The Best Hiking Trails in Salzburg

This is about as easy as hiking gets and is a perfect way to introduce kids to the pleasures of moving under their own steam. For those without kids, this is just a lovely, short hike in a peaceful part of the Austrian mountains....

If you're keen to escape the crowds, this is the hike for you - the Goldegg an See ski area is quiet in winter and all but deserted in summer, meaning that you can enjoy this hike with virtually guaranteed solitude....

Despite being a straightforward hike, the length and roughness of the drive to this trip make it feel disproportionally wild and remote. Make the long, windy and bumpy journey to the wonderful Althausalm mountain hut and park up at the small carpark just beyond this....

This hike is a rare example of a trip which is perhaps even better in rain than under a hot sun - a bit of precipitation will make the waterfalls even bigger, and a heavy, grey sky only adds to the ambience of being next to such giant volumes of moving water....

Beginning at Thumersbach village square, behind the kindergarten you will find the start of the trail. It brings you immediately into the forest along the Thumersbach Kammweg and forest path. You climb up through a series of switchbacks before you eventually emerge at the Erlhofplatte....

This trail begins and ends at the top of the Trass Express cable car, near the summit of the Schmittenhöhe. The route is mainly the Pfafenkendelsteig trail (signed with the number 69), with added on sections at the beginning and end which take you in a neat loop to three charming mountain huts....

This trail is a lovely descent of the Schmittenhöhe from the summit to Zell am See. Most of the route is the Schmittenhöhe classic "4 Lakes Trail," with part of the Ebenbergalm path added onto the end, taking you all the way back to Zell am See....

Very scenic hike on approx. 1900 Hm around the Schwarzachergraben. Always a magnificent panorama with the Hohentauern to the south with Großglockner, Großvenediger and the Kalkalpen in the north. From the Zwölferkogel mountain station below the Hohen Penhab to the Seekar and further up to the Schönhoferwand along the mountain ridge to the Stoffennieder....

Starting out at the Speichersee Skiarena Wildkogel lakes and then passing over a famous summit and down to a charming mountain hut, this takes in about as much as any short hike could do....

The Wildkogelbahn cable car turns this hike from an epic, high-mountain trip into a lovely half day stroll. You still get to stand on top of a gorgeous peak but in return for only 230 metres of vertical height gain, as opposed to 1000+ if you came up from the valley....

The Schmittenhöhe is the most famous mountain in the Zell am See area for hiking. It has many fantastic interconnected routes, it is easily accessible from Zell am See. and there are knockout panoramic views of the surrounding Eastern Alps, including 30 3000er peaks! Follow the trail marked 8a from Fürth up to the Schmittenhöhe....

The original Saalachtal mountain trail runs from Saalbach to Spielbergtörl to Saalfelden. The starting point is at the station of the Kohlmaisbahn gondola. From here it is very varied, always through forests and over ridges to the Biberg....

If you want breathtaking views of the Eastern Alps and you have the time and stamina for a seven-hour high alpine hike, then definitely choose the Pinzgauer Spaziergang! Along the hike you hop from summit to summit, admiring the towering grey Steinberge to the north and the glaciated peaks of the Hohe Tauern in the south....

There can't be many better day hikes in Austria than this - it's a long and wild trip through some beautiful scenery and yet remains remarkably quiet. The trip starts out at the top of the Wildkogelbahn cable car and finishes back at the mid-station of the same lift, so there are no logistical considerations to take into account other than the need to be back at the lift by the time it closes - descending on foot from the mid-station is simple enough but it's a bit of a knee-grinding slog! Leave the top station of the cable car and - having taken a few moments to savour the staggering view - follow a jeep track west and pass through the farm of solar panels which power much of the Wildkogel Arena's infrastructure....