I attended the first Alpe Adria Trail planning meeting last December with the group of friends I hike with most often, but primarily because I needed to get out and about after finally taking my turn with covid and quarantine. Our hiking buddy, Vic obtained a book about the 100 best hikes in the world, and the Alpe Adria Trail was one of them. It starts at the base of Mt Großglockner and meanders for 466 miles through Austria, Slovenia and concludes near Trieste, Italy on the Adriatic Sea. The plan was to sign up with a company called Trail Angels, that would arrange accommodations with meals, move the luggage, and provide necessary shuttles. The plan was to hike about 100 miles of the trail through Austria over 9 days. Despite sounding like a wonderful trip, my 2024 hiking intention was to head west and complete the Pacific Crest Trail that I had begun in 2022. As is sometimes the case with best laid plans, life sometimes has a different idea and throws you a curve ball. Since our friend Brian had to withdraw from the Austria trip, I was able to jump in at the last minute and still have a hiking adventure, however not the one I had intended. The cast of characters for this trip included Spreadsheet (SS), 2 Night Max (Max), David, Vic, Vic’s Michigan/Nevada friend, Layne and the last one to the party, yours truly.
Day 1 Evening flight from Charlotte to Munich. Why does sleep elude me on a plane, though I guess I did practice some intermittent dozing? So jealous of those that seem to easily nod off like my seatmate. Just had to push through that first jetlagged day and anyway, more travel was required before reaching our destination. Arriving mid-morning local time, we took the train to downtown Munich to meet up with Layne then another 2-hour train ride to Salzburg. We strolled around town to sightsee and avoid falling asleep too early. Huge Electronic Dance Music festival taking place that I enjoyed, my travel companions maybe not so much. Interesting sight of the day……open exposed porta potty urinals for the dudes though most seemed to use the adjacent shrubbery. Aperol Spritz cocktail, then dinner and early bed. Exhausted!
Day 2 Spent the day with the fellas since Spreadsheet and Max slept in. Delicious breakfast at nearby sidewalk cafe then strolled through beautiful Mirabellgarten before taking the funicular up to the interesting Fortress Hohensalzburg and its outstanding views of Salzburg. Toured St Michael’s Church, although the jewel of religious buildings was the impressive Salzburg Cathedral with its spooky crypt in the basement. Found ourselves in the midst of a folk festival with marching bands, horses, and traditionally dressed locals. Those lederhosen sure looked hot and curious about how the heck you clean a pair of leather britches? Explored St Peter’s cemetery and catacombs. Very beautiful and interesting city! Eventually met up with SS and Max for the ritual afternoon Aperol Spritz and then a delicious dinner where I enjoyed authentic Weiner Schnitzel, the first of many variations sampled on this trip.
Day 3 Breakfast with the guys again, then a solo stroll to the supermarket to purchase cheese and fruit. Travel today involved a 3-hour scenic but rainy shuttle to Heilligenblut set up by the Trail Angels group. The beautiful National Park Lodge provided our accommodation for 2 nights. Cocktails were enjoyed at the pub across the street in this scenic hamlet. SS and I were too late to enter inside but explored the grounds of the adjacent local church. It is renowned for possessing a vial of Christ’s blood brought to the area by the knight, Baccius in 942 AD. Delicious dinner of lamb ragout over polenta and tiramisu at the adjacent Italian restaurant.
Day 4: Stage 1 Shuttled to the base of Mt Großglockner, the highest mountain in Austria to begin the Alpe Adria Trail and hike back to Heilligenblut. Cold and windy but incredible scenery! Lots of interesting wildflowers, very similar to last year’s Dolomite flora. Spectacular waterfalls! Lots of grazing sheep and cattle! It warmed up as the day progressed and elevation lost. Stopped at the small chapel where St Baccius supposedly perished in an avalanche, though had stored the vial of Christ’s blood in a wound in his leg where it was found when his remains recovered. Enjoyed a local herbal soda and apple strudel at a trail side cafe. About 9 miles today and predominately downhill. Discarded recently purchased cheese that developed a horrible smell and didn’t taste particularly good either, and before my hiking companions expelled me from the group. Explored inside the beautiful Heilligenblut church but disappointed to not be able to view the legendary vial of blood. Excellent but very filling dinner at our hotel. Met an extremely nice German couple who we would cross paths with several times. The man intended to hike for several days before returning home and she was going onward solo. She was interested in hiking the Appalachian Trail and I encouraged her to go for it and offered my assistance!
Day 4: Stage 2 Another delicious breakfast buffet at the Lodge and where we all pilfered cheese, bread and fruit for our lunch on the hike. Today’s hike was only 8 miles and sometimes on country lanes but passed many farms and small hamlets. Very scenic and quaint. Felt like we were seeing authentic Austria! Haymaking was ongoing and interesting to see machinery used on steep slopes. Several trail-side farms had drinks and snacks available with payment on the honor system. Impressive Jungfernsprung waterfall was in view across the valley for much of the day. Arrived in Dollach midafternoon for a stay at Hotelchen Dollacher Dorwirtshaus. Cozy and quiet! Delicious dinner of local beef with potatoes and carrots served with a horseradish sauce. Loved the peal of church bells ringing out the time in the village and what a view from the room!
Day 5: Stage 3 After another traditional breakfast we started hiking at 8:30 following roads out of town, crossing a bridge over the fast-moving river and following a bike/pedestrian path for some miles. A few of us took the side trip to spectacular Gartlwasserfall touted for its health benefits and to view the interesting waterwheel. Lots of slugs and snails over the path today. Short stop at a house with a small shop selling eggs, meat and milk. The owner generously invited us inside his home and told us he had been born there. It was like a museum. After our pleasant interaction he peeled away on his 1955 motorbike. Stopped for cokes and coffee in Mörtschach before tackling the toughest climb so far. Noticing that not as many locals speak English as we hike into more remote areas. Luckily, David and Layne have decent knowledge of German and we seem to get by with some pantomiming. Climb was really tough, though we persevered all the while noticing an extraordinary number of ants and huge ant hills on this slow-going section. Our accommodations were rustic though perfect at Alpengasthaus in Martterle. No luggage transfer for this section. Another interesting and beautiful pilgrimage church to admire and explore! Took some solo time to absorb the magnificence of this place and pet the resident cat and horses in the pasture before retiring for the evening.
Day 6: Stage 4 Typical breakfast of yogurt, fruit, granola, bread, cheeses and excellent coffee that our hostess kept replenishing. Started hiking at our usual push off time of 8:30 despite being a short mileage day. We lost most of the elevation gained yesterday hiking downhill for most of the day. The trail required much road walking and though a bit annoying, at least allowed us to see many beautiful alpine cabins and farms. Haymaking is definitely in full swing and lots of cows to be seen today also. It turned out to be quite warm and I regretted not applying more sunscreen as my face turned a brilliant hue of sunburn red by days end. We arrived in Stall early afternoon and enjoyed cool beverages at the first guesthouse we ran across. Our stay at Moltaller Appartments was a further 10 minute walk through the picturesque village. We all did sink laundry and hung our clothes to dry on the line. Leisurely afternoon followed by delicious dinner of Chicken wings and chips. I really enjoyed the accompanying vinegary slaw with caraway seeds. Took a solitary stroll by the river and through the neighborhood to walk off dinner. I am so fortunate and grateful to be able to visit and see more of this incredible world than I ever thought was in my cards.
Day 7: Stage 5 Great breakfast yet again and we started hiking at our usual 8:30. The first 7 miles were quite the uphill slog following a mix of road and trail walking. Some of the trail was quite overgrown and there was a section where the trail was basically a stream. Lots of stinging nettles….ouch! We stopped for lunch at Goldberghütte. There were some communication problems with the elderly gentleman manning the hut, but we all managed to order a local apple juice drink to go with our carried lunch. The trail had some ups and downs after lunch but then leveled out and was my favorite part of the day. Fantastic views and lots of wildflowers. The last several miles were a steep descent, and my knees registered their complaint. Upon completion of this section, Vic was able to call our lodging and they came to pick us up, avoiding adding an additional mile or so to the 12 miles already hiked. Alpenhotel Badmeister was the nicest lodging so far, though they all have been quite excellent. Surprisingly, very few guests. After yet another excellent meal, SS and I strolled up to the Mölltaler ski area. Evidently there is an underground tunnel and tram that takes visitors to a staging area for the gondola ride up to a glacier and the ski slopes. Wouldn’t have minded taking a zero day here for further exploration.
Day 8: Stage 6 Our group split up today. Max and Vic decided to take a day off from hiking and took the bus to our destination of Mallnitz. The rest of us wanted to hike but decided to avoid the first 5 miles of mostly road walking by taking the bus to begin hiking from the village of Flattach. The weather forecast was not promising, and we started in cloudy conditions, though it only sprinkled with rain briefly. Sharp uphill climb out of Flattach but once above the clouds the sun broke through now and then. Near the swanky Himmelbauer Lodge we met some German hikers and learned from the man, mostly through mime, that he had been to NYC and the Caribbean, and he also pointed out a trout pond just off the trail that we probably would have missed. Nice lunch here and I tried to eat healthily with a nutritious salad but then went astray by ordering an apple strudel that came swimming in a sea of vanilla sauce, similar to Britain’s custard dessert. Must admit to preferring last year’s Strudel in the Dolomites. Mallnitz was one of the busiest towns we have passed through, and the hotel was quite busy and noisy.
Day 9: Stage 7 Today’s trail took us out of Mallnitz with a loop in the scenic Tauern valley. We passed a rail tunnel that carried vehicles and passengers through the mountain providing a timesaving short cut. The trail followed a clear fast-moving creek before ending at a small lake where the trail had us backtracking for a short way before branching off to new territory. Highlights today were the two gorges. First up was Rabisch Gorge with its rooty and rough trail along the tumbling creek. Many scenic viewing platforms just off the path. Unbelievably the Groppenstein Gorge was even more breathtaking and impressive. All of us but Layne lives in or near Transylvania County, NC. which bills itself as the land of waterfalls, but we have nothing that compares to this incredible long cascade. This section was a toll path that most visitors hike from bottom to top, but Alpe Adria hikers are permitted to hike down and pay the toll at the end. We finally reached Obervellach for a two-night stay at Pension Haus Rita. Since we had a kitchen in one of the rooms, Max and I went in search of the supermarket to purchase some beer, wine and snacks. We passed an ongoing funeral at the local church where we estimated most of the village were in attendance and wearing traditional Austrian garb. We got directions from some friendly locals leaving the church cemetery who spoke English. Strangely, Obervellach was publicized as one of 7 accredited worldwide slow food villages but in actuality had few restaurants and most were closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Because Rita did not provide dinner like all of our other accommodations, we ended up eating a mediocre meal at of all places, a waterpark on the outskirts of the village.
Day 10: Stage 8 Rita spoke no English and seemed a tad cranky. Her breakfast spread was on the skimpy side compared to others but set us up for the day, nonetheless. She did have an interesting collection of old radios in the dining room and a beautiful old wood stove in the hallway. Hot water in the shower required a long wait and some gentle adjustment to get a comfortable temperature. Some joking about threadbare towels. I have stayed in much worse on my backpacking travels. The plan was to hike 9 miles to Kolbnitz and then be shuttled back to Rita’s for another night. We followed trails and roads again with views of the Möll Valley below and the historic Tauern Railway. Lots of bicyclists on this section. Took a break at the medieval looking Niederfalkenstein Castle which actually had more recent origins. It was really hot and the hike up Mount Danielsberg was slow going. Lots of informative nature signage in German but often self-explanatory and provided some rest breaks. We looked forward to a cool drink at the Herkuleshof Inn but alas it was closed too. The beautiful grounds were the once site of a Celtic sacrificial altar and Roman temple dedicated to Hercules. We didn’t stop at the nearby historic church in our haste to quickly descend down. We passed through several small villages following 4 German hikers to the Spar supermarket in Kolbnitz. Finally, a cool drink! The Germans, also using Trail Angels, called for an early shuttle pickup, and we all sat outside in the parking lot like genuine “hiker trash” waiting for our ride. The Germans were hiking with 2 dogs, one of which was a Doodle who fondly reminded me of a special Vermont Traildawg, Pax and was just as friendly and adorable. Best Aperol spritz back in Obervellach and dinner at El Chappo Pizzeria.
Day 11: Stage 9 Our shuttle drove us back to where we had stopped yesterday. Last day of hiking and it was a scorcher! Had to don bandanas hippy style to stop the sweat dripping into the eyes. We hiked past a reservoir and canal before our meandering path took us by trail and road through more pretty villages. We hiked up Barbarossa Gorge and stopped briefly at the sort of hokey location where story goes that Emperor Barbarossa was protected from the devil by his warriors. The last several miles of climb on pavement were brutal but we eventually reached our destination of Gasthof Pension Kolmwirt at Huhnersberg. The owner’s son treated us to some of the finest cold water ever tasted and an impromptu accordion concert for our grand finale!
Day 12 It was a four-hour shuttle back to Munich Airport. We arrived midafternoon and SS and I had decided we would take the opportunity to travel by train to Marienplatz in Munich and look around the old city center. So happy we did this. It was fantastic! By chance we went inside a cathedral where the Vespers service was taking place. The priest singing the prayers had an incredible soulful voice and despite not being a particularly religious person or understanding the words I could feel the music touching my heart. We really enjoyed dinner and the vibrant downtown before heading back and getting ready for our flight home the next day.
What an excellent adventure and with such a fun and easy-going group! Many thanks to Vic who did an outstanding job with most of the planning for this trip and of course everyone else who contributed to make it happen. The Trail Angels group was first rate. All I did was show up and so appreciate everyone letting me sneak in under the wire! Certainly not the sort of hiking trip that I typically take in the backcountry and wilderness but simply walking through the countryside seems to be a fantastic way to explore a different country. I loved this experience!