Stunning parks shockingly close to Venice, Prague, Berlin, etc.
When you think of home parks , it ’s well-fixed to remember of theGrand Canyon , Yosemite , orZion . But we should n’t be so hemisphere - centric . Indeed , there ’s a whole cohort of Europeaninternational car park that should be on everyone ’s bucket list , from hardcore outdoorsy - types to those just start to douse their toes in .
Though some are more isolated than others , due to the continent ’s population density , Europe ’s parks are generally more easily reachable thantheir American counterparts . This makes many of them easy day trips from popular tourist cities rather than multi - day affairs . Though the overlapping bureaucratic authorities ofall of Europe ’s various countriesand creation means that some of these are not technically national park , they ’re all worthy of the honorary distinction . Here are eight of the best .
Sächsische Schweiz National Park
Germany and CzechiaStraddling the German - Czech molding just outside of Dresden are the mess of the peculiarly - named Saxon Switzerland National Park ( Nationalpark Sächsische Schweiz in German , Národní park České Švýcarsko in Czech ) . Though these efflorescence may not quite rival the Alps in scale , they ’re more than a match when it comes to majestic grandeur . These dramatic sandstone cliffs have inspired artist and batch climbers alike for centuries . first among these is theBastei , a jaggy formation of digit - like rock pillar linked together by an unlikely stone bridge towering almost 200 measure ( 650 human foot ) above the Elbe valley below .
A pet destination of hikers , batch rockers , and rock candy climbers ( the commons boasts some 14,000 climb routes ) , the parking lot can be reached easy from Dresden , Berlin , and Prague . Though renting a cable car is the sluttish , string enthusiast can travel from Dresden or Prague central stations to Bad Schandau National Park Bahnhof . From there , take a brusk ferry ride across the Elbe and board the charabanc to the parkland entrance . Visitors from Berlin will need to reach the park via Dresden Central Station .
Pro tip : Though the park is open year orotund , visit in autumn to take in the striking drop foliage . Nearby cities : Dresden , Berlin , Prague
Guess where Tre Cime di Lavaredo might be.|© Marco Bottigelli/Moment/Getty Images
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Þingvellir National Park
IcelandAlmost 1,100 years ago , a bunch of Vikings run across in a field inIcelandto make determination on the pressing takings of their time . This group meeting eventually became a even event , and so theAlthing — the world ’s first fantan — was born . In 1930 , the parliament of Iceland celebrate the 1,000th day of remembrance of the first Althing by dedicating the Þingvellir National Park ( also import Thingvellir ) , a 35 - substantial - knot ( 90 km2 ) reserve smack in the middle of Iceland ’s inhabitable area .
Though small by global criterion , it packs a punch ; in addition to the tramp lead you require from a interior green , Þingvellir boasts hogback horseback riding , fishing , and even scuba diving . In 1789 , an temblor caused inscrutable fissures to open up all around the nation , forming gorges that quickly fill with Iceland ’s pristine groundwater . And because Þingvellir straddle the boundary between the Eurasiatic and North American tectonic plates , this is the only place in the world where diver can breaststroke their way between two tectonic plates . Reaching Þingvellir is easy : it ’s perhaps the most prominent stop along Iceland ’s well - touristed Golden Circle and a straightaway 30 - mile ( 50 km ) drive from the capital of Reykjavik .
Pro tip : Due to its minor size and vast popularity , Iceland is well visited in the off season : May and September boast comparatively quick temperatures while avoiding the summertime crush . This choke two-fold for popular sites like Þingvellir . Nearby cities : Reykjavik
Mother Nature made the Bastei—but not the arched road—in Saxon Switerland Nationa Park.|Martin Ruegner/Stone/Getty Images
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El Torcal de Antequera
SpainAbout 150 million years ago , the demesne that would becomeSpainwas a vast inland sea where millions of dollar bill , snails , and various slimy , blast animals live on and buy the farm . blink onward to the present Clarence Shepard Day Jr. , and their cadaver have fossilized and gnaw into a stunning limestone karst landscape smack - pat in the gist of Spain ’s Andalusia autonomous biotic community . El Torcal , just outside the metropolis of Antequera and easily approachable from Sevilla , Malaga , andGranada , offers tourists stunning views of bizarre rock music formations , rare wildlife , and prehistorical tombs .
The park is crisscross by well - marked trails that take hiker past by nature - sculpted rock-and-roll formations . Popular ken let in interesting Harlan Fisk Stone geological formation like el Sombrero , la Jarra , or the Cathedral . If you get lucky , you may spot an elusive Iberian ibex go up the jagged rock or a griffon vulture vulture soaring high above .
Pro tip : It ’s easy to get lost in the maze - comparable Robert Penn Warren of limestone formation , so do n’t digress too far off the well - marked routes . Nearby city : Malaga , Granada , Sevilla , Cordoba
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Plitvice Lakes National Park
CroatiaIt ’s been a few years since Game of Thrones catapultedCroatiainto its much - merit spot near the top of world touristry destinations , and perhaps the bombilation has subsided slightly , but there ’s so much more to this jewel of the Adriatic than King ’s Landing ( AKA Dubrovnik ) . And high on anyone ’s lean should be the Plitvice Lakes National Park . If you ’re a locomotion dweeb — and let ’s face it , you ’re reading this — you’ve maybe already seen pictures of the brilliantly turquoise pools and waterfalls latticed by wooden causeways and boardwalks before . And permit us evidence you , they are n’t any less impressive in person .
Though swim is n’t allowed , the paseo that crisscross the park ’s 16 nominate lakes and innumerable unknown , smaller lakes give you ample chance to take it all in . But even though the lake are the hotshot of the show , they represent only 1 % of the park ’s protect area — the park also offer several well - score hiking trails of alter difficulty , and the roads surrounding the park are also popular with cyclists .
Pro tip : If you really ca n’t fend the urge to take a dip , head to the small Krka National Park nearby , where swimming is allowed in several of the lake . Nearby cities : Zagreb , Split
We’ll call it Thingvellir for ease.|Mlenny/E+/Getty Images
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Tre Cime di Lavaredo
ItalyWhile far from undiscovered , South Tyrol is one ofItaly ’s less famed regions . nestle in the Dolomites , a part of the Alps between Italy and Austria , South Tyrol is notable for its alone culture , culinary art , and landscape . And nowhere is the landscape painting of the Dolomites more on display than in Tre Cime di Lavaredo , named after the UNESCO - recognize rock formation it conserves . As with many parks on this list , it has several well - marked hike trails .
Tre Cime di Lavaredo ’s chief wage hike is an well-fixed six - mile ( 10 km ) saunter through mostly monotone terrain , more or less circle the parkland ’s main attractor . And what an attraction it is : the three far-famed peaks rise more than 1,800 pes ( 500 meter ) into the aviation , all of which are about erect escarpment made of the slightly pinkish rock that gives the landscape its name . Along the hike , you ’ll find several rifugios : low restaurants where you’re able to stop for a beer or a pungency to eat — it is Italy , after all .
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Samaria Gorge National Park
GreeceIf a vacation inGreeceevokes thoughts ofsun - drenched beach and effervescent aquamarine piss , you ’d be suprised just how diverse the landscape of this Mediterranean country can be . And nowhere is this more visible than on the island of Crete . visitant to easterly Crete might be surprised to note snow-covered mountain peaks in the distance — these are the Lefke Ori mountains : the whitened mountains . And there , nestle deep within their jagged peaks , lies the salient Samaria Gorge , one of Europe ’s longest canyons .
Here , an eight - mile ( 13 kilometer ) hiking trail meanders down the gullet ’s distorted course , baffle back and forth across the small stream that carved it . At air mile seven , hikers will reach The Gates , a property where the gorge narrows to barely a few feet wide . Here , the tops of the canon ’s walls are almost 1000 feet tall , and the sky is visible only as a thin sliver of blue between them . At the end of the hike , you extend to the precious fishing village of Agia Roumeli , where you may rinse the sweat and junk off in the cool waters of the Libyan sea .
Pro bakshis : Keep an middle out for the pride of Crete : a aboriginal ungulate call a kri kri . Locals will differentiate you it ’s standardised to a Capricorn , but in reality quite different . We ’re not so sure , but they make for nice scenery . Nearby cities : Chania , Rethymno
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Bialowieza National Park
Poland and BelarusDeep in idle easterly side ofPoland , tremendous , ancient fauna lurk through a woods unaltered since sentence immemorial . This is the Bialowieza National Park , the last untouched remnant of Europe ’s primeval forest , which once stretched from the Urals to the sea-coast of France . The inwardness of the park is a stringently controlled zona , home to Europe ’s last wild bison herd ( known as wisents ) , the unofficial mascot of the forest . You necessitate a guide to chit-chat the shopping centre , but this area only covers a small share of the whole forest . The relaxation of the forest is crisscrossed by mythological bike path and roads .
Pro lead : Wisents are wild animals , and for this understanding , they be given to ward off humans . Luckily , you’re able to get your fill of them ( literally — try the bison pierogi ) at the Rezerwat Żubrów , a bison reserve ask in the conservation of the forest and its furred inhabitants . Nearby cities : None , really , but the forest is reachable fromWarsawvia a four - hour bus drive .
Bonus:Spreewald
GermanyAfter a longsighted Nox partying in Berlin ’s lately reopened nightclubs , it can be nice to take the edge off by relaxing in the country the next day . place just outside of Berlin but well approachable by train , the townsfolk of Lübbenau awaits . It ’s the heart of the Spreewald , a sprawling connection of soggy fields and forest crisscross by hundreds of channel . This swampy region , historically inhabit by a chemical group of Slavonic talker touch on to Czechs , forms Berlin ’s closest nature park . Rent a kayak or rent a traditional Irish pound boat and set off through what some have call “ the Venice of Germany . ”
The Spreewald is know for the ostalgic pickles that are excellently featured in the filmGoodbye Lenin , and here you could purchase them right on the side of the channel , sold by enterprising grandmas straight from the cellar . Other than that and the casual biergarten , it ’s just you , your sauceboat , the occasional cow stopping for a drink , and the Spreewald .
Pro tip : Lübbenau is the center of the Spreewald , but the area stretches for miles . Many town are connected by theGürkenradweg(Pickle bike path ) , which can be recognized from the sign featuring a pickle ride a bike . Nearby cities : Berlin
Just try to tell me this isn’t a spaceship.|Javier Zayas Photography/Moment/Getty Images
Go beyond GoT at Plitvice Lakes.|Feng Wei Photography/Moment/Getty Images
Known as the Three Peaks of Lavaredo in English.|© Marco Bottigelli/Moment/Getty Images
Bet you didn’t know Greece could look like this.|proslgn/Shutterstock
Just you and the bison in Bialowieza.|Krzysztof Raducha/EyeEm/Getty Images
German cuteness overload.|Frank Roder/Royalty-free/Getty Images
