Hello and Welcome to The Photo Hikes!

First and foremost, The Photo Hikes is a website about the Outdoors. Whether you are a hiker, a landscape photographer, or both, I hope you can find some additional inspiration to go out and discover more of this beautiful world we live in.

I truly believe spending more time outdoors can help improve our quality of life in many ways. Likewise, I also believe experiencing the beauty of nature can help us as a species to preserve it.

A Quick Note about the Author, Marco

I'll be quick: there is no "Hero" story or "Persona" here. This website is not about someone going outdoors; it is about the outdoors. So I'll just share a few words about this one-person website.

My name is Marco. I am a regular guy with a regular full-time job. Originally from Italy, I have lived in the Netherlands for 13 years and now reside in Switzerland, a real paradise for hiking and landscape photography. As you probably guessed, I always hike with a camera.

But enough of that. Let's get into the details of what The Photo Hikes is about.

Why The Photo Hikes?

The Photo Hikes is a Hiking Landscape Photography resource that was born from my passion for Hiking and Photography. For me, hiking and landscape photography are intertwined. Hence, the name of this website, "The Photo Hikes".

I spend a lot of time researching each location before I go and take a lot of photos and videos while on the trails. Over the years, I have collected a wealth of information, photos, and knowledge about each location. I did not want that to just sit around; considering how much time it takes to gain and build that type of field knowledge, I thought I'd share it for anyone to use.

In that sense, the way I present the content comes from the questions I had when I visited a place for the first time. Essentially, I present the content the way I would have liked to see it when I was doing my research.

This is also one of the main reasons why I created this website. Helping people find information about such locations to plan their trips, get a feel for each site, and get the best experience there. The world is there for anyone to enjoy it.

Over the years, the site has evolved from some sort of blog to a database-like list of hikes with trail and photography reports, by country. That is probably how it will stay in the future.

Enjoying the Sunset on a Norwegian fjord, Hesten Trail.

How to use hiking guides on the Photo Hikes

You can find both easy walks and very hard hikes that may involve light climbing. You can find popular and little-known locations too. I will focus on a few countries at a time. I will typically visit each country several times over several years. For instance, I have been to Iceland more than 13 times, Norway more than 10, and so on.

Regardless, I do my best to provide all the relevant information for everyone to enjoy the beauty of nature.

• Trails and Location: each trail page is structured in a way to show you how to get to the location, how long the hike is, and how much time it requires. Its difficulty and so on. Where available, I also provide alternative options, easier trails, or ways to get to the hike destination.
• Hike difficulty: while difficulty rating can be subjective, most of my "difficulty" ratings are meant for expert hikers. So a hike rated as "hard" can be hard for an expert/fit hiker already. With that in mind, always compare the length/hike time and elevation profiles to what you are used to.
• Photography Tips: this is also very subjective. I will, however, report on what I enjoyed the most about shooting at each location, the best vantage points, the most suitable lenses, and tips on when to find the best light.
• Maps: There is also a map with a downloadable GPS file at the bottom of each hike. The map also contains images of the hike and the exact location of where each photo on the map was taken. To see those, you can click on the map, where you will be able to see the activity on Komoot and download the data from there. You can use that information to see where the most scenic spots are and get an idea of what to expect from each location.
• Videos: Lastly, I also add videos to some of the hikes. The videos are mostly meant to give you an additional tool to view part of the trails. As such, the videos are meant to be an additional tool to view/plan your hikes. Feel free to watch them on my YouTube Channel directly too.

And just so you know, I will never write a post anything about a location I have never visited. I also do my best to capture and reproduce in photos the impressions each location leaves in me. However, I firmly believe that no matter how good photos can be, they can never replace the experience of being there. Still, they can motivate people to get out there.

The world is a marvelous place, and I want to encourage people to experience its beauty on foot and with a camera for memories they could cherish and share with others. If we don't share the same passion yet, I hope we will soon. If we already share it, then see you on the trails :)!

Awareness, Safety and Respect of the Outdoors

Or if you want to start reading, head back to my main Destinations Page to start browsing. Happy Hiking!

Marco