Take a hike: Australia’s best multi-day guided walks

While there are some amazing walking tracks all around the country, tackling them by yourself or with a group of friends takes a massive amount of preparation and organisation. Joining a guided walking tour can take the hassle out of your hiking holiday, especially when you only need to take a light daypack with you each morning, with your luggage transported to your next destination.

On Tasmanian Walking Company’s five-day Bay of Fires Signature Walk, you’ll traverse a series of long white-sand beaches and rocky headlands lining the rugged north-east Tasmanian coastline. Starting in Launceston, you’ll walk along the vast shoreline of Mount William National Park, staying overnight at a dedicated beach camp, before continuing down the coast to the remote Bay of Fires wilderness area and its eponymous beachside eco-lodge. Tasmanian Walking Company also offers a six-day Cradle Mountain Huts Walk, a Three Capes Lodge Walk and a combined sailing and walking journey to Wineglass Bay sailing aboard a handsome yacht.

One of the country’s most picturesque hikes, the Cape to Cape track traces the dramatic coastline of Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park from Cape Naturaliste, through Margaret River to Cape Leeuwin, some 135 kilometres to the south. You have several options for guided walking tours, ranging from budget to ultra-luxe. Cape to Cape Explorer Tours runs guided Cape to Cape glamping tours as well as more high-end options. And Edgewalkers offer a four-day three-night route that offers an insight into the areas rich and diverse natural environment led by expert guides.

Running for more than 230 kilometres through the West MacDonnell Ranges, the iconic Larapinta Trail takes you through the heart of Central Australia. The Classic Larapinta Trek in Comfort guided tour by Australian Walking Holidays starts in Alice Springs and involves from five to seven hours of walking through rocky terrain each day, with some challenging hills along the way. The trail follows the ridge line of West MacDonnell Ranges, so you’ll have sweeping views of desert country as you hike with a day pack to semi-permanent wilderness camps. And yes, each wilderness camp has hot showers and a heated dining tent for those chilly desert evenings.

Running for 104 kilometres from Apollo Bay on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road to the famous rock stacks of the Twelve Apostles, the multi-day Great Ocean Walk takes you through the scrub, forest, sheer cliffs and remote beaches of two national parks. There are dedicated campsites along the trail where you can spend the night if you want to tackle the walk under your own steam, or you can opt to join the Australian Walking Company’s four-day Twelve Apostles Lodge Walk. On this luxe tour you’ll spend each day hiking a section of the Great Ocean Walk before returning to the striking Twelve Apostles Lodge for an evening of pampering and recharging before the next day’s adventure.

It takes experienced bushwalkers four days to complete this 47-kilometre-long mountain track through World Heritage-listed rainforest, ancient volcanic escarpments and rugged bushland in the Scenic Rim, around a 90-minute drive from Brisbane. For a more chilled way to hike this incredible part of south-east Queensland, take a Spicers Scenic Rim Trail guided walk. Options range from an all-inclusive two-day walk, staying in luxury tents along the way, to a much more challenging six-day adventure. Whichever guided tour you choose, the walking will still be tough, but you won’t have to lug your bedding and dinner with you up those mountains.