• Suggested itineraries for long and short visits
• The essential activities for every season
• Awe-inspiring landscape photography
• How to get to each park and where to stay
• Illustrations of local wildlife to look out for

Europe's national parks are incredibly diverse - and that's what makes them so special. They protect areas of coast, high-altitude peaks in the Pyrenees and Alps, and even parts of the frozen Arctic, and include wildlife from Carpathian squirrels and fin whales, to peregrine falcons and polar bears. Setting out to choose Europe's top 60 national parks was no easy task, so we called on our expert writers and well-travelled editors. We asked them to tell us which parks provide the best experiences and why. The final selections were those that offered something truly unique, often an enthralling mixture of stunning natural beauty, incredible wildlife, fulfilling activities, local culture and, occasionally, a compelling history too.

We hope the following pages inspire you to explore more of Europe's wild and wonderful spaces.

Includes 60 national parks:

• Abisko
• Abruzzo
• Aiguestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici
• Arcipelago di La Maddalena
• Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park
• Dolomiti Bellunesi
• Berchtesgaden
• Black Forest
• Brecon Beacons
• Cairngorms
• Carpathian
• Cinque Terre
• Connemara
• Curonian Spit
• Dartmoor
• Donana
• Durmitor
• Ecrins
• Etna
• Gauja
• Golfo di Orosei e del Gennargentu
• Hardangervidda
• Hohe Tauern
• Hortobagy
• Jostedalsbreen
• Jotunheimen
• Killarney
• Kornati
• Lahemaa
• Lake District
• Lake Skadar
• Lemmenjoki
• Loch Lomond and The Trossachs
• National Marine Park of Alonnisos Northern Sporades
• Nordvest-Spitsbergen
• Ordesa
• Oulanka
• Paklenica
• National Park
• Peak District
• Pembrokeshire Coast
• Peneda-Geres
• Picos de Europa
• Pirin
• Plitvice
• Port-Cros
• Pyrenees
• Retezat
• Sarek
• Saxon Switzerland
• Sierra Nevada
• Slovensky Raj
• Sna¦fellsjokull
• National Park
• Snowdonia
• Swiss National Park
• Tatras
• Triglav
• Valbona Valley
• Vatnajokull
• Vikos-Aoos National Park
• Wadden Sea

About Lonely Planet: Since 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel media company with guidebooks to every destination, an award-winning website, mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveller community. Lonely Planet covers must-see spots but also enables curious travellers to get off beaten paths to understand more of the culture of the places in which they find themselves. The world awaits!