Mont Blanc is 'the most dramatic walk in Europe'

One of the most spectacular hiking holidays for people looking to take such a trip is a classic walking tour of Mont Blanc.

That is according to travel writer Richard Madden, who placed it in the number five position of his list of top 20 adventure holidays.

Mr Madden calls the trek - which was taken by leading Romantic poets back in the 19th century – "arguably the most dramatic walk in Europe".

The route "climbs over six passes, traverses beneath huge glaciers and meanders through beautiful alpine meadows and picture-book villages", he wrote.

However, Mont Blanc is not just about aesthetic beauty. The writer says that some of the more challenging walks require around two days of rest, which can be expected from the highest mountain in western Europe.

In 1816, Romantic poetry Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote a poem with the same title as the mountain, after walking through the area. Mont Blanc also appears in Frankenstein and in work by William Wordsworth.