Walking in Austria

With its central Europe location and varied landscape, Austria is both accessible and diverse. Amazingly, it’s bordered by eight other countries, meaning Austria is readily reach-able from most parts of Europe. And with walking terrain that is open and viable for extended periods of the year, there’s plenty of opportunity for walkers to make the most of that accessibility.

Austria’s stand-out walking regions include:

• the Tyrol - the Austrian State of Tyrol is the far western portion of Austria that juts away from central Austria towards Switzerland. It’s squarely located in the heart of the European Alps and has long been a favourite destination for walkers, climbers and skiers;

• the Salzkammergut - this area south-east of Salzburg is home to a multitude of stunning glacial lakes, surrounded by mountains, alpine meadows and forests. Its appeal is enhanced by the villages that have supported underground salt mines in the area for over 500 years;

• the Dachstein massif - technically part of southern Salzkammergut, but quite a distinct area from a walker’s perspective. Dachstein itself reaches 2,996m and the massif to which it belongs provides exciting walking possibilities;

• the Danube river valley - not far west of Vienna there are some wonderful stretches of the Danube River that provide superb scenic walking, supplemented by historic fortresses and castles, hillside vineyards and orchards and attractive villages. The celebrated Wachau World Heritage Trail follows the Danube along one of those sections;

• southern Carinthia - Carinthia is the southernmost Austrian State. In the south, it borders northern Italy and Slovenia. For walkers, it’s best known for the Alpe-Adria-Trail which starts near Austria’s highest mountain, Grossglockner (3,798m) in Carinthia, before heading south through northern Italy and Slovenia to the Adriatic Sea.

Interested in a multi-day walk in Austria?

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• For further information on some of Austria’s stand-out walking regions, click on the region below.