It goes quiet up there. No neighbouring house, no road, in the evening just the cattle on the pasture and the crackle of the stove. What you get from us is not a bunk room in a crowded refuge but an alpine hut that belongs to you alone for a few days.
You walk up, eat Kaiserschmarrn, sleep in a dormitory and move on the next morning. One night, many people, fixed mealtimes. That is the world of the Alpine Club huts — we do not have those. For that, talk to the Alpine Club or the hut warden directly.
You live alongside the farming family, breakfast is served and the stable is busy in the morning. Lovely if you want company and to be looked after — but you share the house with others.
You get the key, and for the length of your stay the hut belongs to you and your people alone. You cook, you light the stove, you go outside whenever you like. That is our way — not an overnight stop, but a few days of alpine life.
Mountain cabins & alpine hutsWe only say „alp" when it is one: alpine meadow all around, real altitude, no neighbours. Three huts in our collection meet that — each in its own way, and we have seen every one of them ourselves.
The highest hut we have, in the middle of the Hohe Tauern National Park, for up to four people. No road leads to the house: from the farm it is a 30 to 45 minute walk uphill. The electricity comes from the sun, the hot water from the wood stove, and things are kept cool with spring water. There is deliberately no wi-fi. Bookable from spring into autumn.
See Zarze AlmhütteAn alp without going without: 100 m² on a 19-hectare alpine meadow in the Nockberge Biosphere Park, for up to eight people. Four bedrooms in Swiss pine, one with a four-poster bed, plus a private Finnish sauna. Reachable by car all year round, with parking right at the house. Built in 1922, renovated in 2007.
See Pietschacher AlmhütteThe alp for a whole group: up to ten beds, a real tiled stove in the parlour, a wood-fired range in the kitchen, a conservatory looking down the valley and a table that seats all ten. Reachable by car all year round — in winter with winter tyres, chains or four-wheel drive.
See Breitberg AlmNot everyone wants 1,880 metres. These huts lie lower but have the same feeling — alone on the slope, forest or meadow at the door. Dogs are welcome on all three alpine huts and on most of these.
And the same rule applies everywhere: what you need up there, you bring with you. How that works in practice is in our guide to an alpine hut holiday.
You look after yourselves. There is no reception and no breakfast buffet. Kitchen, crockery, bed linen and towels are there — the food you bring. The last supermarket is down in the valley at every one of these huts. Shop properly on the day you arrive and you will not have to drive down again.
Heating is done with wood. Tiled stove, wood range, a stove for the hot water: on the alp, lighting a fire is part of the day. It is the thing guests mention most often afterwards — and the reason the evenings are so quiet.
The weather is part of the programme. Things move in faster up there than in the valley, and it cools down noticeably in the evening, even in high summer. A warm layer and sturdy shoes belong in your luggage, even when it is 30 degrees below.
Quiet is not a feature. It happens because nobody comes past. That is exactly why we let every hut to one group at a time — nothing here is shared.
Every alp answers this differently. That is why we say it before you book, not afterwards.
By car as far as the farm, then 30 to 45 minutes uphill. The walk is part of it: what you have up there, you carried up yourself. That is exactly why it is so quiet.
By car right up to the hut all year round, parking at the house, bus stop 500 metres away. The alp for everyone who would rather not carry anything.
By car all year round, parking at the house. In winter you need winter tyres, snow chains or four-wheel drive. By train: the Zillertalbahn to Fügen or Schlitters, then about six kilometres uphill.
Huts reachable by train and busAn alp is not a holiday park, it is a workplace with seasons. Once you know what is going on, you also understand why a week in June feels different from a week in September.
The Zarze Almhütte can be booked from spring into autumn — in winter the walk up is not a good idea, and we would rather say so beforehand. The Pietschacher Almhütte and the Breitberg Alm are bookable all year round.
Which of our alps actually has cattle on it at the moment, and when they come back down, we will tell you before you book — it changes from year to year and from farm to farm.
Usually not. Our alpine huts are let for several nights — at the Zarze Almhütte the minimum is two nights, seven in summer. For a single night on a walking tour, a staffed mountain refuge is the better choice.
The Zarze Almhütte in Matrei in East Tyrol at 1,880 metres, in the middle of the Hohe Tauern National Park. Next comes the Pietschacher Almhütte at 1,700 metres in the Gurktal Alps.
Yes. The Zarze Almhütte can be booked from one person and sleeps up to four, and the Waldhüttl in the Karwendel is 20 m² built entirely for two. Either way the hut is yours alone, even if there are only two of you.
Yes, dogs are welcome at all three alpine huts, usually for a small fee per night. At the Zarze Almhütte and the Breitberg Alm the meadow starts at the door; the Alpenrehblick even has a fenced dog garden.
Food and drink for the whole stay, warm clothing, sturdy shoes and a torch. Bed linen, towels, crockery and cookware are provided. At the Zarze Almhütte, pack so that you can carry your luggage uphill for 30 to 45 minutes.
It differs from hut to hut. The Zarze Almhütte runs on solar power and deliberately has no wi-fi — there is mobile reception. The Pietschacher Almhütte has wi-fi, satellite TV and a sauna; the Breitberg Alm has green electricity and electric radiators in the bedrooms.
We have been to every one of these huts ourselves and we know the hosts. Tell us who is coming with you and how far you are happy to carry — we will sort out the rest on the phone.