The benefits
Research shows that the risk of heart attack and coronary disease can be halved by regular walking; it also lowers blood pressure, cuts the risk of strokes by 40% and hip fracture by half. A brisk 20-minute walk can cut harmful fats in the bloodstream by a quarter. You will also sleep better – one hour longer on average – and reduce your susceptibility to depression thanks to both exposure to natural light and the release of serotonin, a feel-good chemical in your brain, which according to experts trigger a sense of well-being.

Now for the really important bit: walking is excellent in the battle of the bulge. A four-hour walk in flattish country burns around 860 calories, while a seven-hour hike in the hills will likely more than double that, using up about 2,000 calories. Remember to consume about two-thirds of those lost calories during your walk, via lunch and snacks, to give you the energy to keep going.

The routes
Now you need ideas for where to go, whether as part of an organised walking group or on your own…

Join a guided walk Organised walks are a great way to get started.
• Consider hooking up with the Ramblers: there’s a walk-finder on its website (www.ramblers.org.uk) listing hundreds of guided hikes weekly, and you’re welcome to try a couple before joining your local group.
• You could also tap into one of 500 “Walking for Health” groups across the UK. This is a government-backed initiative that encourages people to stride out for fitness – details and contacts at www.whi.org.uk.
• In the UK, most of our National Parks (www.nationalparks.gov.uk) and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (www.aonb.org.uk) also organise guided walks, and many also have routes to download and follow independently. The National Trust (www.nationaltrust.org.uk) also runs a walks programme.

Do it independently Stride out on your own with an easy-to follow route.
• The monthly magazines for walkers, Country Walking (for shorter rambles) and Trail (for tougher, upland hikes) both feature detailed routes, also available online free or for a fee from websites such as Outdoors Magic (www.outdoorsmagic.com) or Live for the Outdoors (www.livefortheoutdoors.com).
• Or try one of the many guidebooks published by the AA (www.theaa.com/shop), Sigma (www.sigmapress.co.uk) and Cicerone (www.cicerone.co.uk). The latter also publishes excellent guides to European walking regions, as does Sunflower (www.sunflowerbooks.co.uk). Perhaps the best investment of all is to purchase your local Ordnance Survey Explorer map (www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk), designed expressly for walkers and ripe with the promise of do-it-yourself rambles right on your doorstep.

The regime
Let’s suppose you’re an occasional rambler, doing six miles every other week. To sharpen your fitness, you need to step up to three short, brisk walks weekly – aim to cover two miles in 30 minutes. To feel the benefit, you need to raise your heart rate and feel slightly out of breath.

After the first month, progress the exercise by including some hills and moving faster, walking 45 minutes and building up a sweat. By week nine, aim for one brisk daily walk – it could just be to the station, or round the park in your lunch hour. Regular walks, rather than occasional rambles, are the key to upping your fitness. And it beats a slog in an expensive gym any day.

The gear
Lightweight, breathable clothing is crucial when you’re working up a sweat. For women, our Calisto jacket is an all-round great choice: 40 years of design expertise have gone into creating its waterproof, breathable and durable AQ2 fabric. Team the Calisto with our Ortler pants, which are specially cut for women and suitable for all but the most extreme conditions. The right footwear is essential and it’s hard to beat the Explorer Trek, our great-value classic fell-walking boot, which features a support system to hold your foot snugly in place.

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This long-dreamed project will take Grégoire Jacob across 6 countries and on the slopes of Europe’s most famous summits including Meije, Mont Blanc, Eiger, Jungfrau, Bernina, Marmolada, and Triglav.

Greg sees the crossing of the Alps as an ambitious and exciting challenge. In which he will trek over 2,200 kilometres.

The trek is due to finish on the 15 September after Greg has passed through France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia

Greg is grateful for all the support he has received:

“My passion for the mountains, the training and planning I’ve gone through, and the support from my sponsors Berghaus, BlueDesert, CimAlp, and MBeng, allow me to turn my dream of Alpine crossing into reality.”

Nepal
Nepal has not only the loftiest mountains but also the most vibrant village culture of all the Himalayan nations, and recent political changes have ushered in an open-arms attitude to tourism. The range of hiking options is vast. Classic tea-house treks such as the Annapurna Circuit and Everest Base Camp route take up to three weeks; alternatively, go off the beaten track on the challenging Dhaulagiri Circuit with the option of climbing Dhampus’s 6,060-metre (19,882-feet) peak. Specialist Mountain Kingdoms (www.mountainkingdoms.com) offers everything from luxury lodge walks in the Annapurna foothills to expedition-grade treks featuring fixed-rope work – on Island Peak, for example. Or you can opt to arrange your own itinerary through the many trekking agents that throng Kathmandu. Lonely Planet’s guide to Trekking in the Nepal Himalaya (www.lonelyplanet.com) is a good starting point.

Swiss Alps
The Matterhorn, the Eiger, the Jungfrau, the Wetterhorn… hiking in the Swiss Alps is one dazzling mountain panorama after another. Serious trekkers can take in the lot on the Alpine Pass Route, which traverses the country from Liechtenstein to Lake Geneva. Or there’s the high altitude Haute Route glacier trek – Mountain Tracks (www.mountaintracks.co.uk) is one company offering this route as a guided trek. But you don’t have to go super-high for spectacular scenery: the Bernese Oberland has fantastic day-walking through summer meadows full of cowbells and wild flowers. A good base is Kandersteg, where the tourist office offers details of lots of routes (www.kandersteg.ch): don’t miss the walk to Oeschinensee, probably Switzerland’s most dazzling alpine lake (www.oeschinensee.ch).

New Zealand
Kiwis love walking so much they’ve even got their own word for it – “tramping”. They also have 14 national parks, nine official long-distance trails and a world-beating network of back-country huts, all with hot showers and an “honesty box” payment system. Most importantly of all, there is one brilliant website highlighting all these options: www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks. Topping the bill are the so-called “great walks”, from the dramatic Milford Track, with its glacier-gouged valleys, to the easy-going Abel Tasman Coast Track, with lots of potential for beach time and kayaking. The stand-out day-walk is the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, across the smoking summit of one of North Island’s more active volcanoes (www.thetongarirocrossing.co.nz).

Madeira
Forget the staid image of seaside Madeira – the island’s hiking trails are hair-raising, high-adrenaline adventures into a landscape that’s like nothing else on earth. Great all year round, the walking can be as challenging as you choose, thanks to Madeira’s 2,000-kilometre (3,220-mile) network of levadas, irrigation channels that were hacked into the steep mountainsides 200 years ago. Their slender parapets now make eye-popping routes into the sub-tropical island interior – though you’ll need a head for heights. Don’t miss the Levada do Caldeirão Verde, which has magnificent views and the 100-metre (328-foot) “Green Cauldron” waterfall. This and 100 other routes are featured in the seminal walkers’ handbook Landscapes of Madeira from Sunflower Books (www.sunflowerbooks.co.uk).

Tuscany
With its rumpled blanket of vineyards, olive groves and cypresses, criss-crossed by cobbled mule tracks and “white roads”, Tuscany offers the most romantic walks in Europe. It is a place for sun-kissed springtime rambles, circling out from medieval hill-towns such as Radda, San Gimignano or Volterra, and returning to find your trattoria table waiting. Plan your own routes using the 1:50,000 Kompass maps (numbers 660 and 661, www.themapshop.co.uk), or pick up Gillian Price’s excellent Walking in Tuscany (www.cicerone.co.uk), which packs in almost 50 day-walks plus a full guide to Sentiero del Chianti, a 75-kilometre (47-mile) trek across the backbone of the Monti del Chianti from Florence to Siena.

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1. The route
Start gently with a short trip around the local country park – but first, get all of your walking gear on and tell them you’re going exploring. Afterwards, you could even pitch your tent in the garden: kids love an adventure.

Your first family hike needs careful planning. Make it circular, so there’s always something new to see, and plan a shortcut in case fatigue – or the weather – sets in. Don’t assume kids need level ground: they’ll much prefer scrambling over boulders or leaping a brook to slogging along a flat, featureless stretch of road. Grab the map, and help them pick out rivers, farms and railways, and talk about the ducks, pigs and trains they might encounter along the way. They could even draw up their own version of the route, and be the “leader”.

2. The gear
Children can teach us a lot about the “layering” system – they’ll take off a jumper when they’re too hot, then demand it back two minutes later! Put them in several light layers, so temperature is flexible, and make sure jackets are windproof as well as waterproof.
From our children’s range, consider teaming a Tech-T top (for both boys and girls), quick-drying with permanent odour protection, with a Neutron (boy’s) or Atlas (girl’s) jacket. The Neutron and Atlas both incorporate AQ2 fabric, which is highly waterproof, durable and breathable. They also have a zipped MP3 pocket with an internal exit point for headphones.

Decent footwear is a must, and our Raid boots are light, waterproof and perfect for low-level trail walking. A good investment is a small rucksack complete with whistle and torch, so they feel like a “proper walker” – and, of course, muesli bars, drinks and other treats.

3. On the trail
Keep boredom at bay. Let them strike out ahead and scout for the next waymarker: they’re more likely to spot birds, bunnies and other wildlife up front, too. Kids aren’t too fussy about nice views – instead, stones and similar booty from the path-side are more likely to grab their attention. Feed their imagination with stories about local folklore, stop to play hide-and-seek at castle ruins or build a den in the woods. You could even turn your walk into a treasure hunt: one point for a pine cone, two points for a snail shell, three for a dinosaur egg… you get the idea.

4. The recommended walks
• On the trail of dinosaurs Tap into your children’s passions. If they like dinosaurs, for example, check out the North Yorkshire coast. This was Britain’s original Jurassic Park and, on an exciting ramble along the rocky foreshore from Robin Hood’s Bay to Ravenscar, you can hunt for the footprints of 180 million-year-old monsters. In summer, there are guided fossil hunts for families here (www.dinocoast.co.uk). Another great place for dino-hunting is Charmouth in Dorset, where the Heritage Coast Centre has lots of touchy-feely, child-friendly finds (www.charmouth.org), and organises family fossil safaris.

• From Winnie the Pooh to Watership Down Or perhaps they prefer story-time. In the Ashdown Forest, Sussex, you can follow the trail of A.A. Milne’s favourite children’s characters Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin through the real-life Hundred Acre Wood. It’s a child-sized wilderness of pine trees and gorse, and the Pooh Country map from East Grinstead tourism (www.eastgrinstead.gov.uk) points the way to Pooh Sticks Bridge, Roo’s Sandy Pit and the spot where Pooh fished Roo out of the river, using the “North Pole”. Older children might prefer a hop along the original Watership Down hill, from which author Richard Adams took the title of his famous book about rebellion in a rabbit warren. It is a 90-metre (300-foot) turf cliff on the Berkshire Downs, easily conquered via the signposted Wayfarer’s Walk, from Sydmonton village.

• Conquering new heights Once they’re ready for their first proper climb, consider Moel-y-Gest, outside Porthmadog on the fringes of Snowdonia. It’s just 244 metres (800-foot) high – a hill that thinks it’s a mountain – with some satisfyingly craggy rock-hopping on the mile-long path from Morfa Bychan to the summit. Even a five-year-old can conquer it – and for a reward, there are delicious ices at Cadwaladers Café in Porthmadog.

If you’re ready to make the most of the outdoors then why not head to our shop to get the essential kit you and your children will need.

Berghaus Store

For Berghaus kids products including outdoor clothing, jackets and more then please visit our online store.
You can find a wide range of gear for climbing, hill walking, mountain biking and other activities.

Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall
At 1,014 kilometres (630 miles), the South West Coast Path has more ups and downs than Everest, and a good taster of this route is the stage between Helston and Lizard. This 26-kilometre (16-mile) leg of the trail is classic Cornwall, a roller-coaster hike across clifftops and coves, taking in Halzephron, the “Cliff of Hell”; the crab-fishing quay at Mullion; and the famous lighthouse at Lizard Point. Pack your rucksack and make a weekend of it: our Remote 30 is about right for a two-day walk, with a padded back system and air mesh to reduce sweating on those climbs. If that trip whets your appetite for going the full distance, get hold of the national trail guides from Aurum Press (www.aurumpress.co.uk): typically it takes seven weeks.
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Cleveland Hills, Yorkshire Moors
A whole range of hills in a day? Yes, you can do it… on a hike across the bouldery summits of the Cleveland Hills. Park at Clay Bank on the B1527 and make the short, sharp climb west onto Hasty Bank. Ahead, the trail tiptoes invitingly along high clifftops, with a real sense of the world at your feet. Path-finding is simple, even in winter snow, and the fang-like pinnacles of the Wain Stones are great for a spot of low-impact scrambling. Double back when you’ve had your fill of scenery. If you’re hungry for more, try the Lyke Wake Walk, which passes this way: a 64-kilometre (40-mile) challenge hike to be completed in 24 hours (www.lykewake.org).
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Loch Coruisk, Skye
Loch Coruisk is a chunk of serious Scottish wilderness, but tackling it can be as hardcore or easy-going as you like. You get there by pleasure boat from Elgol (www.bellajane.co.uk), crossing Loch Scavaig into the Cuillin mountains, a legendary playground for climbers. Coruisk means “cauldron” and the bracing (if boggy) eight-kilometre (five-mile) track around the loch is menaced by jagged peaks. Now you’ve a choice: either return by boat, or pick your way back along a rugged 11-kilometre (seven-mile) trail that clings to the coastline. You’ll need a head for heights for the notorious scramble across the “Bad Step”, and boots with good traction: the Explorer Trek, our classic fell-walking boot, is ideal, with GORE-TEX® waterproofing and the EHS (ergonomic holding system) for comfort and support. It’s available for men and women.
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Striding Edge, Lake District
There’s loads of competition in the Lake District, but the hike up Helvellyn must be the most charismatic hill climb in Britain. It’s all about the final mile to the summit – across Striding Edge, with its crazy series of dagger-sharp pinnacles. This is not for the faint-hearted, so choose a clear day and pack proper waterproofs, because the weather can do strange things at 914 metres (3,000 feet). You’ll also want a high-performing base layer, such as the LS Zip Tech T, redesigned for spring 2010 and with silver ion technology for permanent odour protection. The full circuit from Glenridding village, descending via Swirral Edge, takes six hours; or for a less nerve-jangling route up the mountain, choose the western approach, which begins from the A591 beside Thirlmere.
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Bosherston Nature Reserve, Pembrokeshire
The Pembrokeshire Coast Path (www.pcnpa.org.uk) bobs and weaves along 179 miles of world-class shoreline, and the stretch at Bosherston is the most eye-catching of the lot. Hidden behind Broad Haven Beach is an expanse of lily ponds where, come June, thousands of floating flowers explode into bloom. Getting there is easy: from Stackpole Quay via an exhilarating 11-kilometre (seven-mile) circuit across surf-battered 49-metre (160-foot) cliffs. It’s tempting to keep on going – perhaps as far as St Govan’s, a hermit’s chapel hacked right into the foot of a crag.
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Seven Sisters, South Downs
Here’s a great way to step up your walking experience: tackle one of Britain’s most iconic landscapes at night. The South Downs Way treads a clear, well-signed route across the Seven Sisters – wait for a full moon and clear skies, and you can’t go wrong. Warm up with a scotch at the Tiger Inn in East Dean, then head south to the sea at Birling Gap, to pick up the national trail. Those famous white cliffs zigzag away ahead of you, dipped in moonlight. Keep going for as long as the mood takes you, then double back inland via Crowlink to East Dean. Unforgettable.
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What our athletes think:
“Never too far from the road but offering magnificent walking in an amazingly varied landscape is the Peak District. Lush limestone valleys and windswept gritstone moors, the variety is riveting and will doubtless ensure that you return many times. There are so many walks that I think it’s best to simply choose your own from the OS map. Walking guidebooks’ recommended routes are always very popular and there’s nothing like the satisfaction of finding your own favourite trail. You won’t be disappointed!”
Mick Fowler, Berghaus athlete

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If you’ve been inspired to get out there and explore the world then visit our shop for all your essential kit.

West Highland Way, Scotland
It may only be 152 kilometres (94 miles), but the West Highland Way packs a lot of punch, taking in Scotland’s biggest city (Glasgow), its largest freshwater loch (Loch Lomond) and its most dramatic glen (Glencoe). Superlative stuff – and many trekkers climb Ben Nevis for an encore. The trail can be completed in a week using the Aurum Press guidebook (www.aurumpress.co.uk) – but avoid June to August, when the midges show up with their fangs sharpened.

Tour du Mont Blanc, Alps
The fabled “TMB” is Europe’s highest hike, a 170-kilometre (106-mile) circuit around the continent’s tallest peak, plus several of its satellite summits. Striding out from Les Houches, near Chamonix, the trail conquers three countries (France, Italy, Switzerland), dips into archetypal Alpine resorts (Courmayeur, Champex) and tops out at the Fenetre d’Arpette, at 2,660 metres (8,727 feet). Plan it using the trail guide from Cicerone Press (www.cicerone.co.uk), and kit yourself out with our Tarazed Boots: suitably rugged for three-to-four season mountain trekking, and with GORE-TEX® lining guaranteed to repel the snow-melt.

Grand Canyon Rim to Rim, USA
Millions of tourists have brought their boots to the brink of the Grand Canyon, gazing 1,829 metres (6,000 feet) down onto the Colorado River below; far fewer have been down and dipped their toes in. The two-day rim-to-rim traverse of the world’s biggest hole in the ground is only 40 kilometres (25 miles) long, but it’s iconically tough. October is the best month to tackle it; for information, visit www.grandcanyonhiker.com.

Inca Trail to Choquequirao, Peru
A lost Inca citadel, pristinely preserved, panoramically located and only accessible on foot. No, not Machu Picchu… Choquequirao, whose temples and terraces loom on a 1,750-metre (5,741-feet) ridge above the Apurimac gorge. Getting there entails a testing two-day mule trek through canyons and cloud forest; Cuzco-based SAS Travel (sastravelperu.com) offers guides and advice. With the (original) Inca Trail becoming over-run and over-regulated, Choquequirao will get busier, so discover it before the hordes do.

Tiger Leaping Gorge, China
It is said that a tiger once hurdled Tiger Leaping Gorge to escape a hunter – but you won’t want to try it. It is 25 metres (82 feet) across – and 1,000 metres (3,281 feet) straight down into the Yangtze River. The “High Trail” slinks along the precipices above, walked by the stocky Naxi villagers for generations. A three-hour bus ride from Lijiang, in Yunnan province, the trek is two days and 22 kilometres (14 miles) of stupendous scenery; www.chinabackpacker.info gives an overview.

Kanchenjunga Base Camp, Himalayas
Everyone’s heard of Everest Base Camp – and that’s the problem. Kanchenjunga gets a fraction of the footfall, and the trek towards the summit of the world’s third highest mountain is sensational – crossing rhododendron forests, circling glacial lakes and emerging on a grassy shelf at over 5,000 metres (16,404 feet), with a frieze of Himalayan peaks scrolling along the horizon. Permit restrictions mean you have to go with a group; Adventure Thamserku (www.adventurethamserku.com) is a reliable local operator. You’re also going to need a high-performing jacket, and our Brenta Micro Jacket offers outstanding warmth to weight ratio, thanks to its Polartec Thermal Pro lining.

Fish River Canyon, Namibia
Until there are hiking trails on the Moon, we’ll have to make do with Fish River Canyon, an eerie, echoing gash through the Namib Desert. Sulphur springs steam, cobras hiss, and pinnacles of rock blush pink in the sunlight. It’s a big-league backpacking trek through the ravine – 85 kilometres (53 miles) in five days, and not to be attempted outside the winter months (May to August); www.namibia-travel.net is a good starting point for information. Gear-wise, our Ignite jacket is an excellent choice: ultra-lightweight with great insulation, providing instant warmth yet packing away to almost nothing.

Routeburn Track, New Zealand
The Milford Track gets all the press, and it is stunning – especially that huge fjord at the end. But it can also be rainy, fly-bitten and overcrowded. The Kiwi cognoscenti favour the Routeburn Track (www.doc.govt.nz), which treads the snow-capped alpine saddle between the Fiordland and Mount Aspiring national parks. It is a three-day, 32-kilometre (20-mile) tramp with views into the Dart Valley, which starred as Isengard in Lord of the Rings.

If you think those trails sound challenging, spare a thought for Ed Stafford, who trekked 6,400 kilometres (4,000 miles) through uncharted rainforest, without so much as a path to follow. In April 2008, Ed embarked on a mind-blowing challenge to become the first person to trek the entire length of the Amazon, from source to sea. Ed finished his epic journey in August 2010. We supported Ed by supplying essential kit. Find out more about his expedition at www.walkingtheamazon.com

We’d love to hear your comments on our articles, especially if you’ve been to any of these places.

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