Hiking and Mountain Climbing

This is a hiker's El Dorado during summertime, with more than 240 km (150 miles) of marked pathways and trails in all directions. There are relatively easy hikes to the Naturlehrweg Gössnitzfall-Kachlmoor (1½ hours), Wirtsbauer-Alm (two hours), and the Jungfernsprung (one hour), which ends atop a 500-foot cliff above the Mölltal.

Guided Tours. Enjoyable group or private guided tours are run by the national park service. These could include walks conducted by a national-park ranger to the foot of the Grossglockner, to see sure-footed ibex in their natural habitat jumping about on seemingly sheer rock walls; a hike to the Pasterze Glacier, the largest in Austria; or a hike to the Mollschlucht gorge, much of it a via ferrata route—not for the fainthearted. 04824/2700--20; www.hohetauern.at, www.heiligenblut.at. From €12 for short group tour; from €200 per person for private one- to three-day tours.

Heiligenblut Climbing Park. The park has a high-ropes course, climbing wall, zip line, children's playground, and restaurant. The via ferrata has two routes of varying levels of difficulty, which take you along spectacular waterfalls and cliffs. The high-ropes course is at the Gasthof Sonnblick, where the Brandstatter family can give information and make bookings. Hof 21, Heiligenblut, Carinthia, A-9844. 04824/21310; www.sonnblick-heiligenblut.at. €20. May–Sept., 10–4.