Adventure Seekers, this one is for you!
As a little kid I used to go a lot to Austria for camping & hiking (side note: I hated it), and now as trail runner I keep going back every year because the variety of beauty & adventure it has to offer. Want to know more? Then I have some surprises for you!
Accomodation
Before you can start planning your adventures, you also need a place to stay. There are quite a few options, with all its own price range (going from cheap to more expensive):
- Camping: the cheapiest option will be to camp on campsites (wild camping is forbidden). Nowadays, campsites are actually quite modern with very good showers, wifi and sometimes even rooms that you can use to eat, read, etc.
- Huts: Not an option I would recommend to do throughout your whole stay, but it is nice if you are planning to do long hikes in the mountains to also sleep in the mountain huts. However, since this has started to become more popular, prices may vary. Luckily, most huts give you the option to only pay for a sleeping spot, but more and more are also starting to offer additional services such as dinner + breakfast (which is obviously more expensive).
- Airbnb/ hostels: There are plenty of airbnb’s & hostels to be found in Austria. The time that hostels were ‘just some room with bunk beds’ is over and nowadays you can find really nice hostels for a very interesting price. Bonus: most of them also have a kitchen that is free to use to everyone or offer good price/ quality meals themselves.
- Chalets: If you are travelling with a larger group, this will be the most economic option by far. However, this are most of the timer bigger (typical Austrian) houses you can rent with everything included (kitchen, bathroom, living room, multiple bedrooms, …)
There is no best or worst option, it simply depends on your budget and what your travel needs are.
Trails
If you think you can only get gorgeous views in Chamonix (France), you are wroooooong. Most of my favourite trails are situated in Austria actually.
What I recommend to do (if you don’t know a local of the region) is the following:
- Go to the tourist office and ask for their brochure or recommendations of hiking routes. The usely have a ton of information ready for you so the only thing you need to do is decide which one (although this might be rather difficult).
- If you find yourself unlucky with a closed tourist office, Komoot gives you the option to explore already existing routes made & done by other people (check my profile here for my routes).
- If you know the name of the huts you want to hike/ run to, you can also simply follow the arrows that you will often find. The routes in Austria are really very well marked and most of them even have a time indication as well.
As long as you stay below the tree line, most of the trails are T2 (T1 is easiest, T4 requires specific material). However, once you are above this line, I would advise checking the difficulty of the route before starting it. You don’t want to end up in dangerous situations 😉
Most routes also pass plenty of alms or huts where you replenish your water bottles. However, to be sure to not fall short of water, I would advise to take a water bottle with you that has a filter on top. There are many rivers you can use, but you never know what might happened higher up (eg a dead goat) so you want your water filtered before you drink it.
Other adventures
However, don’t feel limited to only hiking or trail running in Austria. This country has many adventures to offer, ranging from the previous named to also climbing or Via Ferratas, canyoning, rafting, paragliding, …
I have so far only explored the Via Ferrata’s and loved all of them. You can easily find them only, also with their topographic card attached to know the difficulty, duration and more useful information. The routes are free and if you don’t own material, or you don’t want to take yours with you from home, there are often places that rent out everything.
This blog post is aimed to give a global overview of the possibilities Austria offers you and that I have explored so far. If you want to see a topic more talked about in debt, please let me know and I am more than happy to do so.
