As a quite active social media follower, I’m being fed all these amazing people who tru-hike all around the world. Famous and abundant are stories from people hiking the AT, PCT, or CDT trails in the USA. Or the Te Araroa in New Zealand. As I was looking at the mileage and distance of these epic long hiking trails, I wondered if Europe would have such a trail.
Of course, I’m familiar with the E-trails in Europe. These are long-distance trails that mainly exist on paper and are made up of better-known local trails, strung together. I started imagining what an epic European trail should have. I came to the following:
- Epic start and finish point
- Across multiple countries
- From one end of the continent to the other
And that is how I came up with a new dream. A hiking life goal.
From Gibraltar to the Nordkap. From one rock to another. From the tiny country of Gibraltar near Southern Spain, to the northernmost tip of mainland Europe in Norway. An epic journey across the continent, through multiple countries, and from one rock to another.
5.500 kilometers (or 3437 miles) if you drive by car, in a straight line. I knew I’d never hike it that way.
E9 Coastal Walk across Europe
My dream would be to leave Gibraltar on foot, cross into southern Spain, and go west towards Portugal on the coast. Then follow the entire Portuguese coastline, before reaching Santiago de Compostela in Northern Spain. I’d then keep following the coastline, on the Camino del Norte, to France. Keep to the coast and make my way north to Bretagne in France. Use the local coastal walk across Brittany, into Belgium, the coastline of the Netherlands, and then into Germany.
This is part of the big E9 walk along the coastline of Europe. It goes from Portugal, Spain, France, the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Mostly along the coast. I knew I wouldn’t go that far east on my walk, as I want to finish in the far north.
E1 Cross-European walk to the North
In the German city of Hamburg, the E9 and the E1 cross paths. Perfect to switch it up and leave the coastal walking behind, and follow the E1 up north. Through Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and finish at the Nordkapp in Norway.
In all honesty, I have no idea how to manage that section of my dream walk, with a lot of camping, extreme wilderness hiking, and mountains, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.
My Gibraltar to Nordkapp dream hike
For now, I decided to focus on what is manageable: walking south, along the coast. Taking it one section at a time. This wouldn’t be Probe around the Globe if I didn’t share it with you. Explaining my thought process, giving links and information as I go.
This page and its subpages will be a multi-year (if not decades) work in progress. Keep coming back for updates, or bookmark it. I’ll break down my dream hike in sections below. Click on the link to navigate to that specific section or country for more information.
In total, it will be short of 12.000 kilometers (7.500 miles) that I’ll obviously not hike in one epic thru-hike. I’ll take my time, dedicate holidays, weekends, and hopefully, a longer time away from work to complete this magnum opus.
| County | Total KM | Intended route | Progress |
| Gibraltar | 44 | local roads | 0% |
| Spain South | 300 | local route | 0% |
| Portugal | 1071 | Ecovia (Algarve), Fishermen’s Trail, Sines-Lisbon, Lisbon to Santiago on the Camino Portuguese | 100% |
| Spain North | 947 | Camino Portuguese to Santiago, from Irun on Camino del Norte to Santiago | 13.13% |
| France | 4197 | GR120 (BE-FR border to Étaples done), GR21, GR223, GR34, own route to the border | 4.2% |
| Belgium | 103 | GR Kustpad | 100% |
| Netherlands | 714 | LAW 5-1, LAW 5-2, LAW 5-3. Nederlands Kustpad | 17.45% |
| Germany | 709 | Dutch Border to Hamburg Hamburg to the Danish border on E1 | 0% |
| Denmark | 487 | Haervejen | 0% |
| Sweden | 2437 | Gothenburg north to Abisko | 0% |
| Finland | 99 | follow E1 | 0% |
| Norway | 624 | Follow E1 from Narvik to Nordkapp | 0% |
| Total | 11.800 KM // 7.375 miles | Done thus far: 1599.8 km | 13.60 % |
Progress thus far
- April/May 2025: Fishermen’s Trail in Portugal from Sines to Lagos – 225 km – 100% done
- May 2025: Belgium Coastal walk on the GR Kustpad – 103 km – 100% done
- November 2025: Lagos (Portugal) to Vila Real do Santo António (border with Spain) on the Ecovia route – 200 km – 100% done
- April 2026: GR120 from Bray Dunes to Étaples – 176 km done – 4.2% of France so far
- May/June 2026: ‘finished’ Portugal. Hiked from Sines to Lisbon (DIY route), Lisbon to Porto (Trilho das Areias), and Porto to Santiago (Spain) on the Camino Portuguese (coastal route).
- July 2026: Currently doing day trips to the Dutch coast to walk the Dutch Coast Path (Nederlands Kustpad).
In total, I have ‘done’ 1599 km of my dream hike (that is 999 miles). That is 13.60% of the total estimated mileage, which shows what a massive project this is.
Dreams for 2026
- Redo all of the Dutch Coastal Path (Nederlands Kustpad) on weekend trips across the year – 714 km – 36 expected stages
- First stages in France on the GR120 (Opaalkust, Opal Coast, Côte d’Opale) from Bray Dunes (Belgium-French border) to Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer. I’m not sure how many stages I can manage, as the distance from start to finish will become further away as I progress further south.