European mountain routes worth the trip. And how to get there without breaking the bank

There are places in Europe where trekking is something else entirely. Wilder, quieter, more ancient. This is the map nobody gives you when you start looking beyond home.

The first time someone arrives in the Ötztal valley in Austrian Tyrol, they understand there's a before and an after. It's not a matter of altitude or distance. It's that the landscape has a different scale. Glaciers still exist. The mountain huts have been open for a hundred years. And the perfectly signposted trails go where one wants to go.

Europe has mountain «gems» like this in many of its corners (which you really must get to know). Places that don't make it onto the top ten most Instagrammable destinations lists, but that those in the know, know about.

Sometimes, the problem isn't finding them. It's plucking up the courage to go. And part of that hesitation has to do with not knowing quite how much it costs or how transport is organised. Here's an honest guide on how to Saving on transport when you have to travel What resolves that part. The rest is resolved by this article.

The Dolomites: where the rock puts on a show

Northeastern Italy has something that the Swiss or French Alps do not: colour. The Dolomite towers at sunset turn orange, then pink, then almost red. The phenomenon has its own name, enrosadira, and anyone who has seen it once understands why this area is a World Heritage Site.

The Alta Via 1 and the Alta Via 2 they are the two great treks of the area. Multi-day routes that connect historic refuges, some over a century old, traversing landscapes that seem designed by someone with too much talent and too little sense of moderation.

Access is via Venice or Bolzano. From there, take a bus or hire car to Cortina d’Ampezzo or the Val di Fassa. During the season, the mountain buses run with surprising punctuality.

What they don't tell you about the Dolomites: in June and September, before and after the summer peak, the mountain huts have vacancies, the trails are quiet, and the prices drop considerably. Those are the weeks that those who have already been are looking for.

Slovenia: Central Europe's best-kept secret

There is a lake in Slovenia that looks like it's from a fairytale. Lake Bled, with its island and cliffside castle, is the country's most famous postcard. But the trekkers who go to Slovenia aren't going for the lake. They're going for what's behind it.

Triglav National Park is one of Europe's most unknown natural spaces for those coming from abroad. Mount Triglav, at 2,864 metres, is the country's highest peak and one of the most demanding and rewarding ascents in the Eastern Alps. The classic route takes two days. Day one is the ascent, day two is the descent. In between, a mountain hut with views that need no filter.

Ljubljana, the capital, is two hours by bus from the main park entrances. It’s a small city, easy to get around, with direct flights from several European cities and a mountain culture that can be felt in every bar and conversation.

«Triglav National Park is one of the most little-known natural spaces in Europe. Those who know it, return.»

The Scottish Highlands: rain, peat and silence

The West Highland Way is not the most technical route in Europe. It is 154 kilometres from Milngavie, on the outskirts of Glasgow, to Fort William, at the foot of Ben Nevis. No great differences in altitude, no glaciers, no high mountain refuges.

But it has something that few routes have: it leaves you alone with the scenery for entire days.

The Scottish Highlands are peat, heather, red deer and skies that change every twenty minutes. The weather is famously unpredictable, meaning that in a single day you can have sunshine, mist, fine rain and a double rainbow over Loch Lomond. Most people consider that a problem. Those doing the WHW consider it the point.

Glasgow has flights from half of Europe. The train from the city to the start of the route takes forty minutes. At the end, in Fort William, there's a return train. The logistics are, for a change in the UK, surprisingly simple.

The ideal season is from May to September. Outside of July and August, the route is quiet. And the famous Highland midges are less aggressive when it’s windy, which it almost always is.

«In one day you can have sun, mist, fine rain and a double rainbow over Loch Lomond. Most people call it a problem. Those doing the WHW call it the spot.»

These three regions have little in common with each other. The Dolomites are grand. Slovenia is intimate. Scotland is wild. But they share something priceless: the feeling that the world is bigger than it appears from home.

Organising a trip takes less time than you might think. The first step is deciding where to go. The second is booking before the price decides for you. The rest sorts itself out, with your backpack on and the first kilometre under your feet.