When to go Walking in Austria?

July sees an upturn in activity, but it is unquestionably a good month to go walking in Austria. It is still a fabulous time for appreciating alpine flowers, and walkers can enjoy magical displays of Alpenrose, Martagon lily, Snowbells and Bellflowers in blue, yellow and white. On another of our favourite walks, the Gartner Wand, you will find wild strawberries, pasque flowers, birds-eye primrose, and gentians galore – spring, trumpet, marsh and more. Many massifs have these flowers all the way up to their summits, so hikers venturing out on the hardest hikes in Austria’s Zugspitz Arena, will find the formidable vistas competing with the exquisite beauty of rich and remote alpine flora. What about Edelweiss, I hear you ask? Well, you need to head off the beaten track to the high craggy outcrops of the Sonnenspitze and the Zugspitze and you shall eventually stumble across this alpine superstar.

It goes without saying, there’s more to July than flowers – a lot more. Because this is the month when everything moves up a gear, as the mountains prepare for the main summer season. Local suppliers of alpine activities, such as rafting, tandem paragliding etc. ferry people to and from spectacular places. Cycling clubs on mountain challenges compete with the flora, their vivid lycra bringing even more colour to the party. Temperatures are still pretty perfect for hiking, even as the weather settles, and sunny days become common.

As for the main event, hiking, whilst July is perfect for the more leisurely walking holidaymakers, it also attracts the higher-level hikers, who have waited for a more complete snowmelt than people who visit in June. This ensures they can safely get their thrills on the various exposed ridges and high tracks that lead to nearby summits that are now free of snow. Of course, the Zugspitze remains snowcapped throughout July, majestically dominating many a view, bewitching walkers at all levels and affirming its iconic status.

July is also a time when the sun terraces of mountain huts, known here as Alms, really come to life. With more hikers embarking on them to enjoy food, refreshment and magical backdrops, it is normal for folkloric entertainment to be laid on, often in the form of a traditional Tyrolean music group, lending some alpine authenticity to your time in the mountains. Such entertainment is not just limited to July; in fact, as the season moves into August, it is likely to intensify, as durndles and lederhosen abound on stage. During July, the area, like most alpine holiday destinations, moves from mid-season into high season, but for the vast majority of July, your chosen resort will not be overwhelmed by people and traffic, like they might at the very peak of August when international holidaymakers and Austrian day-trippers come together to soak up the vibrant atmosphere of high summer in the Alps. 

September arguably takes the biscuit for being the best month for alpine walking holidays, whether you take your walking holiday in Switzerland, Italy or France. At high level, the summer sun has reduced late-lying snow to a few north-facing patches, so all our featured challenging treks are ultra-accessible. OK, the floral explosion might not compete with June or July, but in my experience of Austria’s Tyrol and the Zugspitz Arena, there’s plenty of flora to appreciate in September, notably the autumn crocuses in the meadows that surround the village.

It is hard to think of any negatives to a September walking holiday, as the comparative frenzy of August gives way to mid-season pleasantness with all services still open for business, from cable cars to village restaurants. Also, the trails are quieter but by no means completely abandoned; mountain huts stay open well beyond September and, as climate change chips away at winter seasons, local suppliers are certainly looking at ways of extending the summer season well into autumn. Indeed, September can often be a glorious time weather-wise, providing the most perfect temperatures for hikers, and also photographers, who crave the colours that dance on the rockfaces as a result of the sun being lower in the sky as the year progresses.