I'm thinking of taking one of these two village to village self-guided hiking tours.

Salzkammergut
St. Wolfgang – Bad Ischl – Bad Goisern – Hallstatt – Bad Aussee

Alpbach Valley
Alpbach – Reith – Brixlegg – Rattenberg – Kramsach – Brandenberg – Breitenbach

I know a little about Alpbach and a bit about
Hallstatt. I also know that the Salzkammergut
cities are by lakes.

How else would you compare the terrain and cities? Would both of those areas have the stereotypical, cows,flowers,tyrol villages etc. Would either of those tours be higher in the mountains than the other? Quaint villages? Overly tourist villages?.Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks

I am not a hiker,Dan, but the Salzkammergut is one of the most scenic areas in all of Europe.

bump

You can download the brochures of the Salzburgerland visitorsbureau with lots of details on:
http://www.austriatravel.co.uk/spa-a...alzburgerland/

Hallstatt has a saltmin which you can visit. It really is a very nice area.

Hi Dan,

I haven't been there yet, but on the advice of another poster we will be visiting the Toplitzsee - which he described as one of the most beautiful lakes in Austria.

It is about 18 km from Bad Ausee.

I am not a great hiker - but my husband is and he is Austrian.
I will ask him about trails. In the meantime here is a site that is quite useful.

What I would say is even in Austria, even with small hikes my husband plans them very carefully - as the weather can be quite changeable. He always brings special hiking maps - even when going on very small trails with me - just in case the weather turns and we have to shelter in a refuge hut - as we had to do last summer in the Dachstein. Started off as a scorcher - then turned cold foggy and rainy.

http://www.wanderdoerfer.at
http://www.wandern.com/

We've been to the Salzkammergut several times and love it. Our last trip was two weeks, based in St. Gilgen which is on the Wolfgangsee. I'm not familiar with the Alpbach Valley though, so can't compare the two. We have done some hiking around St. Wolfgang, including around the lake from St. Gilgen to St. Wolfgang (returned by boat). This area is absolutely beautiful (as is Hallstatt)... lakes just surrounded by mountains. It's possible to take chairlifts, cable cars or trains UP the mountains to avoid some of the steep uphill climbing. The Postalm (near the Wolfgangsee) is a beautiful high meadow you can reach by car.

On the tops of these mountains we've seen just what you're dreaming of-- cows grazing, wildflowers (abundant at the right time of year), lush green meadows, quaint alpine chalets. At the Postalm, there were also many horses grazing, including some young ones. The views looking down from the mountains to the lakes and many more mountains is spectacular. See my photo album here: http://www.slowphotos.com/photo/show...y.php?cat=3588

We are also hikers and have done self-guided inn-to-inn walks several times, in Europe. You should be able to e-mail the tour operator and ask for detail of the route... what the daily altitude gain would be, other villages en route etc. Can you post a link to the tours you're considering?

I think you would find St. Wolfgang somewhat "touristy," though it's very beautiful. Often on these self-guided tours, we've found that places don't seem as "touristy" since you typically arrive in late afternoon when daytrippers are gone and leave in the morning before they arrive.

Hallstatt is more isolated-- we've only been there in winter, when it was almost deserted. I'd love to visit Bad Ischl, where you could see the summer home of Emperor Franz-Josef. Hopefully the walk schedule would allow time for a visit.

Last thing-- if you decide to do the Salzkammergut walk, I'd sure encourage a couple days in Salzburg first. It's less than an hour from St. Wolfgang.

Kathy

Thanks to all of you for your great responses. Its always hard to pick a destination when there are so many great
options.

Kathy, here is the link to the tours I am considering. I spoke with the owner and he seemed like a pretty knowledgable guy. He and I seem to share the same taste in Swiss towns so I'm trusting him with the austrian towns. My only concern is on the self guided tours you won't know which hotels you will be staying at until 30 days before you leave. My eyes and nostrils don't react well to cigarette smoke, so I usually
try and find hotels and restaurants where I have a better chance of not being around a lot of smoke.
http://www.wanderwegholidays.com/p2b.htm

The hiking on
these tours can be either easy or moderate with about 4.5 hours of hiking per day.I'll be receiving more info in the mail.

I'd appreciate any info you have about
self guided hiking tours. Tnaks again to everyone.

And about St. Wolfgang. It seems to have a lot of hotels. Is the atmosphere a bit touristy?

Yes, Dan,I prefer St. Gilgen--small and quaint with easy train connection into Salzburg.

Hi Dan! My husband and I are going to Austria this summer. I checked on both these self guided tours and thought they were overpriced. If you want to do a village to village thing, most hotels will help arrange that for you. I spent many hours trying to duplicate our Swiss trip last year to no avail. It seems that the tourist bureaus aren't on par with the Swiss, and they direct people to tour operators. We have decided to rent a car this time, since the transportation system isn't as regular and is nonexistant at night between the small towns. Anyway, if you are interested in reading our report about village to village hiking in Switzerland, it's on tripadvisor.com and titled "hiking tour of the val d'anniviers". It's also on epinions. I will send it to you if you write me at this screen name at aol.com. I have searched for months trying to find a tour where I knew where I'd be and what to expect, but have been very disappointed. Please let me know if and when you find something!

Hi Linda

I enjoyed your swiss travel report, it seems like we are on the same page when it comes to what we're looking for. My wife and I spent several days in Kandersteg a few years ago and really loved it. I'm trying to find an area that has great scenery but not too many tourists. Hallstatt and St. Wolfgang look very beautiful, but they may have more tourists than I'd like. I'm considering Alpbach and Ellmau area. Both also have their fair share of hotels, I think they get German tourists, but these areas look less travelled than Salzkammergut. Of course,
Salzkammergut attracts so many people
because of its stunning beauty. So right now, I'm not sure what I'm doing. If I figure it out I'll let you know. Thanks for getting back to me.