Overview
An eight day, self-guided holiday taking in the Lechweg Trail highlights, a long-distance 125km waymarked way following the alpine Lech River through Austria and Germany. Starting in Lech am Arlberg in Austria’s Arlberg Mountains range and finishing in Füssen in Bavaria, your walks take in Lechtal Nature Park, a landscape of waterfalls, winding woodland trails, alpine foothills and villages. This holiday is also a dog-friendly trip, relatively easy and also reachable by rail.
You can also consider the longer version of the tour – Walking the Lechweg Trail (10 days) or our six day Lechweg Trail Short Break available here.
- Hike through one of Europe‘s last wild river landscapes
- Formarinsee
- Lechtal
- Hängebrücke Holzgau (Holzgau suspension bridge)
- Lechfall
Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival in Lech am Arlberg
Arrive in Lech am Arlberg, a pretty mountain village in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg, overlooked by the Lechquellen Mountains and Lechtal Alps.
- Accommodation: Hotel Lärchenhof or similar in Lech am Arlberg
Day 2: Formarinsee circular walk | 14km
After breakfast, take a short bus ride to Formarinsee, the lake from which the Lechweg Trail starts at an altitude of 1,793m. Taking in the panoramic views, follow the path along the banks of the Formarinbach towards Lech am Arlberg.
- Accommodation: Hotel Lärchenhof or similar in Lech am Arlberg
- Walking for the day: 4.5h, 14km, ↑50m ↓500m
Day 3: Lech am Arlberg – Steeg | 11km
Today’s route heads from Lech am Arlberg into wild river landscapes, passing through alpine meadows and across farmland. Between Lech am Arlberg and Warth, the trail leads to Grenztobel Gorge, located just above Lechschlucht Gorge. Visit a traditional cheese factory for a tasting, before taking the local bus to the village of Steeg (10-15mins, payable locally).
- Accommodation: Hotel Styrolerhof or similar in Steeg or the surrounding area
- Walking for the day: 4h, 11km, ↑300m ↓300m
Day 4: Steeg – Elbigenalp | 18km
Begin the day on the Jochweg path, walking along the Lech before arriving into the village of Holzgau, known for its colourful houses. The highlight of today’s walk is crossing the spectacular Hängebrücke Holzgau, Austria’s highest and longest freely accessible pedestrian suspension bridge, at 200m in length and 110m above the ground. Cross the dramatic Höhenbach Gorge and continue over alpine pastures to Bach. The day ends with a leisurely walk along the the river to Elbigenalp, a village with a long tradition of woodcarving, located in the heart of the valley.
- Accommodation: Hotel Stern or similar in Elbigenalp
- Walking for the day: 5h, 18km, ↑380m ↓400m
Day 5: Elbigenalp – Stanzach | 20km
Today’s route leads along woodland paths, passing a section with stunning views and heading to Häselgehr in the Upper Lechtal Valley (to shorten the route, we recommend taking the bus to Häselgehr – Gramais junction). Visit the parish church and take in its impressive interior, before continuing on to Doser Wasserfall. Every year, the waterfall dries up on St. Martin’s Day (11 November) and springs back to life on St. George’s Day (23 April). End the day in Stanzach, a tranquil mountain village.
- Accommodation: Hotel Föhrenhof or similar in Stanzach
- Walking for the day: 5.5h, 20km, ↑400m ↓550m
Day 6: Stanzach – Höfen | 19km
Hike across a rugged river landscape towards Forchach, past a section of river known as the Lechzopf, before crossing Johannesbrücke, another suspension bridge. Continue on towards Weißenbach am Lech, a protected area within the Tyrolean Lech Nature Park and a place of special ecological importance. Cross the River Rotlech and reach Höfen, your final stop for the day.
- Accommodation: Hotel Lilie or similar in Höfen or the surrounding area
- Walking for the day: 5h, 19km, ↑50m ↓150m
Day 7: Höfen – Füssen | 11km
Your walk starts alongside the the glistening Frauensee, and then continues through the Pflacher Au area. Take in the impressive panoramic view over the wetlands near the river from the 20m wooden bird watching tower. Walk through meadows and forests uphill across the German border, all the way to Bavaria. The impressive waterfall, Lechfall, is a perfect finale to your journey along the Lechweg trail.
- Accommodation: Hotel Hirsch or similar in Füssen
- Walking for the day: 4h, 11km, ↑300m ↓300m
Day 8: Departure from Füssen
Departure after breakfast.
What to expect
Accommodation
Accommodation on this tour includes a mix of small, locally-owned hotels, B&Bs and traditional guesthouses. They have been carefully selected based on a variety of criteria including their location, warm hospitality, fine local food or commitment to responsible tourism. All rooms have en-suite or private bathrooms. Please note that, in Austria, it is common practice for hotels and other accommodations to join twin beds together to make a double, with separate linen for each person. If you prefer to opt for twin beds, we will happily request this at time of booking, however they can’t always be guaranteed.
Click to view default hotels
- Hotel Lärchenhof (Lech am Arlberg)
- Hotel Styrolerhof (Steeg)
- Hotel Stern (Elbigenalp)
- Hotel Föhrenhof (Stanzach)
- Hotel Lilie (Höfen)
- Hotel Hirsch (Füssen)
Accommodation is subject to availability. In the event of a particular hotel being fully booked for your chosen dates, we will replace it with a hotel of equal value and quality level. We will provide exact accommodation details to you upon booking confirmation.
Meals
Breakfast is included on all days. When no restaurant location is available en route, lunches and snacks can either be bought from local shops or packed lunches can be pre-ordered from your hotel the night before. Dinner is available either at the accommodation or from restaurants in the local area.
Difficulty and terrain
This tour is rated easy to moderate and a good basic fitness level is required. Walks are on well-maintained hiking paths, forest paths and partially on forest and gravel roads. There is the option to shorten walks by taking the bus if needed. In some places surefootedness is necessary, however, if required the suspension bridges can be easily bypassed (read more about difficulty grades).
We strongly advise you to follow only marked trails and never try to shorten the path through unknown and unmarked terrain. We will provide you with detailed road notes and maps, and you can call our 24/7 local assistance phone number anytime. More detailed information on route navigation will be included in your holiday information pack.
When to go
This trip is available from from mid-June until the end of September. The flexibility of self-guided holidays means that there are no fixed dates, meaning you can start your trip on any date during the season.
For more information, please visit our blogs Best time to go to Austria and Best time to go to Germany
Getting there
Click to view travel options
- If you are able to travel to Austria and back from Germany without flying, this holiday is reachable by rail with train stations in St. Anton am Arlberg (30mins bus ride from Lech am Arlberg) and in Füssen. For more details, see the national rail operators OBB (Austria) and DB (Germany) or use the Omio planner above
- From the airport: St. Anton am Arlberg (30mins bus ride from Lech am Arlberg) is reachable by rail from Innsbruck Airport (2h), Zürich Airport (3h) and Munich Airport (4.5h)
- To the airport: from Füssen, Munich Airport (3h) is reachable by rail and Innsbruck Airport (3.5h) is reachable by bus
- Car parking: a limited number of hotel parking spaces are available free of charge, no reservation possible. Public covered parking is available near the hotel (approximately €10 per day, payable locally)
- Return journey from Füssen to Lech am Arlberg is possible by bus (3h)
Inclusions
Included
- 7 nights accommodation
- 7 breakfasts
- Luggage transfer on all walking days (maximum weight of 20kg per bag)
- Lech Card (reductions for cable cars, entrance fees)
- Guest cards for all other hiking days of the holiday (reduced entrance fees, free bus tickets)
- Cheese tasting at Sojer Nature Dairy in Steeg
- Detailed digital pre-departure holiday information pack and GPS tracks
- 24/7 phone assistance by our local office/representative
Excluded
- Airfare and connecting land transfers
- Lunches, dinners, drinks and snacks
- Travel insurance (required – get a quote online)
- Personal expenses such as phone calls, extra transfers, tips, etc
- Local bus to Steeg on day 3 (payable locally)
- Local tourist taxes and entry fees (payable locally)
- Any items not specifically mentioned as included in the programme
- eSIM data for international travel (get an eSIM)
Options, extras and supplements
- If you’re travelling in a group, a supplement applies to group members who would like to have a room of their own
- This holiday is available for solo travellers. However, a supplement will be charged as the cost of rooms and also luggage or private transfers (when applicable) is not shared. Please note that solo travellers are always accommodated in their own room. For logistical reasons, we don’t offer an option for solo travellers to share rooms with other solo travellers.
- Extra nights along the route are available upon request
- Return transfer to Lech am Arlberg by minibus, only available on Saturdays and Sundays, reservation in advance is required
