UKC

I suppose this is partly me fishing for holiday ideas and partly just general non-politics chat.

What are the wildest, remotest mountain areas in Western Europe?

I'm happy for people to interpret the question as they see fit, but I'd fundamentally consider an area to be "wild and remote" if it involves a lot of legwork - rather than a drive or a cable car - to get into the middle of it, and Western Europe to include France, German, Switzerland, Italy, Spain etc but probably not the Balkans - or alternatively, it's places that I can get to within about 24 hours without flying .

I haven't really walked that much on the continent. What is there to rival the North West Highlands?

In reply to Ramblin dave:

Is Norway included in your 'Western Europe' ?

In reply to Doug:

Good question. I think the answer is "yes", but if that means that the thread is just going to be a long list of bits of Norway then I'd add a second question for the wildest and remotest mountain areas not in Norway!

In reply to Ramblin dave:

These might give you some ideas
https://i0.wp.com/wilderness-society.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/first-t...

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fevo.2017.00002/full
(see fig 1)

although I suspect the non UK more remote areas will be difficult to reach in under 24 hours unless you fly

In reply to Ramblin dave:

Garbe choire beinn a bhuird. Cairngormistan

In reply to mrbird:

It's good, but it's no Maol de la Bhuidhe or Das Mhaighdean.

In reply to Ramblin dave:

Bump. Surely I can't be the only person who's finding the idea of heading off into the hills with nothing but a bivi bag and a week's supply of cous cous and soup quite appealing right now...

In reply to Ramblin dave:

Just hang on in the UK, that's where it might be in 5 years anyway, you won't have a choice

In reply to Ramblin dave:

Not sure I'd want to be away right now. That 100,000 target has to mean getting back in is going to be tough. Especially with long hair.

In reply to GrahamD:


Not sure whether that qualifies as a downside to be honest.

In reply to Ramblin dave:

I was impressed by the wildness of the Italian Alps west of Turin. Only an hour's drive by very remote feeling, much more so than further north. Look at the Valli di Lanzo.

In reply to Ramblin dave:

Dartmoor.

In reply to bouldery bits:


Well, yes. I guess on some level I was wondering whether the UK is actually as good as it gets for just going and losing yourself in the back of beyond for a few days, at least without some significant travelling.

In reply to Ramblin dave:

I think the UK has some great options for feeling like you're away from it all with not too much effort. (I love the Moor - it's a very special place to wild camp)

In reply to Ramblin dave:

Outside of Scandinavia the North-west highlands must be the lest populated place in Europe. Northern Spain was surprisingly wild as was Bulgaria. Never been but the Balkan states sound quite wild. Northern Scandinavia is just so huge and wild it's hard to get your head around how much there is. It's also far easier to get to than most people think.

In reply to OwenM:

Thanks! Bits of the Pyrenees seem fairly empty as well - there's not much around Balaitous, for instance. It feels like there's maybe less "up" but more "along" than in the Alps. And less ski development, which probably helps.

In reply to Ramblin dave:

Not a 24 hour drive away but I remember flying over Siberia on my way to Japan and looking out the window at forest and mountains for hours and this travelling at about 600mph. It was a lovely clear sky but saw few towns/roads and at night no lights except from a few factories/mines/refineries. I was stunned as to the size and wildness of it all.

In reply to Ramblin dave:

You might be surprised to learn that Sutherland is the most sparsely populated part of Europe and given that most of the population live by the sea the Flow country is pretty empty.

In reply to Ramblin dave:

Northern Portugal & north west Spain?

In reply to Removed User:

Not half as surprised as when I read that as "Sunderland" the first time through.

But yeah, I've pootered around Sutherland about enough to get the general vibe of lots of space and not many folk. But that was mostly around the hills in the west - I've never been out into the flow country proper. I'm not sure whether a walk across it would be utterly fascinating, mindblowingly tedious, or both.

In reply to Removed User:


Aye, and there's a bloody good reason for that.

JW

In reply to Ramblin dave:

The Carpathian mountains, Transylvania/Romania.

In reply to Ramblin dave:

I saw a bear out walking in abruzzo, Italy in the spring, very few other tourists around at that time of year. Norway would be a great option as would many places in Spain maybe Sierra and mainland Greece is fabulous.

In reply to Ramblin dave:


Leicester Square on a Saturday night.

In reply to Ramblin dave:

Western Pyrenees, very wild, no cable cars, few people, dramatic looking mountains. Very different from the commercialisation of the Alps.

In the UK.........

I'm not telling you, because I want to keep it that way

In reply to Ramblin dave:

Carpathians...

In reply to Ramblin dave:
Lagorai Range and Cima d'Asta in NE Italy...kind of the Dolomites' poor relation...and a bit like "Scotland with good weather". No cables cars. Lots of legwork. Some outstanding bivvy huts and lots of beautiful lakes.