Where to find wilderness in Europe?

1/17/2019 7:17:59 PM

The largest national park in Europe is Югыд ва or Yugyd Va National Park. It’s 18,917 km² (near 10× the area of Sarek National Park or about twice the total area of the Laponian Area), and part of the 32,800 km² Virgin Komi Forests. The wilderness continues to the east of the protected area, but by then you’ll have hiked into Siberia. Only the Arctic Nordaust-Svalbard Nature Reserve is a larger protected area (55,354 km²), but hiking there is not recommended due to the danger of polar bears.

11/12/2013 6:12:55 AM

If you are looking for something untouched by civilization, what about Gorgany in the Ukrainian Carpathian mountains?

Mieczysława Orłowicz wrote in 1919 that this is the unique mountain in Europe, because from its peak you can’t see any lights made by humans – no city, no village, no road, only other mountains.

My collegues told me after being there that those words are still current.

11/12/2013 6:13:56 AM

I’ve spent some time in Southern Ukraine (Crimean Peninsula) and was impressed with the Crimean Mountains. You can go for many km without seeing any people in the mountains there, though there is a large city in the center (Simferopol) of the peninsula and there are several large cities (Sevastopol, Yalta) on the coasts.

I was also impressed with the Julian Alps in Slovenia, which were very sparsely populated.

11/11/2013 5:02:00 PM

I’d reccomend northern Scotland and its highlands and islands. Here’s a Guardian travel article on Knoydart and Eigg. However, it’s not truly “untouched”, in the sense that it’s hard to get more than a few tens of miles away from human habitation, farming or roads. For that you’d have to go into eastern Europe and beyond into central Asia.

11/11/2013 12:24:22 PM

Northern Sweden, yes. But also northern Norway (Svalbard!). Greenland (if that counts as Europe).
There are some old forests that may be of interest as well. Brading on Isle of Wight. Rautas in Kiruna, Sweden. Tyresta National Park quite close to Stockholm, Sweden is quite accessible. Białowieża Forest in Poland… Also in Latvia you can find untouched areas.

11/11/2013 8:23:27 AM

It comes down to the definition you want to adopt but apart from the Northern and Eastern periphery (especially Russia), I think there is no real wilderness in Europe.

You can have some feeling of remoteness in parts of the Alps but the region has been inhabited for centuries and shaped by humans in many subtle ways. You are also never really far from settlements.

I have never been there but I also believe that some parts of the Carpathian mountains could be interesting for you. There are several national parks in different countries (Ukraine, Slovakia, Poland, Romania).

Credit:stackoverflow.com‘

About me

Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

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