After 205 days and 4507 kilometres (2817 miles) over 6 trips, I completed the E2 European Long Distance Path, including an unofficial section from Galway to Stranraer. An average of 21.5 kilometres a day visiting seven countries (Ireland, Great Britain, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Switzerland). I spent 102 nights in hotels, guesthouses and Bed & Breakfast establishments, 15 nights inside hostels and refuges, 49 nights in official campsites and 36 nights wild camping. My 6 trips ranged in length from two weeks to two months long.
What did it offer? A huge variety.
In terms of landscapes it ranged from the flat fields of the Fens and Flanders, to the mountains of the Alps; the trees of the Jura to the rounded hills of the Yorkshire Wolds. There were beaches and cliffs in Northern Ireland, a hugely dammed delta in the Netherlands and river valleys in Luxembourg. History added another dimension: from the remnants of two World Wars at the border of France with Germany, to the "Troubles" in Northern Ireland. Then there was the food: vol au vents in Flanders, tartiflette in the French Alps, pub food in North East England beneath blackened beams. Accommodation varied from wild camping on the Southern Uplands of Scotland to pretty Bed & Breakfasts in England and hostels in Luxembourg. You need to walk it to experience a little of Europe's diverse offerings.
More information on the E2 can be found at the European Ramblers Association website, the organisation which coordinates the E-paths.
Links to posts at the start of my walk through each country:
France - Jura mountains (Franche-Comté);
Link to start of each trip:
Trip 1 Western and Northern Ireland;
Trip 2 Northern Ireland, Scotland and north of England;
Trip 3 England, Netherlands and Flanders;
Trip 4 Ardennes, Luxembourg, Lorraine and the Vosges;
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