Lake & Lakeside Trails
14 hand-picked long-distance trails
Lakeside walks are for hikers who want water close by, mountains or forests on the horizon, and a route with a clear scenic thread. This collection ranges from one-day lake loops and alpine circuits to multi-day perimeter trails around lochs, reservoirs and lake districts, so you can choose anything from a moderate shoreline day to a hard, weeks-long mountain-and-water journey.
Trails in this collection
Lake Lucerne Circular Route
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Switzerland · 115 km · 7 days · Moderate This 115 km, 7-day loop follows the four main arms of Lake Lucerne, mixing lakeside, mountainous, forest and urban sections for a complete Swiss lake circuit.
Loch Lomond & Cowal Way
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United Kingdom, Scotland · 92 km · 5 days · Moderate Running from Portavadie on Loch Fyne to Inveruglas on Loch Lomond, this 92 km Scottish route earns its place with coastal, forest, moorland and lochside walking over 5 days.
King Ludwig Way (König-Ludwig-Weg)
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Germany · 120.7 km · 6-7 days · Moderate Starting at Lake Starnberg and crossing Bavaria’s Alpine foothills to Füssen, this 120.7 km waymarked trail adds lakeshore, farmland, forest, moor, meadow and gorge walking to the collection.
Loch Ness 360° Trail
View trail → United Kingdom, Scotland · 129 km · 6 days · Hard The Loch Ness 360° Trail makes the collection for scale: a hard 129 km loop around Loch Ness, starting and finishing at Inverness Castle over the recommended 6 days.
Three Lochs Way
View trail → United Kingdom, Scotland · 55 km · 3-4 days · Moderate The Three Lochs Way is a 55 km point-to-point Scottish trail with lochside, forest, upland and open hill terrain, usually walked over 3 to 4 days from Balloch to Inveruglas.
Plastira Lake Circuit
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Greece · 60 km · 1-2 days · Moderate The Plastira Lake Circuit is a roughly 60 km loop around Lake Plastira in central Greece, set at about 800 m in the Agrafa mountains with forest and lakeside terrain.
Salzkammergut BergeSeen Trail
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Austria · 374 km · 23 days · Hard For a major lake-district journey, this hard 374 km Austrian loop links 35 lakes through mountainous, forest, lakeside and alpine pasture terrain over the classic 23-day route.
Trasimeno Lake Trail
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Italy · 70 km · 3 days · Moderate This 70 km circular walk follows the perimeter of Lake Trasimeno in Umbria, using lakeside, wetland, low hill, woodland and farmland terrain over a moderate 3-day loop.
Plitvice Lakes Loop
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Croatia · 18 km · 1 days · Moderate Plitvice’s Route K is an 18 km moderate loop and the park’s longest waymarked walk, linking lakes, waterfalls, forest and canyon terrain in one full Croatian day.
Llyn Brenig Circular Walk
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United Kingdom, Wales · 15.5 km · 1 days · Moderate This waymarked 15.5 km loop circles Llyn Brenig on the Denbigh Moors / Mynydd Hiraethog, combining lakeside, moorland and forest terrain in a moderate Welsh day walk.
Lago di Braies to Prato Piazza
View trail → Italy · 13 km · 1 days · Moderate This 13 km point-to-point hike starts at Lago di Braies / Pragser Wildsee and climbs to Prato Piazza, giving lake-to-alpine-plateau variety in a moderate South Tyrol day.
Five Lakes Walk (Zermatt)
View trail → Switzerland · 9.8 km · 1 days · Moderate Zermatt’s Five Lakes Walk is a 9.8 km point-to-point route from Blauherd to Sunnegga, linking multiple lakes on mountainous and forest terrain facing the Matterhorn.
Seven Rila Lakes Trail
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Bulgaria · 8.5 km · 1 days · Moderate A compact 8.5 km moderate loop in Bulgaria’s Rila National Park, this trail links seven glacial cirque lakes in mountainous terrain for a focused alpine-lake day.
Lac Blanc Circuit
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France · 12 km · 1 days · Hard The Lac Blanc Circuit is a hard 12 km alpine loop above Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, suited to walkers who want a short but demanding mountain lake day in France.
Lakeside Walks: How to Choose a Lake or Loch Trail
Choosing the right lakeside route
Start with the amount of time you have. If you want a single day, look at compact loops and point-to-point routes where the lake is the main focus, such as circuits, glacial lake walks or reservoir loops. For a longer trip, the multi-day options change the experience: instead of visiting one shore, you follow a whole loch, cross between several bodies of water, or move through a wider lake district.
Difficulty matters as much as distance. Moderate does not always mean flat: several routes here are mountainous, upland or moorland, while hard options add sustained effort, long days or alpine terrain. If you are choosing between two walks of similar length, compare the terrain labels first. Lakeside, low hills, farmland and woodland usually suggest a gentler rhythm than alpine, mountainous or open hill routes.
Trail type is another useful filter. Loops are tidy for planning because they return to the start, and they suit walkers who prefer a self-contained itinerary. Point-to-point walks can feel more like a journey, especially where they link lochs, lakeshores, forests, moorland or towns, but they need more attention to start and finish logistics.
Planning lake, loch and lago walks
The best lakeside walks are not all shoreline strolls. Some climb away from the water to plateaus, forests or mountain terrain; others stay close to wetlands, reservoirs or lochside tracks. Decide whether you want constant water beside you, or a route where lakes act as milestones through bigger mountain country.
For multi-day trails, be realistic about consecutive daily distance rather than the headline total. A 3-day moderate loop and a 7-day moderate circuit can both be manageable, but they ask for different pacing and recovery. For hard routes, leave margin for rough terrain, weather changes and slower progress. The reward of these water-led hikes is variety: waterfalls, glacial lakes, lochside forest, alpine pasture, low hills and classic lake-district walking all sit within the same theme.