Austria and the UK Top The List, Canada Reviews

Everybody needs to touch grass now and then, and while that’s perfectly doable in our cities’ green spaces and parks, sometimes a proper out-of-town adventure is needed.

With hiking holidays on the rise, there’s no better place to head than a national park. With forests, lakes, mountains and coastlines all over Europe protected by this designation, offering not just pleasing views but also hikes, cycle paths and wild swimming, there’s a load of lovely nature to soak up across the continent.

To shine a light on the very best ones to visit, travel insurance site Quotezone.co.uk has created the aptly named European National Park Index, which has analysed everything from the number of walking trails and accommodation costs to the size of the area and average summer temperature.

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Photograph: BLESKY / ShutterstockNassfeld Valley in Hohe Tauren National Park

Topping the list? It’s Nationalpark Hohe Tauren, an area managed by the Austrian Alpine Club in Austria’s southwestern region.

The largest park on the list, Hohe Tauren spans 1,856 square km and is reportedly home to a staggering 15,000 animal species – a third of the total found in the whole of Austria – which includes marmots, bearded vultures and European toads.

One hundred and eighty-five trails are on offer, which, according to the park’s official website, traverse 1,100km in total. The index also shows the park has an average August temperature of 11.3C, making it a great European coolcation choice as Mediterranean destinations continue to face excessive heatwaves during the summer months. The park also offers a relatively reasonable average accommodation cost of £65.30 per night.

The UK’s Peak District claimed second place, and Ecrins in France claimed third. Scroll on for the entire top 10 list of Europe’s best national parks.