I realised some time ago that every good fantasy novel/series I've ever read involved a long long trek. Examples: The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings; the first three novels in the Shannara sequence (I've not read the rest); the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (Stephen Donaldson); The Belgariad/Mallorean/Elenium, and any of the fantasy novels by C J Cherryh. The first fantasy sequence I came across which didn't involve a journey was Mordant's Need by Stephen Donaldson, and to my almost not-surprise, it wasn't particularly good!

So must a good fantasy include a long walk, and if so, WHY?

Not so much a long walk, but definitely a Quest of some sort. And let's face it, it's a heck of a lot more interesting to send our Hero off into strange unknown lands than it is to have him wandering about the local town.

About the only reasonable Fantasy series I've seen where the action stays put is Sanctuary, and even that got stale after a while.

Anyone ever read the "Garrett P.I." books by Glen Cook? He's a rugged hard-boiled detective in a town filled with centaurs, werewolves, pixies, dwarves, elves and gods (the type that discourage atheism by actually existing). The action doesn't move around much of the countryside - no questing or anything here - yet it still holds the attention very well.
Of course, that could be because it has more than the fantasy angle to keep it going, what with vampiric murderers and shapeshifting thieves cluttering up the landscape left and right...
Highly recommended, by the way. Think Dashiell Hammett meets Terry Pratchett...

Of course, that could be because it has more than the fantasy angle to keep it going

Precisely. Haven't read the books, but based on your description, it can be viewed either as a fantasy series, or a "hard-boiled detective" series.

For a historical look at the history of High Fantasy, I highly recommend Lin Carter's "Tolkien: A Look Behind the Lord of the Rings".

He discusses high fantasy from the Eddas/Sagas through the Chanson d'Geste up through modern day.

City of Bones by Martha Wells and The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump by Harry Turtledove are good fantasy novels that don't send the protagonists out into the wild blue yonder (at least not too much).

George R R Martin! I can not recommand him more! If you like Robert Jordan, you'll like him, and if you despise Jordan you'll admire him!

Gordon, I like Turtledove, but haven't read the book in question. But my question about those two books you mentioned is: Are they High Fantasy or are they Genre novels (e.g. hard-boiled cop or political thriller) that are set in a Fantasy world?

There is something about a good journey to get one interested, however, I don't think a Long Journey is essential to fantasy.

Some non-journey fantasy that's very good and has a good sense of wonder: _Fire and Hemlock_ by Diana Wynne Jones, _Tam Lin_ by Pamela Dean, _Beauty_ by Robin McKinley, _Outlaws of Sherwood_ also by McKinley; _Winter Rose_ by Patricia Mckillip, _The Changeling Sea_ and _Forgotten Beasts of Eld_, also by McKillip.

Actually, though, I'd disagree with you on Cherryh's fantasy--the _Fortress_ books do involve trabel, but it tends to be just that--travel rather than being Epic Quests to find or get rid of some treasure (as in _Lord of the Rings_ or _Shannara_).

Terry Pratchett's novels often feature no travel.

Perhaps it is the Quest^TM that is important, and while the Quest often involves taking a long walk, it is not mandatory... For example, a Quest might involve removing an evil ruler and restoring the good ruler, and it all takes place within one area (although, then we might be talking Political Thriller in a Fantasy Setting^TM), but it's probably because its more fun (for the writer) to go off and "Explore Strange New Worlds, Seek out New Life and New Civilizations, and To Boldly Split Infinitives that No One has Split Before", and that's why you usually have that long walk.

I think a quest is a good way to confine a story. I wrote a fantasy story once, and I wanted to have a huge political thing going on, while still having a simple plot. Journeys restrict the amount of people and the times in whiich the heros meet them. They also force the heros to act on their own. In a sense, it is the equivalence of being constantly 'On the run' in thriller fiction

Actually gods' in most polytheistic worlds actually surrport atheism because their actions are so evil. (So who wants to thank Ares and Hades for our dinner. Let's obey Zeus's law and keep chaste.) Some guy in Rome thought this up.

Perhaps the journey thing is so powerful and prevalent because it puts our heroes in the most uncomfortable of situations, and then allows us to see them for the fantastic, yet flawed, characters they are. Think about it. These journeys usually involve frantic chases, being swept away by raging rivers, predatory creatures, prickles and burrs, caring for animals, unpredicatable weather, illness, injury, insects, caves, sleeping on the ground, ill-fitting disguises and a complete lack of privacy. Hmm. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? The Quest^TM brings out all of the inner-resilience of any would-be saviour of the realm, as well as allowing unequalled bonding time for the ill-assorted group of near-strangers who undertake it.
Plus, we get to laugh at them when they fall down cliff faces, get covered in mud and burn their dinner, thus proving that they might be potential wizards, sorcerers, fugitive princesses or future god-kings, but they are only human, after all.

Well there are some good gods in mythology such as
Athena in Greek mythology and Balder in Norse.

Does interdimensional travel count?

Just wondering as Margaret Ball as her characters
in the Riva Konneva stories,especially in her novel MATHEMAGICS doing a bit of dimension hopping,and let's not forget the gang from Robert
Asprin's MYTHADVENTURES and M.Y.T.H.INC.

Harry Potter does not contain a long Journey, and it _is_ good.

I'd say that a quest doesn't necessarily belong to fantasy, but to the type of novel called "development" because the characters change and develop over the course of the book. There were many books written in that style in the second half of the last century (IIRC my literature lessons).

It's not only a chance for the heroes to see interesting things and get muddy, it's a very fundamental thing about the human self that at one point you have to leave your home and familiar surroundings behind in order to grow up. When you see different lands and people, this will cause you to change, and then you will see your own home with different eyes, too. Thats why so many fairy-tales and myths start with a journey, too.

You can also use an inner quest, where a person explores his inner self, but thats difficult to write, compared to a fantastic land with wild beasts.