Lets say you want to plan a hiking holiday.
You might need to base yourself close to major trailheads. In a community with a good gear shop. Large enough to supply last minute provisions.
You’ll need a memorable place to stay. A place that will store your bag while you’re gone out on the trail.
The best hiking towns have a hiking culture. They appreciate and respect those on foot with a backpack.
And you’ll want a memorable restaurant to celebrate on your return.
Starting tomorrow we’ll be announcing our top 10 hiking towns with #10. And posting one each day until #1 … Christmas morning.
related:
• our top 10 hikes in the world
• our top 10 hiking regions in the world
besthike.com 
Looking forward to the whole list. Wondering if Sun Valley/Ketchum, ID could make the cut. It’s an amazing hiking town, but I’m biased 🙂
You’ll have to wait and see, David.
I was a big fan of the folk singer out of Sun Valley decades ago. … Forgotten his name off the top of my head.
Lake Placid or Keene, NY??
Any one walked on Madeira Island? No specific “one walking town” as the whole island is still centred around the capital Funchal.
Fantastic trails along “levadas” (some 2,600 km of hand carved water channels which carry water from the wet north to the dry south side where the land is cultivated) and “veredas” (mountain trails and treks).
Year round fantastic walking conditions (not too cold nor too hot), with walks for all level of walkers.
I am biased, since I own a walking company Nature Meetings, but if you haven´t come out yet, you might still be in time to see the Christmas lights and Guiness Record holder “end of year fireworks”. If you can´t come now, book April – May when the flowers in Madeira will be flourisihing
Happy New Year and hope to see some of you walking on Madeira!