We took a hike through the forest.
The explanation says “excursión” means trip, excursion, outing, but the translation shows “hike”. So is the most typical use of “excursión” hike? As it seems the word can mean several non-specific things.
For me, the first meaning of excursion is indeed a hike, as in, walking through nature for a rather long time (a five minutes stroll through the woods would not be it).
But we also used it to talk about the day trips we did with school, independently of the destination. It was the kind of things parents had to agree to: we used to take a bus somewhere, and spend a significant part of the school day there. Be it a hike, a visit to a museum, a farm, or whatnot.
And then, maybe because of that school experience, I very much see myself talking about an "excursión’ where I go on a city visit.
Having a look with rae’s explanation, it seems to match that:
“Ida a alguna ciudad, museo o lugar para estudio, recreo o ejercicio físico.”