Best Hike's Top Ten Hiking Towns Worldwide: #5-#8

Last week I mentioned that Rick from Best Hike was posting his selections for the best hiking towns in the world to his blog. At that time, he had revealed numbers 9 and 10 on his countdown, with Zermatt, Switzerland and Moab, Utah claiming those two positions respectively. Due to a busy weekend, and a crazy day yesterday, I haven't been able to post the new additions to the list until now.

Coming in at #8 is El Calafate, Argentina, a town that gives access to both the Paine and Fitz Roy circuits of Patagonia. Those two legendary hiking routes should be enough to give El Calafate a spot on the list, but it also has plenty of other great trails to explore. Best of all, the town is often less crowded than some of the other places on the list.

Grindelwald, Switzerland earns the 7th spot on the list for it's fantastic routes in all directions, all leading up to the Bernese Alps. The region is very touristy, but if you get out of town and off the beaten path, you'll find plenty to keep you busy.

The #6 Best Hiking Town in the world is Banff, Canada, which is located in the spectacular Canadian Rockies. Rick says the best time to go is between July and September, and recommends hiking the Sunshine to Assiniboine route or heading to Montana for the Glacier North Circle. 

Chamonix, France lands in the #5 spot on the Best Hike list in part thanks to it's down-home, accommodating nature. It also happens to sit in the shadow of Mount Blanc and sits at one end of the famous Haute Route, which has Zermatt anchoring the other side. 

So there you have it. We're all caught up on the list. I'll try to make daily posts through the final four as there are sure to be some great recommendations coming. I love the diversity of the locations so far, although the Europeans are getting all kinds of love at the moment. It is richly deserved however, and I'm sure some other regions will get their due as the rest of the list is unveiled.