Walk the Adlerweg (Eagle's Way) with a Cicerone Guidebook

• Location
• Description
• Contents
• Introduction
• Sample Route
• Maps
• Reviews

There are two ways to soar among the magnificent peaks of the Tyrolean Alps. One is in an aeroplane as you fly into Innsbruck. The other, more challenging and exciting, is to follow the Adlerweg as it crosses the entire length of the Tyrol from St. Johann in Tirol in the east, to St. Anton am Arlberg in the west. Not only will you experience the Wilder Kaiser, Brandenberg, Rofan, Karwendel, and Lechtaler Alps close up, but you should also have spectacular distant views of Austria’s other principal mountain ranges including Grossglockner, Grossvenediger, and the Tuxer and Stubai Alps. As a bonus, you will pass immediately below the towering south face of Zugspitze, Bavaria’s (and Germany’s) highest mountain.

The main route of the Adlerweg is a 300km (188-mile) long-distance path traversing the Austrian Tyrol, keeping mostly to the mountains that form the northern side of Inntal, the Inn valley. It is made up of 23 principal stages, with a total height gain of nearly 17,000m. In addition, there are six easier variant stages that avoid the more airy parts, and eight more difficult ‘Alpine’ stages that provide an alternative high-level route through the Lechtaler Alps. Well maintained and waymarked throughout, the Adlerweg follows established mountain and valley tracks and allows you to reach the tops of two mountains, Rofanspitze (2259m) and Birkkarspitze (2749m). Accessible to walkers of all abilities, it can be completed by a fit walker in 15 days, although if you wish to take things more gently, and allow time to visit attractions en route, it would be best to allow three weeks. Most of the stages are well connected by public transport (train, postbus, cablecar and chairlift), making it possible to tackle shorter trips as day excursions or weekend overnight breaks.

The path was conceived and implemented by the Tyrol regional tourist organisation, who named it the Eagle’s Way (adler being German for ‘eagle’) as, when overlaid on the map, its silhouette appears in the shape of an eagle, the outspread wings of which reach from one end of the Tyrol to the other, with Innsbruck, in the middle, as its head. The proud eagle is said to represent the feelings of freedom and independence, power and wisdom, grandeur and dignity, which you can experience by hiking the Eagle’s Way. Since the introduction of the main route, the project has grown as offshoots from the path have spread right across the Tyrol: the eagle has grown legs. There is even a separate ‘Eaglet’ path of eight stages in Ost Tirol. The complete Adlerweg network now includes 126 stages with a vertical rise of about 87,000m. This guide concentrates on the 23-stage main route, plus the six ‘easier’ variant stages and eight ‘harder’ Alpine high-level stages.

Hiking in the Tyrol would not be complete without Austria’s legendary hospitality and native cuisine. Since overnight accommodation in the form of serviced mountain hutten, inns, guesthouses or hotels can be found at the end of each day’s walk, all you will need to carry is a sheet sleeping bag. Everywhere along the way there are convenient places to eat and drink. These range from simple alpine pasture huts in the mountains, offering locally produced fare, to award-winning restaurants in the towns and valleys. Indeed the accommodation and refreshment opportunities are so well spaced that, with a little forward planning, it is possible to walk the whole route without once needing to take a picnic lunch. On most stages, frequent water fountains and springs provide a safe source of drinking water.

A wide variety of animals and plants can be found. The lower meadows are carpeted with wild flowers in late spring, while once the snow disappears the upper slopes come alive with alpine plants, including edelweiss and gentian. Chamois, ibex and marmots can be seen throughout the route. However, as you are walking the Eagle’s Way, the creature you will most want to find is likely to be the eponymous golden eagle. Keep a good lookout and you may see one soaring around the highest peaks. If, however, wild eagles prove illusive, the route passes Innsbruck’s Alpine zoo, where there are two captive golden eagles.

The Tyrol tourist organisation describes the Adlerweg as ‘arguably the most beautiful long-distance trail in Austria’. Does it live up to this claim? That is for you to decide. Walk it and see!

Background
Austria

Located in the centre of the continent straddling the Alps, Austria is Europe’s 17th largest country by size, and, with 8.3 million inhabitants, its 18th by population. It shares borders with Germany (with which it also shares a common language), the Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Its position with the Danube, one of Europe’s most important waterways, to the north, and the Brenner, the most accessible alpine pass, to the south, has made Austria the crossroads of central Europe.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, Austria’s political, economic and military significance surpassed its lowly size. After the turning back of Islamic incursions into Europe at the battle of Vienna (1683), a long period of rule by one family enabled Austria to maintain strong stable government and build a pan-European empire. Except for a brief interruption during the Napoleonic war, Hapsburg emperors ruled until defeat in World War 1 led to the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire by the Treaty of Versailles (1919).

A period of economic and political uncertainty during the 1920s and 1930s, (when many mountain refuges fell into disrepair), was followed by the Anschluss political union with Germany in 1938 and Austrian participation on the Axis side in World War 2. After the war, government was briefly divided between the victorious allied powers until the current republic was established in 1955. Austria joined the EU in 1995 and the subsequent signing of the Shengen agreement led to the removal of border controls.
Austria is a federal republic of nine states. The majority of the population lives in four lowland states, including the capital Vienna, to the north and east of the country. Population density in the alpine states of the south and west, including Tyrol, is much lower.