Best foot forward: a mini hiking adventure in the Alps

Photography by Klaus Vyhnalek

Suzie’s firm instructions ring out clear as a bell across the empty Austrian Alps, her voice confident. But I’m not sure I can do it. Below me is the vertiginous incline I’ve just scaled. I will myself not to look down in case my legs give way, spearing the rocky soil above with the spikes of my walking poles. It takes two or three stabs to root them firmly and gain more balance.

In time, with a little more encouragement from Suzie, we all manage to reach flat ground and find a suitable spot to take in the astonishing landscape. Grassy ravines sweep up to snowy summits still shrouded in morning cloud.

These are Austria’s majestic twin peaks, Turchland and Hirschkarspitze, popular ski resorts in the winter months, 90 minutes by car and less than two hours by train south from Salzburg. Denuded of snow, except for the odd patch here and there, the Alps in summer are an entirely different proposition. Bare and unmasked, stripped back to their raw state, it’s a different kind of beauty. Cable cars glide above the rocks and scree, relics of winter dispatching hikers instead of skiers.

This elemental landscape feels like home to Suzie, who lives on the Isle of Arran for most of the year. “We British have the spirit of adventure,” she says, gazing up. “Which is to be encouraged, but it’s also about preparation and caution. See those clouds up there,” she says, pointing to an ominous bank of grey. “They’re moving in so we won’t be going any higher today.”

One of the country’s most experienced walking guides, as well as a mountain rescue volunteer, a Geographical Society fellow and a lecturer in teacher education, there is no better person to make you feel safe in tough terrain than Suzie. Even so, I’m surprised to be here at all. It’s difficult to think of someone less likely to find themselves wielding a pair of walking poles. I have only skied once (never again), and I don’t do technical wear. I have certainly never been in possession of a fleece. I pack a cashmere cardie instead.

Then there’s the existential bag problem. The kit list specifies a “dry sack”, two words I hope I never have to read again. I carry my small YSL crossbody bag everywhere, in all seasons. It is remarkably practical but less so, I concede, up a mountain in the rain. After much resistance, I opt for a Uniqlo bumbag and Mountain Warehouse rucksack. Beyond the horror of the hiking aesthetic, I find the activity itself problematic.

Nowadays, striking out on a coastal path or national trail as a self-improving leisure pursuit is difficult to avoid; female rambling groups seem to be more of a thing than book groups. Yet I harbour a dirty secret. Beyond the city I dread walking, unless it’s less than an hour with the promise of a pub lunch and a taxi home.

For me, pace is the key – cycling and running are a joy, ideally with a euphoric soundtrack to speed me along. Taking four days off to amble meditatively with strangers, less so. Apparently I’m not alone in some of these reservations, which is why Ramble Worldwide has created its new mini-adventure, long weekends (three nights) across Europe, offering guided hikes that are memorable, compact and intense. All 230 of Ramble Worldwide’s guides are voluntary. “We choose to do it for free,” says Suzie, “because we want to be here, and that’s the fundamental difference.”

From the Sierra Nevada to Mount Etna and Mont Blanc, there’s a range of challenge levels, graded from five to nine, all created with the express intention of getting you to remote spots as swiftly as possible. The itinerary is the same for each destination – arrive for a relaxing Friday evening, hike all day Saturday and Sunday, fly back Monday morning.

Within three hours of leaving London on my Friday evening, I was basking in the Alpine sun and enjoying a tasty rosti and seasonal buttered asparagus outside Kraut & Rüben, a vegetarian restaurant in the centre of Bad Hofgastein. At breakfast on the Sunday morning in our swish hotel, the Post Post, a family-run affair with outdoor pool and spa, one immediate benefit of hiking dawns on me: I can enjoy a hearty breakfast. Who cares about the cholesterol overload when I’ll be covering 12km today and did 16km yesterday? So bring on the slivers of cheese and salami; the three types of cream for your coffee from whipped to clotted to golden; the silver platter of crispy bacon and creamy scrambled eggs; the churned cream cheese on freshly baked rye. Did I mention cream?

Fully fuelled, we head for the Gadaunerer Gorge where the scenery rapidly turns into a chocolate-box fantasy. The meadows are green and rolling, there’s a riot of wildflowers in the hedgerows and the distinctive call of a cuckoo through the pine trees. Today’s hike will be taking us to the Gadaunerer Gorge connecting Bad Hofgastein to the faded grandeur of spa town Bad Gastein.

Within an hour, however, the weather changes and the skies open. Suzie raises an arm. “That’s it. Thunder is non-negotiable. We’ll have to get off the mountain.” There’s only one thing for it. Café Gamskar, a cosy chalet-style inn near Bad Hofgastein with lace curtains, a radiator for our dripping layers and possibly the most delicious homemade apricot strudel – dusted with icing sugar and served with ice-cream – I have ever tasted.

We head back to our hotel spa close by (“There are always options,” says Suzie) and wait for the weather to perk up. An hour later, the sky clears and we spend a relaxing two hours hiking along the Gasteiner Ache river which leads us, after a steep climb up a hill, to Bad Gastein. This elegant ski resort is perched on steep forested slopes where creamy Belle Epoque hotels nestle around the spectacular Gastein waterfall.

Freud used to spend the summers here with his family, quite possibly at the 19th-century Grand Hôtel de l’Europe in the centre – said to be an influence on Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel.

We end our final hike at Bellevue Alm, a cosy restaurant high above the town with panoramic views across the mountains. We share barbecued spare ribs with baked potato and soured cream, a Wagyu beef Almburger and chips, along with roasted garlic trout. We find room for the signature dessert, flambéed Kaiserschmarrn – the lightest, fluffiest pancake served with sour plum sauce. If this is what Alpine hiking is about, count me in. I may not give up my YSL bag quite yet, but the walking poles are staying.

Better by bike For those who prefer cycling, Bike Tour Sardinia offers a guided tour of the island’s west coast, starting at Oristano, staying at a seafront hotel in Torre Grande and from there exploring the Sinis Peninsula where you can spot pink flamingos. Three nights cost from £760 for two, including bike rentals and a double room (biketoursardinia.com).

Paddles at the ready Much Better Adventures organises group travel for independent outdoor types. Adventures include four days kayaking and wild camping in Menorca, paddling to hidden caves and visiting secluded beaches. Three nights cost from £693 (muchbetteradventures.com).

Resort with the most North Devon’s Mole Resort is a Victorian manor house offering family activities for all ages. Stay in a lodge in the grounds, each with its own hot tub and Exmoor views. Three nights for two double bedrooms cost from £683 (themoleresort.co.uk).

Happy campers Forget-me-not-Yurt in the Haute-Loire offers outdoor adventure on a hilltop in remote French countryside with bushcraft courses, river dam building and learning to light a fire without matches. Set in private grassy clearings, each pitch has a kingsize bed with up to four camp beds for children. Three nights from £106 per person (anopyandstars.co.uk).

The only way is up For a climbing mini adventure, Climb Pembroke in southwest Wales has a range of skills courses navigating cliffs on the Pembrokeshire coast. Run by instructor and guide Henry Castle, lessons cater for all levels. For one person, £240 per day and £100 pp for groups of 4-6 (climbpembroke.com).

Bad Hofgastein Weekend Adventure starts from £699 per person, including B&B four-star hotel, local transport and a walking guide (rambleworldwide.co.uk), departing June to September 2026. The Gastein Valley is located in the SalzburgerLand region of Austria. For further details, visit gastein.com