Where to Go When: Hiking by Lonely Planet
- NZ Booklovers
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
The best book on hiking ever!
Fancy a 5-6-day trek along India’s wildlife-rich Singalila Ridge? Or a 3-5-day walk through the ‘weird wilderness’ of Iceland’s Laugavegur? Or maybe the 40-50-day Temple Pilgrimage in Japan?
Packed full of photos, and with easy-to-read key notes, this well-designed Lonely Planet hardback includes pen-portraits of a wide variety of walks spanning six continents – and because timing is key, the best months to walk them.
I should start with a caveat. I am a mad-keen hiker, mainly in New Zealand, to date, but in recent years I have walked a couple of Caminos in Europe. I’ve been bitten by the bug and want to make sure that when I travel overseas, I include a good walk.
But with so many possibilities it can soon become an overwhelming task to sift through the thousands of options. Until now. Where to go when Hiking is tailored to most personality types and walking needs. It asks if we are looking for a Micro-adventure, a Week’ish Wander, an Epic Trek – and if so, do we want to go Jungle, Island Circling, Challenge, Diversity, Highland, Country-Crossing or Tropical?
Each walk is given 2-3 pages in the book, with photos, descriptions and key notes under headings such as Accommodation, Food, Getting There, Planning and Safety.
Thankfully there is also an excellent Index, which lists walks under country headings – and under categories such as mountain hikes, history-rich hikes, culture rich hikes, day hikes and coastal hikes.
Being drawn to long-distance walking I was pleased to see a generous 35 long-distance hikes profiled, in countries ranging from Germany, England, Nepal, Canada, Japan, Costa Rica and Pakistan. Day hikes are also a great way to see a country and there are 14 featured, in Australia, Italy, Hawai’i, Portugal and more. And there’s pretty much everything in between.
New Zealand punches above its weight with four of its tracks profiled – Lake Waikaremoana, Queen Charlotte, Rakiura/Stewart Island and the Routeburn.
If you are a keen walker and traveller, this beautifully produced book will quickly expand your walking world, allowing the questions ‘Where to go hiking next?’ and ‘When?’ to be answered more enjoyably than ever before.
Reviewer: Lorraine Steele
