The Great European Outdoors: 10 National Parks in Europe You Should Visit

For some of the most scenic hiking in European national parks—that also remains relatively quiet—few places compete with Picos de Europa National Park in northern Spain. Here, myriad craggy peaks meet the clouds in the country’s oldest national park, but few come off quite as imposing as the monolithic Naranjo de Bulnes—a serious challenge for rock climbers and hikers alike.

The Cares Trail is the park’s most popular day hike, but more experienced hikers will find multi-day treks as well. There are also gentler guided options for seeing what Picos de Europa National Park has to offer, from the Fuente Dé Cable Car to beautiful villages such as Potes.

Variety is the name of the game for Lahemaa National Park on Estonia’s northern coastline, one of the most underrated European national parks. On a day trip, you can go from wandering through seaside meadows around its many bays to carefully following boardwalks among the inky pools of the Viru Bog.

This easy day trip from Tallinn showcases the Baltic's biodiversity, not to mention its history, with several preserved manor houses still standing within the park, including the beautifully baroque Palmse Manor. Choose from any number of the park’s nature walks, hit the tracks on bikes, and take a swim at Võsu Beach—or with a dip in one of the cool bog pools, as Estonians often do.

Found away from Croatia’s popular coastline in the country’s quiet interior, Plitvice Lakes National Park is a spectacle of lakes and waterfalls. This is one of the most family-friendly European nature parks, and is known for its series of 16 lakes connected by broad waterfalls, set between deep canyon walls and pristine forest. Other park sights include the towering Veliki Slap waterfall opposite the park’s main entrance.

Here, boardwalk bridges and boats enable you to explore the Plitvice Lakes up close, while hiking paths along the canyon’s cliffs provide spectacular panoramas of the park. Squeeze in a visit to the park on a day trip from Split, or stay longer if you prefer camping and cabins in European national parks.

Also known as Snowdonia National Park, Eryri National Park is Wales' oldest and largest national park. It’s home to all of the Welsh 3,000s—mountain peaks over 3,000 feet (914 meters)—including the summit of Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales and England. But you’ll also find rivers, lakes, and the Irish Sea coastline that break up these windswept ranges, making it one of the most dramatically scenic places in all of the United Kingdom.

Hike to the summit of Snowdon if you love a challenge, or take the more leisurely sightseeing approach by boarding the Snowdon Mountain Railway and traveling up to the top in comfort.

Within the forests of the northern Czech Republic lies Bohemian Switzerland National Park, known for its interesting and unusual rock formations. Hiking trails and boat punts lead you through the park’s gorges and leafy hillside, with the mighty rock archway known as the Pravčice Gate beside an old heritage hotel, the star attraction.

One thing to keep in mind is that the park actually crosses the border into Germany, where it continues as the Saxon Switzerland National Park. Day tours from Prague often combine the two national parks so that you can decide whether you like Germany’s Bastei Bridge or the Pravčice Gate more.

Mt. Triglav is important on many levels—it’s both Slovenia’s highest mountain and the emblem on its flag—so it’s understandable that it’s the focal point of the country’s only national park. But Triglav National Park covers so much more than one mountain in the Julian Alps; within it, you can find rivers, waterfalls, and lakes, including swimming and paddleboarding at the ever-popular Lake Bohinj.

Much like other mountain national parks in the Alps, hiking is the main activity here, whether it’s climbing the Triglav summit or traversing its ridges and valleys. But you can recharge within its wilderness in other ways too, from white-water rafting on the Soca River to exploring Kranjska Gora.

If you want to experience Iceland at its most extreme, then Vatnajokull National Park is the place to go. Iceland’s largest national park covers 14 percent of the entire country, including the immense Vatnajökull glacier after which it’s named. Head to Skaftafell on the park’s south side for glacier hikes and climbing into ice caves, or go just east of that for the captivating floating icebergs of the Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon.

Thanks to its size, there’s plenty to discover within Vatnajökull National Park. Snowmobile tours can be a fun and fast way to explore the wild, snowy terrain, but a road trip to beautiful waterfalls, such as Detifoss and Svartifoss, offers a less intense option.

Calanques National Park shows that you don’t always have to go off into the middle of nowhere to enjoy picturesque coastal and island parks in Europe. This relatively new national park in France sits just south of the busy city of Marseille, but offers a complete escape from urban life, where steep limestone mountains and cliffs crowd its narrow inlets, hiding countless sheltered beaches.

Sea kayaking tours and catamaran cruises provide scenic ways to reach the park’s best pebble beaches and swimming spots, while small-group hiking and e-bike tours let you discover the park’s interior and top viewpoints.

Its name may make you think of fairy tales and cake, but the Black Forest National Park is really a place for getting away from it all. This large national park covers a vast swathe of Germany’s southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, with mountainous forests, heaths, and cirque lakes once carved out by glaciers.

Traverse this tranquil nature reserve by driving down the Black Forest High Road, 37 miles (60 kilometers) of forest highway that’s easily one of the most scenic road trip routes through any European park. Of course, to really explore the depths of the Black Forest, hiking and mountain biking are the way to go.

One of Europe’s best warmer mountain destinations is Peneda-Gerês National Park in Northern Portugal. Fertile valleys sit between the park’s mountains and plateaus, with fields of Gerês lily and forests of oak below bare mountain peaks. These landscapes shelter a healthy diversity of animals, from roe deer and garrano ponies to the rare Iberian wolf; as such, Peneda-Gerês is one of the most underrated wildlife-watching destinations in Europe, too.

Guided hiking and kayaking tours are great ways to explore the park and seek out its waterfalls, lagoons, and hilltop viewpoints. However, you certainly don't need to rough it to enjoy Peneda-Gerês, as it still has several traditional villages and ancient structures within its borders where you can lay your head for the night.