Less hike and more spiritual journey (for Christians and the non-religious alike), this 800-kilometre pilgrimage through France and Spain was first recorded in 900BC. Many undertake the walk – or sections of it – alone and find like-minded souls along the way. The network of trails all lead to the shrine of Saint James the Great in the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in Galicia. 

The seaside villages that make up Liguria’s Cinque Terre are renowned for their beauty. Access by car is limited so the walking trail that connects all five villages is a fantastic way to explore the area's beauty – and work off the pesto you had for lunch.

Beginning just outside of Glasgow and finishing in the Highlands, this linear route was the first long-distance footpath in Scotland. It comprises many ancient drovers paths and roads dating back to the Jacobite uprisings of the 1700s. Walkers can expect dense woodlands, dramatic mountains and still lochs.

One of Australia’s finest walking trails, the Overland Track runs for 65 kilometres from Cradle Mountain to Lake St Clair in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Most tackle the walk in around six days but there’s no need to rush: take it slowly to enjoy the clean air and pristine bush.

The GR 20 runs north to south on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica. The entire 200-kilometre trail takes a little over  weeks. Walkers traverse the bumpy vertebrae of Corsica’s mountainous spine and, despite the rugged terrain, it’s well-marked and there are plentiful food and accommodation options. 

Follow the wall named for Roman Emperor Hadrian across England and imagine what 2nd century Roman Britain was like. The 135-kilometre wall, which was once up to four-and-a-half metres tall and three metres deep with turrets, was effectively the Roman Empire’s frontier. Soldiers once patrolled its length; now, walkers can take in ruins and beautiful northern English countryside.

Walkers can explore manageable sections of the Great Wall depending on time constraints and fitness levels. Some parts, such as Jinshanling to Simatai (11 kilometres) north of Beijing, take as little as a day; others can take several. Fancy trekking the wall in its entirety? Well, it’s more than 8000 kilometres and takes about 18 months – it’s definitely the territory of the adventurous.

People don’t ‘hike’ in England; they ‘tramp’ (and some while clad in tweed). And invariably, the day’s toils end at a pub. Set off tramping along the Cotswolds Way, 160 kilometres of picturesque trail tracing the Cotswold Edge escarpment through quaint villages, ancient sites and rolling countryside. And, of course, reward yourself with a coldish beer at day’s end.

Between Apollo Bay and the Twelve Apostles runs the Great Ocean Walk, taking in the windswept terrain of Victoria’s southern coast. The 110-kilometre trail can be undertaken end-to-end in about eight days; it’s also possible to do sections. Take in sights such as Wreck Beach and Cape Otway Light Station by day and stay somewhere special at night – the luxurious Alkina Lodge overlooks the Southern Ocean.

Most people who ascend to the summit of Mount Fuji do so via the Yoshida Trail. It begins at the Fuji-Subaru Line 5th Station and climbs up the north side of the mountain. The route up is different from the one down; on the 5.8-kilometre ascent there are many mountain huts offering food and shelter to keep hikers sustained and break up the journey.

Transhumance describes a phenomenon that occurs each year in the French Pyrenees (and other parts of Europe). It’s a romantic-sounding word for what is essentially the mass transportation of sheep. At the beginning of summer, sheep are herded from winter paddocks to pastures high in the mountains and trekkers now join in for the days-long journey.

John Muir, known as the Father of the National Parks, was a Scottish-American naturalist who died in 1914. He was honoured in his homeland in the form of this 215-kilometre route. Running from coast to coast, the trail links Muir’s birthplace of Dunbar with the country’s first national park Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, and Helensburgh, his departure point for the US.

Shikoku, the smallest of Japan’s major islands, is looped by the Shikoku Pilgrimage. The 1200-kilometre route honours the 9th century monk Kukai and takes in 88 Buddhist temples; Matsuyama-jō, a feudal castle that sits atop Mount Katsuyama; and Dōgo Onsen Honkan, one of Japan’s oldest hot spring bathhouses. 

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A 3540-kilometre stretch across 14 states from Maine to Georgia, the full Appalachian Trail is not for the faint-hearted. However, many of its most scenic stretches are accessible for shorter walks, such as a 26-kilometres stretch in Virginia, which takes in McAfee Knob; and 115 kilometres through the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina and Tennessee.

This trail flanks the rugged coast of Turkey’s Tekke Peninsula, tracing the territory that was once ancient Lycia. The 540-kilometre footpath edges along the Turkish Riviera with azure seas on one side and olive groves, fishing villages, ancient ruins and mountainous hinterland on the other.

The Laugavegur Trail is the choice for those who wish to see the drama of the Icelandic landscape up close. The 55-kilometre path takes two to four days to complete, beginning in the geothermal area of Landmannalaugar and finishing in the glacial valley of Pórsmörk. Along the way, hikers pass striking gorges, glaciers, craggy mountains, hot springs and active volcanoes.

Peru’s most famous trek begins outside of the city of Cuzco on the Urubamba River and concludes at the mysterious hilltop citadel of Machu Picchu high in the Andes. The Classic route, which takes about four days, passes through several small settlements before ascending into cloud forest via enormous Inca-built stone steps. 

The 650-kilometre Jordan Trail traverses the desert landscape. Alongside wind-sculpted rocks, there are also eco-lodges, medieval villages and ancient Christian monasteries. Take the 72.6-kilometre Dana to Petra section of trail for the most bang for your buck: different climate zones result in scenery that changes from green valleys to dramatic mountains over just a few kilometres.

The oldest and longest marked hiking trail in Canada, the Bruce Trail runs for 890 kilometres from the Niagara River to Tobermory, Ontario. It takes in Ontario wine country, ski resorts, mature hardwood forests, waterfalls and, in one portion, a reconstructed 15th-century village of the Great Lakes First Peoples, the Iroquois.

Byzantine monasteries atop natural sandstone spires dot the ancient routes of Meteora, near Greece’s Albanian border. Once frequented by monks travelling between the 24 monasteries (six are still functioning) in the region, the trails are now poorly marked and overgrown in places; a map will be crucial.

The Pacific Crest Trail spans the Sierra Nevada and the Cascade mountain ranges through California, Oregon and Washington. The trail passes through seven national parks, avoiding urban areas  in favour of pristine wilderness. This is the setting of author Cheryl Strayed’s memoir Wild – follow in her footsteps and find yourself.