The World's Best Trekking Destinations

Trekking is another word for hiking and is an adventurous way to explore the natural beauty of the world, ancient empires and/or to string together a number of sites and destinations found around the world.

Mountaineering too could be classed as trekking. Scaling Mount Everest or up to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro is no doubt adventurous, but is also one hell of a hike up the steep incline.

Trekking is great for many reasons and for me personally I love the fact that I am getting exercise while exploring something new, something old or the natural beauty of each of the surroundings.

The Inca Trail, located in South America's country of Peru is one of the adventurous trekking trips that I, along with countless others would love to trek.

The Inca trail is one of the world's most advanced road systems ever to be used in Pre-Columbian history. But not all these roads were built by the ancient Incan as you would normally believe. Sections of the trail were built by the Wari People.

Most notably, the site that just about all tourists take is the trail from Cuzco which ultimately leads to Machu Picchu. This, off the beaten track, pyramid was believed the royal estate for the Incans as well as the hundreds of servants with construction believed to have started in the 1400's.

Now day's tourists much purchase a trail pass in order to control the amount of trekkers on this very old and ancient track so booking with a group tour such as G Adventures, Adventure World or similar operators which organise all of this for you.

A typical trek on the famous Inca Trail would normally take around a 4 days hike which typically starts in Cuzco and ends at Machu Picchu.

For a completely different type of trekking experience in the hot and humid tropical north of Australia is the Daintree Rainforest.

The rainforest covers are 1,200km squared (460mi squared) and is situated along Australia's eastern coastline with the forest reaching the water's edge. In fact this rainforest has a significant impact to the Great Barrier Reef.

Trekking through the thick rainforest is a beautiful way to spend some quality time amongst the trees and right in the middle of nature. The Daintree is in fact especially famous for its birdlife, bringing in bird watchers from all parts of the world.

In fact 18% of Australia's birdlife all live or nest within the rainforest with roughly 430 species in the region of birds including the Southern Cassowary, Kingfishers, Herons, Honey-Eaters and the list goes on and on.

The Daintree Rainforest also contains an estimated 12,000 species of insects, various reptiles such as snakes, lizards and gecko's as well as amphibious species of frog.

All this wildlife and the natural beauty of the rainforests is what draws in so many tourists and even the locals each year. Treks can be done either in the day which is great for bird watching as well as nocturnal tours which brings with it different sights and sounds around the forest.

Lastly another place that is fantastic for trekking, but is a little less known to the world when compared with the previous treks is the Torres Del Paine.

This South American national park is located in Chile's southern town of Patagonia and is one of the world's largest areas of protected park lands. While it is slightly less known as far as the world scale goes the Torres Del Paine attracts over 150,000 visitors each year.

The views here are breath taking and there are many different trails and areas that visitors can go, spreading all the visitors to the park out. Treks can be done in a day-trip up to the 'Tower's' for great views.

Alternatively the park boasts a 5 day track simply named 'W' which takes about 5 days or the full circuit which can be done in roughly 8 days. If you choose these options be prepared for some walking.

The fitness and the beauty of these areas is what makes these destinations the most beautiful trekking destinations in the world. The Inca Trail, Daintree Rainforest and the Torres Del Paine are just 3 examples of my favorites but there are many, possible millions of national parks, nature reserves, mountains, coastlines and more that you could trek on your next adventure travel holiday.