What Is Alpine Adventure Trails Tours?
Since 1978 Alpine Adventure Trails Tours, Inc. has specialized and excelled in providing walking and hiking tours, trips and vacations in some of the most spectacular natural beauty the world has to offer- the Swiss Alps and Austrian Alps.

We are a family owned and operated adventure travel company that leads small hiking groups on day-hikes in the Alps.  We day-hike the areas surrounding family owned inns in carefully selected mountain villages in Switzerland and Austria.  As a top adventure travel company we offer flexible and dynamic guided walking and hiking tours to perfectly match your needs. 

All trips have two guides (at least one of whom is an owner/guide) leading your adventure travel.  Tours are flexible and customized to abilities of each guest.  Tour members of all hiking abilities say their experience was just what they were looking for and are ready for another hiking trip with us.  They are eager to recommend our unique tours to family and friends. 

Tell Me About Hiking In The Alps
The Alps - a place where snow covered peaks tower over green fields and picturesque villages and where trails outnumber roads.  Combine this beauty with a phenomenal transportation system of trains, gondolas, and cog railways, and you have a place for people who love to be on the trail with just a daypack and a sense of adventure.

Whether you want a leisurely guided walking tour or a more strenuous hiking trip, our adventure travel company will present you with a holiday of the highest quality. Our Swiss and Austrian adventures are structured around extended stays at small mountain villages in family owned inns.   From these bases, we guide you on day-hikes in surrounding areas. 

Our unique itinerary gives us the flexibility to offer two hiking choices each day.  Moderate hikes are around 6 to 9 miles in length with limited elevation gain- usually less than a 1,200 vertical feet.  Most moderate hikes also have optional early return points.  Hikes with the second guide are more strenuous and range in length from 7 to 12 miles with elevation gains of approximately 3,000 vertical feet.   Our villages in Switzerland and Austria are selected for the wealth of hiking opportunities, charm of the village and picturesque scenery within walking distance to the inn.  Hikes are selected in country by your guides to match the season and current weather conditions.  Since we don’t select hikes months in advance, we can adapt to offer the most pleasurable experience possible. 

Tell Me More About Your Trips
At our premier adventure travel company all details of your trip are personally handled by an owner/guide from the time you register for your adventure until you are escorted to the airport for the flight home. We provide personal attention to details behind the scene so you can focus on hiking and enjoy the beauty of Switzerland and Austria. 

We understand individual exploration is a part of the Alps experience.  All trips have two free days without organized hikes to allow you to rest your legs  to explore on your own.  Before your trip, and during the tour, your guides stand ready to answer questions and help plan your private time.  Switzerland and Austria have wonderful public transportation systems that make it convenient to travel and see areas we do not visit as a group.

Making special dietary arrangements, meeting you at the airport, and helping with other travel arrangements before and after your tour are a few of the extra benefits received when you schedule a guided walking or hiking vacation with our family.

Tell Me About Accommodations
Our years of organizing and leading hikers in the rugged pristine beauty of the Alps have taught us that hiking is just one part of the journey.  Accommodations are just as important.  We have selected small family operated inns, each with their own unique charm for your enjoyment.  All of our selected inns in Switzerland and Austria are three or four star rated.  The only exception is our Guest Haus in the hamlet of Ginzling, Austria.* 

Star ratings are a good starting point for selecting an inn, but we look for much more.  To receive a four star rating an inn must meet certain criteria such as an elevator, night concierge, porter and other amenities.  A four star rating does not mean the inn is of superior quality, only that is has the amenities offered for that rating.  We look beyond this when selecting inns.  All of our accommodations have charming rooms with a private bath.  We choose family owned inns that are exceptionally clean, with superior food, friendly and helpful staff and quality control supervised by the owner of the inn.  We take great pride in our selection of accommodations and have built long lasting relationships with owners of our inns. In many cases that relationship has lasted for generations.

* Ginzling is surrounded on all sides by the Zillertal Nature Park and was a farming hamlet long before the park was established in 2001.  There are no three or four-star inns in Ginzling, only guest houses.  Our inn in Ginzling is superb with charming rooms, great food and a friendly staff.  Ginzling is a place where many years from now you will say you were there when they still grazed cows in the orchard by the church.

Choosing a Trip
The beauty of the Alps is breathtaking.  Combine it with the Swiss and Austrian values of hospitality, attention to detail creating and maintaining hiking trails and their passion for conservation of natural resources and it is easy to see why the Alps deserve the tile- The Hiker's Paradise.  An average hiker can now experience places that once could only be reached by the most skilled mountaineers.

Alpine Adventure Trails Tours, Inc. is a travel company that offers one and two week hiking trips to Switzerland and two week hiking to Austria.  A one week tour is either the first or second week of any of our two week Switzerland tours. A one week option is not available for Austria.

For our 2008 hiking season select from seven Swiss villages: Zermatt/Furi, Saas-Fee, Zouz, Grindelwald, Muerren, Wengen, and Kandersteg.  For our Austrian adventure tour we have selected the village of Mayrhofen and the hamlet of Ginzling.

Our Swiss villages are divided into three regions of Switzerland where they are located: Berner Oberland, Upper Engadine and Valais.  Our Austrian tour is in the Southern Tyrolean Alps in the Zillertal Nature Park.

Switzerland Hiking Tour In Berner Oberland
The Berner Oberland lies in central Switzerland and is home to the base villages of Grindelwald, Muerren, Wengen and Kandersteg. In the Berner Oberland you will enjoy the emerald waters of Lake Thun and Lake Brienz and the snow-capped peaks of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau mountains.  Since the late 1700s travelers have visited this region of Switzerland for their summer holiday.  Here you will see towering snow-capped peaks, lush green glacier carved valleys and endless waterfalls including the highest waterfall in Europe, Staubach Falls. 

Click here for pictures of hiking and walking tours in the Berner Oberland.


Switzerland Hiking Tour In Upper Engadine
The Upper Engadine Valley in eastern Switzerland, home of our base village Zouz, is enclosed by trail-rich mountain ranges and has a dry climate with warm sunny summers. A chain of large highland lakes fills the valley.  Zuoz is located near the only National Park in Switzerland. Choose this region of Switzerland for an exciting hiking or guided walking adventure and see why the Swiss choose the Upper Engadine for their only National Park in a country of endless beauty.

Click here for pictures of hiking and walking tours in the Upper Engadine.
 

Switzerland Hiking Tour In Valais
The rugged beauty of the Valaisan Alps, location of the majority of Switzerland’s 4000-meter peaks, is home to our base villages Zermatt/Furi and Saas-Fee. Thousands of kilometers of hiking trails skirt such famous peaks as the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa (the highest peak in Switzerland).  The towering peaks above Zermatt and Saas-Fee are the heart of the Alps making them the perfect choice for your hiking and walking tour vacation.

Click here for pictures of hiking and walking tours in the Valais.


Austria Hiking Tour in
Zillertal Nature Park
The high mountains, already known under the name of “Ruhegebeit Zillertaler Hauptkamm”, have been a conservation area since 1991.  The title “National Park” was awarded in 2001.  The Zillertal Nature Park is at the southern end of the Ziller Valley.  At the northern end of the valley is the town of Jenbach only 30 minutes by train from Innsbruck to the west and one and half hours by train to Salzburg going east. Located one hour by train south of Jenbach is the Zillertal Nature Park.  Hiking the National Park you will see jagged snow capped peaks with hanging and flowing glaciers, U-shape glacier carved green valleys, flowing rivers and mountain huts that make the Swiss jealous.  Most hiking is above tree line but hikers also get to enjoy mature alpine forest. 

Click here for pictures of hiking and walking tours in Zillertal Nature Park.

For many hikers, trip dates are the main reason for selecting a specific tour. If your schedule is flexible, we suggest speaking with an owner/guide (Travis Harris, Shannon Harris or Jim Mathis) to help with your decision.  Call us toll free - (888) 478-4004 – and let us share our knowledge with you.  Trips can fill quickly so please do not delay in making your reservation. Let our expertise as a premier adventure travel company assist you in selecting and customizing an exciting Switzerland or Austrian guided hiking and walking vacation.

“Villages are divided into three regions of Switzerland where they are located: Valais, Berner Oberland and Upper Engadine.”

You will find it under “Choosing a Trip.”