The most remote places in Europe and how to reach them

Europe’s most remote places are found in northern Scandinavia and Finland, in the Icelandic Highlands, the Scottish Highlands, parts of the Carpathians and the high Balkan mountains. Which spot comes first depends on what you measure: travel time to the nearest city, distance to the nearest road, or how few people live nearby. Each criterion produces a different list, so this guide states which one applies.

Three ways to measure remoteness

Criterion	What it shows	Good for
Travel time to a city	How long it takes to reach an urban centre by the fastest route	Comparing large regions
Distance to the nearest road	How far you must walk from any road or track	Finding road-free wilderness
Population density	How many people live in an area	Finding quiet countryside

The first approach is the basis of global travel-time maps, which we explain in travel time to cities: accessibility maps explained. On that scale Europe is one of the most accessible continents: even its emptiest regions are usually less than a day’s travel from a town.

Remote regions, region by region

Northern Scandinavia and Finland

The north of Norway, Sweden and Finland combines low population density, long distances and large protected areas. Swedish Lapland’s Sarek National Park has no roads and very few marked paths or bridges; crossings are serious mountain trips. Finnish Lapland has large wilderness areas where wilderness huts are the only buildings for days. The forested parts are described in our guide to the Nordic taiga.

The Icelandic Highlands

Iceland’s interior is largely uninhabited. The mountain roads that cross it are gravel tracks that are usually open only in summer and require suitable four-wheel-drive vehicles. Rivers must be forded. Information on road status is published by the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration, and safety advice by Safetravel.

The Scottish Highlands

Scotland has some of the emptiest landscapes in Western Europe. Areas such as Knoydart, which has no road connection to the rest of the mainland road network, or the mountains between Loch Maree and Little Loch Broom are reached on foot or by boat. Scotland’s access rights allow responsible wild camping, which makes multi-day trips easier than elsewhere in the UK.

The Carpathians

The forested ranges of Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine contain long valleys without permanent settlements and some of Europe’s last primeval forests. See Carpathian beech forests for access and safety.

The Balkan mountains

The Prokletije (Accursed Mountains) on the border of Albania, Montenegro and Kosovo, and parts of the Dinaric Alps, combine steep terrain with very few roads. Cross-border hiking routes have opened up the area in recent years, but infrastructure is still limited.

Interior Spain

Parts of the Iberian interior, especially the mountainous areas between Aragón, Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla y León, are among the most sparsely populated regions of the EU. They are not road-free, but villages are small and far apart.

The far edges

Svalbard, the remote islands of the Azores and the Faroe Islands are geographically remote but often well connected by flights or ferries. Svalbard has its own strict rules for travel outside settlements, including requirements on polar bear protection.

What remote really means for visitors

• Transport is the main hurdle. Buses to trailheads may run only in summer or a few times a week.
• No signal. Mobile coverage often stops at the last road. Plan with offline maps and tell someone your route.
• Weather decides. In mountains and the far north, conditions change fast. Turning back is part of the plan.
• Help is far away. Emergency number 112 works across the EU and in many other European countries, but rescue can take hours.

Our guide to staying safe in remote forests covers preparation in detail.

Where to sleep

In many remote regions the only buildings are huts: open wilderness huts in Finland, mountain huts run by tourist associations in Sweden and Norway, bothies in Scotland. They are part of what makes remote travel possible. Our overview of remote forest cabins in Europe explains the types.

Remote and dark

Areas far from cities are also the darkest at night. Several remote regions are recognised as dark sky places. If stargazing is part of your trip, see dark sky parks in Europe.