UKH

Walking with kids doesn't have to mean thinking small. Keri Wallace finds the perfect child-friendly three-day objective in Austria's stunning Ötztal alps.

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Nice one Keri. Noted for a few years time!

this is amazing, I have a 3yo and a 0yo and the 3yo walked 1.5 miles the other day with about 100m of ascent in the Peak District. That's the furthest pure "hike" he's done, this is another level!!

Proper inspiring. Have been planning a train accessed euro mountain family holiday for this year but ended up staying in the UK. Having read this, I'm now planning next summer's holiday and the Otztal Valley is top of the list!

Thanks for this one Keri! That's yet another brilliant-looking location to add to the family trip wish-list...

Very inspiring, thank you. One of our kids is allergic to dairy and egg. Do you happen to know if the huts can accommodate "vegan" requirements (except that we do meat)? Alternatively, do they mind if you bring your own food? Thanks again.

There's also a very good Klettersteig (via ferrata) nearby, the Kuhtai Panorama Klettersteig (VF4D), which is accessed from the Dreisehnbahn, and finishes on the summit of the Pockkogel. Probably a bit too hard at D/E for younger children though.

Great article, thanks!

Mine is just 2 at the moment,  but definitely something to aspire to in a few years time. And with family in Bavaria it's not too far a hop.

Great to see an article about hiking in the Öztal Alps. It's worth mentioning that the area also has a lot of easy grade (PD) classic mountaineering on peaks in the mid to high 3000s of meters, such as the Similaun, Weißkugel, Wildspitze and Hintere Schwärze, some of which also have (or used to have) snowy north faces of about 45 or 50 degrees.

Right next door are the Stubai Alps, and just on the other side of the Brenner Pass motorway from them are the Zillertal Alps, so all in the all the area has a lot to offer.

(Minor correction - the huts are almost all owned by the German,  not the Austrian Alpine Club, not that this makes a difference to the visitor.)

I don't think you'll even need to go that far, there's plenty of suitable hut tours closer to Bavaria.  There's also the advantage that many are lower altitude and thus less of a problem in bad weather.

I've found that my kids will 'walk' for miles if they're distracted - chasing each other, or butterflies etc.

Quite a lot of huts have some sort of child facilities nowadays - a trampoline, swings or similar. Family rooms are key I think, and most have those too.  If you have older kids (8+) then keep an eye out for places where there are summer toboggan runs or mountain scooters/karts to rent for the descent to the valley.   Most kids will jump at the chance to go on those, not so much a plain hike!  Of course in winter then there's the option of a ski/snowshoe tour and toboggan descent.

...and dangerous - kids aren't heavy enough for VF sets.  You'd need to belay them on a toprope.

Thanks, I thought that would likely be the case but hadn't started looking yet as it'll be a couple of years I expect before we're ready for that sort of trip. Can you recommend any particular hut tours close to Bavaria for a 4 or 5 year old?

Not hut to hut as all my stuff so far has been day trips. In Bavaria itself there doesn't appear to be much because the mountains tend to be small ranges with roads between thus there's only one hut in a range, or you have big ascents / distances too far for kids.  I've not really looked at the area east of Mittenwald though as that's not so easy to get to for me.  I suspect there will be some good info on the DAV site - I'm sure there's pamphlets or books of 'kinder huttentours' available. Alternatively, googling 'kinder huttentour' would appear to give you some decent results.

  From experience, look at the Kolbensattelhutte / Purschlinghaus - Kolbensattel has a playground and a summer rodelbahn down from it, but I don't know if you can stay there. If you can't, it's not too far to the Purschlinghaus.  Also, the Hoernle hutte - it too has a chairlift up to it to skip the boring track through the woods from Bad Kohlgrub, then you can take in the 3 Hoernle summits & Stierkopf close by in a kind of loop and stay in the hut. You could also maybe take the cablecar up toward the Alpspitze then over the rinderscharte to the hollental hutte, stay there, then descend through the klamm the next day (adults can do it in one day).  There's various things for kids to play on in the woods below the klamm.  The Brauneck meadow area above Lenggries is good for kids - we just did a day loop from the top cablecar station up to Latchenkopf and back via the Stie Alm, but there's a hut 'over the back' by the look of things. There were cows and paragliders for the kids to see, and a small summit east of the Stie alm to scramble up in addition to the main summits.

Thanks a lot for the detailed reply. Loads of great info there. Alpspitze is the only peak I've been up in that area, would love to explore the area more.

No worries .  Also, the Marienbergbahn just south of Biberwier has a summer rodelbahn and mountainkarts  / scooters to rent to descend. Like mine, your kids aren't old enough, but when they are.....  I did the Handschuhspitze/Wannig traverse last week, that would be a good route when they're older too - it's not particularly dangerous and has great views.  I'm looking at a Marienburgbahn - Wankspitze VF (purely because of the name!) - Coburger hutte overnight mission for the future - I think going up and through the gap into the Coburger bowl to look down on the hut and lakes will be pretty spectacular.  If you've not tried it, Komoot is excellent for planning potential routes and actually using the little unmarked paths in the area. Very handy in winter for snowshoeing when all the trail markers are covered by snow (or the trail isn't marked in the first place) - there are a number of good routes that spend much time in the winter wonderland below the treeline where there's no avalanche risk whilst allowing you to pop up above it for lunch with a view, however the path marking in the trees can be very poor.