Hiking in the Alps - Which country?
 

I'm planning a trip to the Alps with my parents in August. We are looking to do some easy day hiking (4-5 hour trails). My mother does not like heat or humidity! Are there any parts of the Alps you would recommend?

Hi,
While we're not hikers, my favorite places in the Alps (that we've been to so far) would be:
1) Switzerland - Berner Oberland
www.berneroberland.ch
www.wengen.com
2) Germany - Berchtesgaden area
www.berchtesgaden.com
www.ramsau.com
3) Austria - Hall in Tirol (Innsbruck ) area
www.innsbruck-tourismus.com
www.regionhall.at
4) Italy - Dolomites -
Val Gardena/Seiser Alm
www.val-gardena.com
www.seiser-alm.bz.it

Paul

I am a hiker, and have hiked in the French Alsps (Chamonix), Bavarian Alps (Garmisch-Partenkirchen), Swiss Alps (Berner Oberland and Valais) and the Dolomites (Italy), all in August. I have never found heat or humidity to be a problem. I would recommend them all! HOwever, "easy" day hikes are harder to find in the Dolomites and around Garmisch. There are many, many possibilites in Switzerland. And in Chamonix, there are several high-level traverses that are easy of you start and end by riding a lift.

Switzerland has a brilliant national system and network of hiking trails called Wanderwege. They are marked uniformly in yellow, easy to see and understand because the distances are given in hiking time - based on the comfortable pace of a family with kids!

From most any train station there are such trails leading out, often at first along village roads of course, then they criss-cross the landscape. Also in the mountains, of course.

There are special maps that show these trails very well. Unfortunately, despite the English-sounding name www.swisshiking.ch, the website of that organisation does not exist in English, "only" in German, French, and Italian (the three Swiss national languages, of course), but once you get to Switzerland, you can buy maps and guides listing these trails in any good bookshop.

Or go to the site, use the link Wander-Shop, leave the next screen at Nicht Mitglied (non-member), click Weiter (next), and look at some of the products - maybe order some ahead of time - even though the site is in German, it is not that hard to figure out.

Hi Hj - It's hard to beat the Dolomites IMO.

Val Gardena is ideal for easy lift access to the wonderful Alpe di Siusi, Odle, Sciliar nature park ... etc.

Have a look:

http://www.valgardena.it/eng/page50.html

http://www.valgardena.it/?artid=726

bookmarking

Our family has hiked extensively in Switzerland, but I'd like to recommend the Salzkammergut area of Austria to you... about 30 minutes from Salzburg and absolutely beautiful. In addition to hiking, you'll find plenty of other activities.

We spent two weeks there in July 2005, based in the village of St. Gilgen and did several hikes... wish we had done more! The tourist office provides a great map of hikes. One thing that makes the hiking easy is that you can take cable cars or trains up the nearby mountains and then hike on the top or hike down. The weather is extremely pleasant-- definitely not hot or humid!

I especially recommend a beautiful area called the PostAlm, which is a high meadow with great hiking.

And you can make an easy day trip over to Berchtesgaden, Germany where there is some great hiking around Lake Konigsee.

See my blog for more info on our two weeks in St. Gilgen (and details of our hiking there). Week One: http://www.slowtrav.com/blog/kaydee/...es/000927.html and Week Two: http://www.slowtrav.com/blog/kaydee/...es/000928.html. And photos (which will really help you see what this area has to offer) are here: http://www.slowphotos.com/photo/show...y.php?cat=3588

Kathy

You can't truly predict August weather in the Alps. We did a few August vacations in the Austrian Alps, over the past few years. The first year it was HOT, HOT, HOT. The next year, it wasn't hot, but we did have severe flooding (the local mantra for August was "if it's hot, be thankful it's not raining, if it's raining, be thankful it's not hot"). And in 2003, it was hot everywhere in Europe, including the Alps.
So you can't be guaranteed mild, dry weather. With that caveat in mind, any of the areas suggested above should fit the bill.

Go to Grindelwald/Wengen area in BOB - BErner Oberland - this to me is the best hiking for those never been to Alps before - other places mentioned are great too but no place like the Grindelwald area presents the myriad of easy hiking you want - and hiking for all types of difficulty...but in BOB you can't go wrong - also scenery and scapes that can't be topped.