Summary

This 52 mile route takes in all four mountain ranges converging on the Zugspitz Arena! As well as crossing the German border to hike its highest peak!

This 52 mile route takes in all four mountain ranges converging on the Zugspitz Arena! As well as crossing the German border into Bavaria and exploring deeper into the wilder Wetterstein range. We like to say that the routes cover the ‘best of’ parts, the ‘must-do’ trails and the hidden gems of the area!

We also give you the chance to climb Germany’s highest peak, the Zugspitze (9,717 feet), which sits on the border with Germany and neighbors the village of Ehrwald, where we start and end.

The trek itself is 7 days but with flights from the US, plan on ten days. Jon and I are spending three nights in Munich, Germany with one of the days taking a train to visit the world famous fairy tale castle of Neuschwanstein! You are welcome to join us if you like. If you do, then the entire trip will be 13 days.

You can join us knowing that we are walking and seeing all that the Zugspitz Arena holds. We will cover a rich variety of terrain, encountering lakeside paths and woodland trails, high plateaus and rocky passes. This varied and challenging trek visits the dramatic Hollentalklamm (‘Hell’s Valley’) gorge via a series of tunnels, bridges and engineered footpaths passing gushing waterfalls. Enjoy the breathtaking views, glittering mountain lakes and blooming mountain pastures while you hike through an extraordinary Alpine world.

This YouTube video will give a small sample of what our first day would be like:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iUAydSdqVE. Another YouTube video about hiking in this area: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7NHC8SktCs. And a YouTube video about climbing the highest peak in Germany, Zugspitze: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXjvH2vAeN4 [there is cable car option to get around the fixed cables section or you can bypass summiting the peak by hiking back to Ehrwald where we will meet you]

We are planning on flying from Boston on Saturday, August 31st using a ‘red-eye’ flight and flying back on Thursday, September 12th. However, if staying a couple of three extra nights in Munich at the end does not suit you, you’ll be able to take a flight out on Monday, September 9th. We’ve been working with Collett’s Mountain Holidays to contact all of the hotels and huts we would need to stay in.

The start time of 5:50 PM is based on everyone taking the same flight as us from Boston on Aer Lingus however you can certainly find your own flight. The important this is for you to be at the Munich airport on September 1st by 11AM and be ready to take a train to our hotel in Munich at Noon.

This trip is a STRENUOUS TREK. The hikes range in length from 7-11 miles for 5-7 hours of hiking per day. The highest altitude is 9,717 feet. The greatest total daily ascent is 5,400 feet, and the greatest total daily descent is 3,638 feet. The ascent per day will range from 1,932 to 5,400 feet; descent per day will range from 948 feet to 3,638.

Because this is a STRENUOUS TREK, we will not accept everyone who signs up. We’ll be asking you a series of questions as to your hiking experience and fitness level. For example, if you’ve recently climbed a peak like Mt. Washington that requires climbing up 4,000 feet in one day, you would probably qualify. If not, we would need a history of mountains you’ve climbed in 2018 that makes you think you qualify or your plans for training hikes in 2019. 

Here is the trekking itinerary:

Saturday, August 31st: Fly from Boston

Sunday, September 1st: Arrive in Munich, take the train into Munich and spend the night.

Monday, September 2nd: Take the train from Munich to Ehrwald, Austria.

Tuesday, September 3rd: Grüner Ups to Wolfrathauser Hütte; 8 miles; 3,976 feet elevation gain

Wednesday, September 4th: Blindsee & Mittersee Lakes to Coburger Hütte; 10 miles; 3,139 feet elevation gain

Thursday, September 5th: Mieminger Passes & Corries; 11.5 miles; 2,627 feet elevation gain

Friday, September 6th: Hollentalklamm (Hell’s Valley Gorge) to Kreuzeckhaus; 8.5 miles; 5,400 feet elevation gain

Saturday, September 7th: Reintal Valley & the E4 to Knorrhütte; 9 miles; 3,638 feet elevation gain

Sunday, September 8th: Zugspitz Bowl & Summit; 5 miles; 3,244 feet elevation gain

Monday, September 9th: We’ll have our private shuttle return us back to the airport based on your departure time. The rest of us will take a train in Munich to our hotel.

Tuesday, September 10th: Take the 2.5 hour train ride to the world famous fairy tale castle of Neuschwanstein! We’ll have to buy our tickets to visit the castle in advance because it sells out. This will be a full day. 

Wednesday, September 11th: Sightseeing in Munich and spend another night. 

Thursday, September 12th: Fly back to Boston.

This is a self-guided trip and Collett’s Mountain Holidays book all the hotels/huts along the way and provide us with maps/route maps [and assistance if we run into any issues during the trek].  We’ll take a train from Munich to travel to our hotel in Ehrwald. During the trek, we’ll have additional costs to pay for lifts/cable cars, buses/trains, and gorge entry. Jon and I have trekked the Tour Du Mont Blanc, Alta Via II and Alta Via I, the Haute Route, so we are quite familiar with trekking in Europe. That said, we don’t consider ourselves experts, especially since we’ve never trekked in Austria and Germany before, so incidents may happen such as making a wrong turn on the trek itself and encountering bad weather. 

We are returning back to the same hotel at the start, so we can leave a bit of luggage behind such as clean, sightseeing clothes, for our return. Otherwise we’ll be using a backpack to carry everything. No luggage transfers…we carry everything in our pack. We did this for previous treks and did not have any problems. Basically we wore the same clothes often but made sure we had a set of clothes for travelling/relaxing at the hut. It made travelling so much easier in the airports and travelling to/from the trek. The packs should weigh between 20-25 pounds.    

Price per person: Exchange rate for $745 Euro as of 12/20/18 makes the price at $854.  Based on accommodation in dormitory style rooms in 4 mountain huts and private double rooms in hotels/guesthouses.  Kreuzeckhaus & Coburger Hütte offer the option to upgrade to a private room, subject to a supplement of £15 per person per night. The hotel/guesthouse in Ehrwald that we stay in for 3 nights does have a couple of private rooms if available…let me know if you interested and I can inquire.

Included In The Price:

7 nights’ accommodations in 4 mountain huts and private double rooms in 3 hotels/guesthouses.

Meals included are all breakfasts plus evening meals as all the mountain huts.

We also have to pay for the lifts/cable cars, buses/trains, gorge entry, we will encounter during our trek which they estimate to be at $74. For lunches there is lots of opportunity to stock up on ingredients along the route. We will often find huts and cafés during the walking, useful for lunch stops.

The mountain huts provide showers and beer/wine for purchase. All dormitories are mixed sex and vary in size from hut to hut. You must supply your own sleeping bag liners for all dormitory accommodation. Towels are not provided in any hut accommodation (but are in the hotel nights) - please bring your own.

Then the trek itself with huts/hotels, dinner and breakfast will run about $854. In addition, we’ll need extra money for lunches, beverages [wine/beer], shower tokens, laundry, etc. so allow roughly $200-$350 for these costs. Then if you add the airfare, we are looking around $1,900 per person. I’m not including spending a night in Munich once we land and three nights with meals in Munich should you choose to do this. 

Click Here for more information and pictures: https://www.colletts.co.uk/austria/hut-to-hut/ and here is the fact sheet: https://www.colletts.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/CMH-Hut-to-Hut/Zugspitz-Arena-Wetterstein-Tour-Hard-Itinerary-The-Facts.pdf

We would need $170 deposit at the end of February if you wish to join us. Please note that this is NON-REFUNDABLE! Please contact me for my mailing address to send the deposit. The balance would be due eight weeks prior to our departure. If you are single and would like to partner with someone contact another member who signed up and let us know.

Directions To Trailhead Parking Lot

Driving directions to the location and spot to meet at:

I was checking on flights and I was looking for one where we would arrive in Munich in the morning. I found a round trip flight on Aer Lingus from Boston to Munich roundtrip for $763 leaving at 5:50pm and arriving in Munich at 10:45am. If you are leaving from another airport, you have to be sure you arrive at the Munich airport 11:00AM on September 1st so we can get a train into Munich 12PM. We’ll have to find a convenient location in the airport to meet you.