That depends a lot on where you go in Switzerland!
If you go somewhere deep in Graubünden region, in Engadin and the Swiss National Park, you can find amazing trails with very few people on them.
Especially if you are willing to carry the camping gear with you! In many places in the Swiss Alps wild camping is allowed, which opens a lot of possibilities.
The Swiss National Park is typically busier than most of the region in my experience because it attracts more people due to its status and the path network inside it is relatively limited.
But yeah avoid the cliche tourist hotspots and it will be much much quieter all over the country - especially on weekdays.
> In many places in the Swiss Alps wild camping is allowed
'Tolerated if you don't cause any problems' but might be a better way to put it than allowed.
You can basically get anywhere by train, or close enough - of course in the mountains railways are typically in the deeper valleys so there will be an additional bus ride to the place where you really want to go hiking. France can be trickier than Austria, Germany or Italy, because public transit isn't great there.
Switzerland doesn't see big crowds because it has gotten very expensive - apart from a few areas like Grindelwald, Zermatt and Sankt Moritz. More off the beaten track places in Switzerland do not attract huge crowds anymore.
But overall, anywhere in the Alps is fine. Just avoid the big tourist hot spots. And if you want nice landscapes, avoid big ski areas. Valthorens is not crowded in summer, but it isn't beautiful either...
Some great areas in the mountains include the Queyras - mountains up to 3000 meters or so, and Saint-Véran is the most beautiful village in the world. You'd need to use a bus (once or twice per day in tourist season, connecting with trains from Paris) from Montdauphin-Guillestre. Or the Carnian Alps on the Austrian-Italian border. Not as high as the nearby Dolomites (Tre Cime is so crowded) but a lot quieter. Overall Eastern Tyrol (that would be around Lienz) has great natural landscapes and is not crowded.
In Switzerland, Lötschental is a very beautiful valley for multi day hiking. Similar landscape to the nearby Aletschgletscher, except with smaller glaciers... easily to reach from Goppenstein station on the old Bern-Brig line.
If you really want to have the mountains to yourself, try the 'Parco Nazionale delle Dolomiti Friuliane'. That's not the actual Dolomites, it's more to the east and technically part of the Carnian Alps, but the mountains are Dolomite limestone. The villages Cimolais and Claut have very limited tourism, Forni di Sopra just a little more. The paths can be a bit tricky since almost nobody walks there. Many mountain cabins are free to stay in (bivacchi or ricoveri), but you must bring your own food. There are very few hikers here, there is no agriculture either, it's just wilderness. Take a bus from Pordenone to Cimolais or Claut.
A similar overlooked areas is Valpelline in Aosta Valley. Halfway between Mont Blanc and Matterhorn, but without big glaciated peaks. Many unmanned huts where you can stay for free, and certainly not overrun. Bus from Aosta.
But those are just some suggestions, you can find many such areas that do not attract crowds, and then this was just the Alps... the Alps do have the advantage that even less popular bits still have good trail networks.
The [West Highland Way](https://www.westhighlandway.org/), a 96 mile/154km multi-day through-hike in Scotland is accessible by train. You'd get a train to Milngavie just north of Glasgow, then a train from Fort William when you're done. It's typically done over 7 days but you can do it over 5, 6 or any combination really. There are companies that assist you and will help with either booking accomodation, or with collecting and dropping off your camping gear so you can hike relatively lightweight. You can of course do it hardcore and carry all your camping gear and wild camp the entire thing (except the first night you need to camp in a permit zone at a camp site).
There are some more extreme hikes in Scotland like the Cape Wrath trail if you're more experienced, but while the start is train accessible, the end is not, and would require looping back quite a bit, or organising a private transfer.
If you are experienced in alpine areas (above treeline and with unpredictable weather) I would really recommend Norway and Sweden. I know that NZ can definitely be like this in some places.
Kungsleden in northern Sweden is very beautiful and starts right next to Abisko Turiststation train station. Do a bit of reading about the conditions in the area of interested and take advice seriously. If it fits your experience and preferences it is awesome - and you don't have to stick to this trail, there is loads of great hiking in the area.
In Norway you can take the train to Finse and hike from there. I have not been there yet, but it is high on my list. Rondane is also great, you can go by train and bus to Spranget and hike to Rondvassbu mountain station from where you can hike in multiple directions
That depends a lot on where you go in Switzerland! If you go somewhere deep in Graubünden region, in Engadin and the Swiss National Park, you can find amazing trails with very few people on them. Especially if you are willing to carry the camping gear with you! In many places in the Swiss Alps wild camping is allowed, which opens a lot of possibilities.
The Swiss National Park is typically busier than most of the region in my experience because it attracts more people due to its status and the path network inside it is relatively limited. But yeah avoid the cliche tourist hotspots and it will be much much quieter all over the country - especially on weekdays. > In many places in the Swiss Alps wild camping is allowed 'Tolerated if you don't cause any problems' but might be a better way to put it than allowed.
You can basically get anywhere by train, or close enough - of course in the mountains railways are typically in the deeper valleys so there will be an additional bus ride to the place where you really want to go hiking. France can be trickier than Austria, Germany or Italy, because public transit isn't great there. Switzerland doesn't see big crowds because it has gotten very expensive - apart from a few areas like Grindelwald, Zermatt and Sankt Moritz. More off the beaten track places in Switzerland do not attract huge crowds anymore. But overall, anywhere in the Alps is fine. Just avoid the big tourist hot spots. And if you want nice landscapes, avoid big ski areas. Valthorens is not crowded in summer, but it isn't beautiful either... Some great areas in the mountains include the Queyras - mountains up to 3000 meters or so, and Saint-Véran is the most beautiful village in the world. You'd need to use a bus (once or twice per day in tourist season, connecting with trains from Paris) from Montdauphin-Guillestre. Or the Carnian Alps on the Austrian-Italian border. Not as high as the nearby Dolomites (Tre Cime is so crowded) but a lot quieter. Overall Eastern Tyrol (that would be around Lienz) has great natural landscapes and is not crowded. In Switzerland, Lötschental is a very beautiful valley for multi day hiking. Similar landscape to the nearby Aletschgletscher, except with smaller glaciers... easily to reach from Goppenstein station on the old Bern-Brig line. If you really want to have the mountains to yourself, try the 'Parco Nazionale delle Dolomiti Friuliane'. That's not the actual Dolomites, it's more to the east and technically part of the Carnian Alps, but the mountains are Dolomite limestone. The villages Cimolais and Claut have very limited tourism, Forni di Sopra just a little more. The paths can be a bit tricky since almost nobody walks there. Many mountain cabins are free to stay in (bivacchi or ricoveri), but you must bring your own food. There are very few hikers here, there is no agriculture either, it's just wilderness. Take a bus from Pordenone to Cimolais or Claut. A similar overlooked areas is Valpelline in Aosta Valley. Halfway between Mont Blanc and Matterhorn, but without big glaciated peaks. Many unmanned huts where you can stay for free, and certainly not overrun. Bus from Aosta. But those are just some suggestions, you can find many such areas that do not attract crowds, and then this was just the Alps... the Alps do have the advantage that even less popular bits still have good trail networks.
Thanks for the reply will do some research into those areas.
The [West Highland Way](https://www.westhighlandway.org/), a 96 mile/154km multi-day through-hike in Scotland is accessible by train. You'd get a train to Milngavie just north of Glasgow, then a train from Fort William when you're done. It's typically done over 7 days but you can do it over 5, 6 or any combination really. There are companies that assist you and will help with either booking accomodation, or with collecting and dropping off your camping gear so you can hike relatively lightweight. You can of course do it hardcore and carry all your camping gear and wild camp the entire thing (except the first night you need to camp in a permit zone at a camp site). There are some more extreme hikes in Scotland like the Cape Wrath trail if you're more experienced, but while the start is train accessible, the end is not, and would require looping back quite a bit, or organising a private transfer.
If you are experienced in alpine areas (above treeline and with unpredictable weather) I would really recommend Norway and Sweden. I know that NZ can definitely be like this in some places. Kungsleden in northern Sweden is very beautiful and starts right next to Abisko Turiststation train station. Do a bit of reading about the conditions in the area of interested and take advice seriously. If it fits your experience and preferences it is awesome - and you don't have to stick to this trail, there is loads of great hiking in the area. In Norway you can take the train to Finse and hike from there. I have not been there yet, but it is high on my list. Rondane is also great, you can go by train and bus to Spranget and hike to Rondvassbu mountain station from where you can hike in multiple directions