The huts
General Information
This page
describes impressions from the huts, based on visits from June 1989 through
august 2008. Not all huts were visited each year. Note that my experiences may
not be yours and things may change in time. I you have any experiences, good or
bad, let me know.
General Information
The keepers
of the huts lease it from the Alpine Club (AV). Income for the stays are to be
given to the AV, except a little amount for cleaning and washing. The keepers
live from the money they make by selling food and drinks. In
July/August/September the service is mostly done by students or hired personal
who really have a though job. Certainly in the larger huts where at
The prices in the huts
vary. When you are AV member you pay 5-10euro for a place in the lager
(sleeping room with many beds/mattresses, often directly next to each other),
when you are not a member up to 15euro. For a room you'll pay 6-12euro as
member and 12-20euro as non-member. Breakfast is never included!! Note that it
is possible that you have to share a room; it is just that you have your own
bed. When staying in a lager be sure to bring ear
waxes with you as some people tend to snore loudly!
Non-AV huts are somewhat cheaper for people who are not AV member and they
mostly include breakfast. When you are staying in pensions or hotels expect
30-50euro for a night. Note that when you are AV member you can earn back your
subscription in 3-4 nights!
In the AV huts there are
some rules. One of the most important one is that the lights 'go out' at
Most huts have a room where
you can get food and drinks at the ground floor called the 'gaststube'
or simply 'stube' at the ground floor and sleeping
places in the higher floors. The Hallerangerhaus and Karwendelhaus have warm showers for which you have to pay
about 2/4euro for a 4-5 minutes. Some huts have drying
rooms (Trockenraum) for your clothes; in others you
can hang it near the stove which heats the gaststube.
Be careful however and mark your stuff as it often all looks the same and
mistakes easy.
If done early enough it is
possible to make reservations in the huts. The keeper is allowed to fill his
hut up to officially 50% with reservations (they rarely stick to that however
and usually book full). The remaining is left for the hikers that did not plan.
When you come and the hut is full, it is possible you are allowed to sleep on
the floor in the gaststube (you will get blankets
when available). In extreme cases it is possible the keeper will not let you
in. As most huts are a maximum of 4 hours away from a town over save roads this
is allowed! It will be very rare though.
For 1995 the AV ordered
that the huts are non-smoking area. After some starting troubles it is now
widely accepted and you won’t find a hut where the keeper will allow you
to smoke.
The personnel in the huts has to work hard but is most of the time friendly. It may
however depend from hut to hut. Personnel is very hard
to get for the keepers. You will rarely find local people. A few years ago they
were mostly eastern-european, nowadays there is a
trend for Tibetans. They have to stay in the hut for several months and when
they have a day off; it is often difficult to go to a town as it is to far
away. Many (young) people don't like this. So be nice to them if they are there.
The following section is
split into two parts. First you will find all the huts that are owned by the
Alpine Club (AV). Than you will find commercial huts and hotels I stayed in.
The AV huts
In the
descriptions below the sleeping places are divides in 3 parts: places in
rooms/lager/not-lager (floor or separate house), a roman figure after the hours
for peaks indicate difficulty. I=using hands is required. II means that
experienced people can do this without ropes, III (or higher) means ropes are
required and steps may be very small.
High
Alpine character hut, at the foot of the Lamsenspitze. Approach from Schwaz
via the Stallenhutte is magnificent. The last visit
wasn’t so nice. The waitresses were pretty annoying, continuously asking “what
will it be?” instead of leaving it up to the people or the less enforcing
“do you need something?”. It was like
being on a terrace in the city. Some people there were in the same cabin got a
bit annoyed and responded with a less friendly “no, maybe at dinner”.
sleeping places: 29/72/42, winter room: 52
reachable from: Schwaz (4), Pertisau
(4), Eng-alm (2,5)
peaks: Lamsenspitze (2) HahnKamplspitze
(1) Sonnjoch (3-4)
Falkenhutte
-1846mtr
The Laliderer
wall arises above it, making this magnificent old hut look smaller than it is. Heavily visited from the Engalm but most
of these people leave in the afternoon. Food and service are good and
the keeper likes his job. He and his family run this cabin for over 60 years.
sleeping places: 28/136/-, winter room: 11
reachable from: Hinterriss (3,5) Eng-alm (2-3)
peaks: Mahnkopf (1) SteinFalk
(2,5) Risser and Lalidererfalk
(4,5)
Karwendelhaus -1765mtr
Largest hut in the area, holds almost 200 sleeping places! It is starting point
for the ascend to the Birkarspitze,
highest point in the Karwendel. Energetic service
from the keeper (it’s quite a character) and his son/personnel and
excellent food. Here you can take a hot shower and even pay with credit card.
Get up early and see the clouds, filling the valley below. A
superb view.
sleeping places: 45/150/-, winter room: 26
reachable from: Scharnitz (5) Hinterriss
(4)
peaks: Birkarspitze (2,5) Ostl.
Karwendelspitze (2,5) Hochalmkreuz (1)
Hallerangerhaus -1768mtr
One of the most beautiful hut in the area, located in a forest, looking out over the
valley below. An absolute must. The new keeper and his wife are very friendly.
Here you can have a hot shower if you like to. BTW, don’t mistake the Halleranger alm where you can
sleep as well with the haus, which is in the forest.
In the past there was lots of rivalry between the haus
and alm but those days are over. Reasons for staying
in the haus are the excellent food and “huttenruhe” at 10 o’clock. Sometimes people
flee from the alm where they planned to sleep because
a party is ongoing.
sleeping places: 26/70/8, winter room: 12
reachable from: Scharnitz (4,5) Hall in
peaks: Suntigerspitze (1,5) Speckarspitze
(2-3) Gr Lafatscher (3)
Pfeishutte
-1922mtr
Because of the tiring,
steep passage of the Stempeljoch, this hut is
sometimes avoided by hikers. That’s a shame because it is beautifully
located in an area formed by glaciers (which are now all gone of course). Day
tourists from the Hafelekar more often visit this
hut. In 1997 the keeper changed. The new people (1997) are very helpful and
nice. Also the hut was modernized in 2003/4, so water is now drinkable and the
inside of the hut much friendlier as before. The character of the hut was
however well maintained
sleeping places: 30/50/10, winter room: 6
reachable from: Scharnitz (5) Hafelekar
(1,5) Hall in
peaks: Rumerspitze (1,5/I-II) Sonntagskarspitze
(3) Kaskarspitze (3/II)
Solsteinhaus -1805mtr
Magnificent old hut with
the best lager I've been in so far. The head-ends are adjustable! But the whole
house squeaks while walking in it, impossible to be quit in it. The view is
great and the keeper and his wife always friendly. They like their job and the
nature. This hut was partly re-build in 1996, now there is a new kitchen
producing excellent food.
Drinking water must be obtained from the keeper so he sells mineral water.
sleeping places: 28/68/-, winter room: 8
reachable from: Hochzirl (2,5) Scharnitz
(4,5) Kranebitten (4)
peaks:Gr Solstein (2) kl Solstein (3) Erlspitze (1)
Neue Magdenburger hutte -1637mtr
Located
somewhat remote and away from the normal trails, near a farm. Excellent kitchen, meat often comes
from their own animals. Order that LeberKnodelsuppe!
Do not under-estimate the schutzsteig to/from the Solsteinhaus however.
sleeping places: 28/68/-, winter room: 6
reachable from: Hochzirl (2,5) Kranebitten
(3) Innsbruck Hotting (4)
peaks: Hechenberg (1) Gr Solstein (2) kl Solstein (3)
Nordlingerhutte -2239mtr
Highest hut in the area,
located above an awful tourist/ski-area: Seefeld.
With the cable-railway you can get to an easy small hour walk from the hut. As
it is on the edge of the nature reserve also para-gliders
come here, a very different kind of people compared to the hikers.
I now visit this hut twice, the first time the keeper was awful, now (1997)
better but still not my type. I will avoid this hut. Drinking water is scares
in summer and has to be bought from the keeper.
sleeping places: 31/34/20, winter room: -
reachable from: Reith (3) Seefeld (3) Bergstation Harmelekopf (1)
peaks: Reitherspitze (20min) Freiungen
(east, midle, west, 1,5)
Brunnsteinhutte -1560mtr
Beautiful, small hut
located above the Isar, enthusiastic and friendly
service by the keeper. Magnificent view. A must when
you are in the neighborhood. If peace conferences would be held here, there
would never be war anymore! If you can put it in your planning, do so.
sleeping places: -/25/10, winter room: -
reachable from: Mittenwald (2)
peaks: Brunnsteinspitze (1,5) Mittenwalder
Hohenweg (several, 6)
Mittenwalderhutte - 1513mtr
Smallest
hut in the area, located directly above Mittenwald,
just 1.5hrs from the town. This is also the major disadvantage of this hut. The noise of Mittenwald can clearly be heard. A nice keeper and good
service
sleeping places: -/20/14, winter room: -
reachable from: Mittenwald (1,5)
peaks: Westl. Karwendelspitze
(2,5) Viererspitze (1,5) Gerberkreuz (3,5)
Hochlandhutte -1623mtr
Small hut and the only one
not supplied by cable-railway or car. The choice in food is therefore limited
but the atmosphere is great because of the small gaststube.
They keeper and her husband many give a weird first impression, but they are
actually very nice. In 1997 I found many of the trails that were in a bad state
so far, to be much better. Only the road to the Gjaidsteig
is still in a bad state.
sleeping places: -/35/15, winter room: -
reachable from: Mittenwald (2,5)
peaks: Worner (3) Tiefkarspitze
(3,5)
Krinner-Koflner hutte -1395mtr
Small,
unattended hut.
Foot and drinks can be obtained at the fereinsalm,
close to it. The hut is located near a road from Vorderriss
to Mittenwald, heavily used by mountain bikers.
Private cars are however not allowed to use it, except for the local people,
living on this road.
NOTE: In 2000, the Krinner-Koflner hutte was destroyed by an avalange
but was rebuild in 2004. I don’t know what it is
like now.
places: -/30/-, winter room: 25
reachable from: Mittenwald (3) Hinterriss
(3,5) Vorderriss (4,5)
peaks: Soiernspitze (2) Worner
(2,5) Schottlkarspitze (4)
Bettelwurfhutte -2077mtr
High alpine hut, over 100
years old but very well maintained, with a magnificent view. The atmosphere is
a little weird, you have too like it or not. The
service and food are however good.
sleeping places: 8/41/30, winter room: 5
reachable from: Absam (3,5) St. Magdalena (3,5)
peaks: Gr Betelwurf (2/I) kl Betelwurf (3/III) Fallbachkarspitze (2)
Rotwandhutte -1525mtr
Not visited. A keeper is
only present from Friday to Sunday. No food available. A Key may be required to
get in.
sleeping places -/12/-, winter room: contact hut
reachable from: Achenwald (3)
peaks: Juifen (1-2), Demel-Joch
(2), Hochplatte (4)
Seewaldhutte -1640mtr
Only drinks available in
summer (may-oct), July-aug
always open, otherwise only weekends. This is a very small hut where the
keepers (2 pensioners) are staying is in the lager as well. Certainly worth
visiting but remember to bring your own food, they will prepare it for you (if
you bring something easy).
sleeping places: -/20/-, winterroom,
contact hut
reachable from: Achenkirch (2)
peaks: Hochplatte (1/2)
Soiernhaus
-1616mtr
This former hunting hut of
the emperors has a magnificent view and a relaxed atmosphere. The food is
simple but sufficient. They found amazing places to put beds in, so there is
not too much room. In weekends this hut tends to be over-populated.
sleeping places -/54/-, winter room:-
reachable from: Krun (3-4), Mittenwald
(5-6)
peaks: Soiernspitze (2-3)
Tolzerhutte
-1825mtr
Visited
in 1997. The
view from this hut is more than impressive and deer came out of the forest in
the evening. The hut is located somewhat remote and only though or long tours
lead to/from it when you start/go to other huts. The high-road to the plumsjoch hutte (private,
unpleasant) is tiring but very worth-while
sleeping places: 33/38/4, winter room: 4
reachable from: Hinterriss (2-3)
peaks: Scharfreiter (1), Schonalpjoch
(2-3)
The private huts and
hotels
Usually I
don't sleep in the private huts but sometimes one has to. Also it is nice to
clean-up in a hotel after a week, and than continue. These are the places that
stayed in my memory.
Plumsjochhutte
Old, not
very well maintained, hut with a weird and somewhat unpleasant atmosphere. Use it for the high-tour from/to
the Tolzer hutte.
Gramei hochleger
Dirty
looking hut, with a continuously running generator. Stay away.
St
Magdalena
Very nice
lunch place, great food and popular with local people. They have lots of events here. You
can spend the night there but they may not have place available as the number
of beds is limited to 8.
Bins-alm
No, this is certainly not
the place a serious hiker would want to spend the night. The food is ok,
service friendly, but you won't get any sleep at night because the drinking
only stops when all the people are in bed (drunken and loud). If you must, have
a drink and then continue.
Halleranger
alm
Located
5minutes walk from the AV-hut Halleranger haus. The alm is a private hut.
It used to be war between the two but those days are over. The alm may have parties going on all night so you won’t
get any sleep, even though the sleeping places are in another building. However the people there are friendly and the view beautiful.
Bärenbadalm
Nice and friendly small alm. According the books one can sleep here but this is not
so. However the keeper sometimes has some rooms to spare and if he likes your
face and you ask
Stallenalm
Nice small Alm, focused
of the farmwork but also selling drinks to people
to/from the Lamsjoch-hutte. Also some places to
sleep.
Larchet-alm
Nice alm,
focused to sell drinks on the people to/from the Karwendelhaus.
Also has places to sleep. To order your drinks you
have to climb a stair to a window where you can order. Feels like going on an
audience to a king or pope.
Hotel Seegrube, above
Experiences in 1999 made me
decide never to visit this place again. Destruction of the environment is done
without hesitation, the area around the hotel looks
absolutely awefull. However in 2004 we were forced to
stay there due to bad weather and a blister and I must say the people were much
friendlier compared to the last visit. Food is however very limmited
and it is still an ugly place with all the skiing equipment/tracks and the interiour is weird 50’s, but it has a great view over
Posthotel,
Achenkirch
Expensive,
but worth any cent. This is THE place to get back to "civilization" after a few
weeks up in the mountains. The place is simply great and in the swimming pool
you can get lost. The food is of superb quality and plentiful, also included in
the price. It is somewhat outside normal routes. Best is to take the boat from Pertisau to Achenkirch and walk
another hour (you can also call them to pick you up).
Gasthof Eng (also Alpengasthof
Eng )
Never slept there and never
will. What a bunch of rude people. The servants on the (then empty) terrace
have their eyes like vultures on the busses with day tourists; they
didn’t care about me coming in, not even a greeting. In the hotel there
was a woman asking me ‘what do you want’ in the most unfriendly
way, the dog bit me in the shoe and the woman didn’t even care about apologizing.
Next time I see that dog it will fly two meters high. Some years ago I traded a
then common eurocheque there for some cash and as we
found ourselves short of money due to a miscalculation I hoped they would again
give me some cash using a credit/bank card. Not responding to her rude behavior
I very politely asked if they could help us out. Their response was ‘with
a card you can spend the night here and pay or else you can piss off’. Ofcourse I did the latter. If they
won’t/can’t help me out that’s ok, but why being rude?
So if you would like to spend the night in the Eng, better go to the restaurant
at the end of the road (you have to walk the last 5 minutes) where nearby there
are some ‘private’ and more price worth rooms to rent in the alm houses.
What a difference compared the Falkenhutte where I
was able to make an arrangement with the owner so I could pay in the Karwendelhaus and some people offered to lend us some money
spontaneously, without knowing us. There are nice people in the world, but not
in Gasthof
Gasthaus Annelies, Scharnitz
Very nice small pension run
completely by the very friendly owner (Annelies). It
has a small swimming pool but no food in the evening (there are restaurants
nearby). This is the place to clean up after touring for a week and take a
day's rest.
Haus Adlerkanzler,
Scharnitz
Conveniently located oposite to the railway station, it is price
worth and friendly. No food in the evening but a plentiful breakfast.
Gasthaus Risserhof, Scharnitz
I only had bad experiences
here (twice) and my advice was to stay away. Comments I received by email from
a group that stayed there in august 2001 were however very positive. In 2004 I
took the gamble and visited it once more. I must say this time it was a bit
weird but nice place. Food is simple and affordable.
Posthotel,
Hinteriss
Simple
and sufficient hotel in this nice and very small town. Just what you
would like as a break in a tour from hut to hut.
Gasthof
Ramona, Giessenbach (Scharnitz)
Now what to say about this?
This price is low, the rooms perfect, the food is ok and the whole hotel is
very nice (with sauna). But the owner is an absolute asshole. If you're in his
line he is very friendly and arranges things, if you do not agree or have some
trouble with him he can start throwing things trough the dining room and
forgets agreements. We were confronted with a taxi fare that was twice as
expensive as he agreed with us for instance, after we
had some misunderstandings about some forms (he threw them trough the dining
room with a lot of people eating there) he wanted to be filled in different
from other hotels. So if you can think you can stay out of trouble with the
owner, slime your way through (complement his birds) or just ignore him and
talk to his much more reasonable wife, the place is price worth.