My long European hike!

In 2023, I hiked in stages from London to Portsmouth. I completed the hike in 7 days. A video of the adventure can be seen at the bottom of the page.

After reaching Portsmouth I thought it would be a great idea to continue the adventure by catching a ferry to Cherbourg, hiking east along the Normandy coast (via the D-Day beaches) and then hiking down the River Seine valley to Paris. Effectively I would be able to say I’ve hiked London to Paris if I did this. I said at the end of my London to Portsmouth video this is what I hope to do.

However, I changed my mind about where to go next as I often do with my adventures. I now plan to hike along the coast in the other direction (westerly direction) from Cherbourg instead. For two reasons:

1) The D-Day beaches while interesting for their history and would be good to show respects to the fallen allied soldiers I realise the beaches were not chosen during the WW2 landings for their scenic beauty. I've read this part of the Normandy coast is very flat and monotonous. I like to hike routes that have good views. I'm really into photography / videography and that's what motivates me to travel. The coast heading west from Cherbourg I've read is a lot more scenic. I've also seen some brilliant photographs of the coast in this direction.

2) Heading west along the Normandy coast then south would be better for carrying on an even longer European hike. If I ever was to get to Paris there’s not that many exciting places I could carry on from the capital that are nearby. However, if I go west I could hike via Coutances, Mont Saint-Michel, St Malo, Rennes, Nantes, Atlantic coast, La Rochelle, Bordeaux, possibly could join the Camino de Santiago and head towards Santiago de Compostela. I could even carry on south from there if I really wanted to :)

It’s February 2026 in the time of writing this. Next month in late March, I hope to start the first stage of my long European hike. The plan is to hike Cherbourg to Lessay - via the French Long Distance walking route GR223.

If the hike is successful I will make sure to post a blog on here. Thanks for reading :)

London to Portsmouth hike video