A New York Times travel piece has several useful links.
The Alps are said to have the best-maintained, most extensive hut system in the world. The Austrian National Tourist Office, at www.austria.info, (212) 944-6880, for example, can provide a free guide for hiking in the Austrian Alps. Or you can take one of the Alpine hikes offered by one of the companies listed in the guide like Wanderweg Holidays, (800) 270-2577, on the Web at www.wanderwegholidays.com, with four types of programs including self-guided “hiking without luggage” tours. An eight-day four-resort hike from Lofer to Weissbach, Austria, costs $715, with breakfast and dinner, lodging and luggage transfers, map and guidebook. Hikes are designed for all ages.
I am so there. In my mind; that is. Because planning an actual trip to Austria would require, you know, like, initiative.
Hut-to-hut is how I’ve been doing my hiking the last few years. It’s really the only way one is allowed to hike in western Europe. For those used to hiking in the wilderness in the US, where you have to carry everything you’ll need for however long you intend to stay in the boonies, European hiking is a different world — in the Alps, anyway. It’s sort of the “best” of both worlds — although, real troopers might consider it to be the worst of both worlds.
Btw, if you ever do decide to come to this side of the pond to hike, give me a shout.
Scott: Depend on it. I actually like the idea of going hut-to-hut to save the trouble of hauling a tent everywhere. I saw one outfit in Austria that leads a weeklong tour for about $750 bucks; not too shabby. Of course airfare over there and back would add to the cost a bit.