural, referred to it as the 'highest slum in Britain'. The building was demolished and on 12 June 2009 a new café/visitor centre, designed to blend into the surroundings, was opened.
From the summit the walker tackles the least pleasant section of the horseshoe, the steep, loose, knee-jarring descent to Bwlch y Saethau, the Pass of the Arrows, at about 2620ft (800m). In legend it was here that King Arthur and the remaining Knights of the Round Table fought the renegade Mordred. The two men came face-to-face, each striking a killing blow. Mordred died on the spot, but the wounded Arthur was taken down to the shores of Llyn Llydaw. There Arthur told Sir Bedevere to take his sword, Excalibur, and to throw it into Glaslyn, the brooding lake in the dark hollow below Snowdon. Reluctant to lose the legendary sword, Bedivere hid it and returned to Arthur, but from his description the king knew the knight had not done as he was told. Finally, Bedivere threw the sword into the lake: an arm rose from the surface, grasped the sword, waved it and disappeared. Now Arthur knew Bedivere was telling the truth. A black boat then crossed Llydaw, piloted by three ladies who took the dying king and retreated across the lake. When the despairing Bedivere asked what would become of him, Arthur called back that he was going to Avalon where his wounds would be tended and he would await the call to return and save Britain. Not so long ago a shepherd searching for a lost sheep at the foot of Lliwedd's cliffs found a cave he had never seen before. Entering he saw an array of sleeping knights gathered around a king beside whom lay a jewelled sword. The astonished shepherd stepped forward and hit his head on a bell, waking the king who asked 'Is it time?' 'No' said the shepherd, 'sleep on'. The shepherd was never able to find the cave again, and Arthur and his Knights still wait the call to return.
Beyond Bwlch y Saethau the route crosses another pass, Bwlch Ciliau, the Pass of Retreat, over which Mordred's defeated army fled. Now climb twin-summitted Lliwedd (2945ft - 898m) whose north facing cliffs were the scene of some of the most important rock climbs of the early years of the 20th century by such pioneers as George Leigh Mallory who died on Everest in 1924. From the summits, the path descends, with stunning views of the route, to reach the Miners' Track, used originally by miners extracting copper ore at the Brittania Mine on the far shore of Llyn Llydaw, the lake tinted blue by copper salts leaching into the water. Today the track, wide and well-maintained, offers the easiest way to Snowdon's summit. Bear right, east, along it to return to the start: the pipeline to the right feeds water to a small hydro-electric power station at the base of Cwm Dyli.
Map: OS Outdoor Leisure Sheet 17. Start/Finish: Pen-y-Pass. Length: 7.5 miles (12km). Ascent: 3300ft (1000m).