Hike the Austrian Alps

With Edwin de Bruijn

Join us to hike through Austria with a guide: September 6 to 14, 2022

Join us for a hike in the alps

There is no place more beautiful than the mountain pastures of western Austria and this hiking trip will introduce you to some of the best that these mountains have to offer.

We will meet you at the airport in Zurich where we’ll board the train for Austria, switching onto a smaller valley train line to bring us to Schruns in the Montafon Valley. There we’ll check into Hotel Auhof which will be our headquarters for the next 8 nights.

Each morning we’ll set out directly on foot, or start with a cable car ride, to explore a new part of the valley. The difficulty of the hiking will be moderate, as we will generally traverse the sides of mountains, rather then climb directly up or down.

For lunch we’ll picnic or eat at a mountain hut and at the end of the day we’ll return to our hotel for a spell in the hot tub or sauna before settling into a gourmet dinner.

Your Trip Leader: Edwin de Bruijn

Edwin, a native of the Netherlands, grew up spending summers hiking and climbing in the alps. He has hiked often in this part of Austria and has personally selected each trail we’ll travel. Here is how he introduces himself:

My first experience with a hut-to-hut hike was when my father took me to the Ratikon area back in my early teens. I gave my daughters the same experience years later, and I still love to share this area with others whenever I can.

The Ratikon area is situated on the borders of Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and has a network of beautiful, well-marked hiking trails. The trails lead through green mountain pastures with cows, wildflowers, mountain animals, and alms (alpine farms) where often you can stop to enjoy a snack or get a taste of local milk or cheese.

Hikers of all ages follow the trails alongside mountain lakes, over passes, and to mountain tops with views to the higher Alps on clear days. The Ratikon area provides a wonderful introduction to being in the Alps and is accessible to nearly everyone.

The interconnecting network of trails, cable cars, chair lifts, trains and bus lines connects the villages and towns in the valleys with the surrounding mountains, and gives multiple ways and routes to explore the area and the many possibilities for adventure it offers. That flexibility of options is why I love this area so much and look forward to returning whenever I can.

About the Hiking

As the Montafon valley in Austria is a ski center in the winter, there are a number of major cable cars which we’ll use to climb out of the valley and quickly arrive above tree line. Once there, we’ll be walking through mountain pastures and over an occasional pass.  While we won’t be rock climbing or crossing any glaciers, the hiking will be of an intermediate nature and there will be few ways to cut a day’s walk short. The trail surface can be rocky or muddy in sections.

We ask that all hikers on this trip have good hiking equipment, be in moderate to good condition, and be ready to carry oneself on foot throughout the day. If you have any questions about whether this trip is appropriate for you, please contact us so we can talk it over together.

We will leave our bags at the hotel, so you’ll only need to carry a small pack while hiking with additional outerwear, water and a snack.

The Hotel Auhof

Trip details