The Lechweg Trail: A Wonderful Alpine Walk Without the Big Passes

By Tali Emdin

The Lechweg Trail is an 8 or 10 day self-guided walk of approximately 125km, following the turquoise Lech River from its source at Lake Formarinsee, near the alpine village of Lech am Arlberg in Austria, to the Lechfall waterfall in Füssen, Germany. I walked the eight-day version, the Lechweg Trail Hike, from 20 to 27 June 2026. The itinerary is graded Moderate (Grade 3) and includes overnight stays in comfortable 3 or 4 star hotels.

The trail officially opened in 2012, created to protect one of the last remaining wild river landscapes in Europe. Unlike many Alpine rivers that have been heavily dammed or channelled, the Lech still flows naturally for much of its length, creating a network of gravel banks, channels and floodplain forests. It has been recognised with a "Leading Quality Trails – Best of Europe" certification from the European Ramblers Association.

Overall Impression

The Lechweg turned out to be a wonderful Alpine experience, without the big mountain passes and long ascents and descents I might have expected.

The scenery was outstanding throughout, with beautiful alpine villages, turquoise rivers, mountain lakes and excellent infrastructure. Navigation was generally straightforward, following the trail markings and the app. We hardly used the app, as the waymarking is excellent.

Accommodation standards were consistently good in traditional Austrian guesthouses, except there was only air conditioning in a couple of hotels. AC isn't standard throughout Europe. Luggage transfers worked well.

• Good breakfasts
• Comfortable rooms
• Luggage delivery on time
• Wellness facilities at several properties

Having not walked in an alpine environment before, I was surprised at how gravelly the tracks are. You're walking on forestry access roads and lots of gravel paths, which are extremely hard and rocky underfoot. In the forests there are lots of tree roots and rocks to look out for. Hiking poles were extremely useful.

A lot of the walk is exposed, so in 32 degrees it was hot. We took every opportunity to dip our hats and feet into the river and streams, or go for a swim.

Walkers on the trail were a mix of people booked mainly through Euro Hike and pack-carrying walkers. The majority were from Germany and Austria. We spoke with two English couples who'd both booked direct with Euro Hike, and there was an American women's walking group doing a modified version with a local guide.

Sustainable Practices

We found Austria overall to be a very clean environment, in the villages and towns we passed through. All hotels had refillable soap and shampoo containers; only one also had small soaps wrapped in plastic.

In restaurants and bars, most drinks come in glass bottles, with very little plastic. Supermarkets have cashback bottle returns, and at swimming pools and mountain restaurants you can drop your bottles into crates for recycling.

There was very little rubbish. We picked up between 5 and 10 pieces a day, most of it rubber from shoes, hiking pole tips, one water bottle, paper and food wrappers. Unfortunately we did come across small amounts of toilet paper close to or on the trail on a few days.

Quite a few people walk with dogs, and the trail is set up for this with bins and bags dotted along the route. You'll also cross paths with cows and horses on a few days; walk wide of them, keep quiet and keep a watchful eye.

Breakfast & Food Costs

Breakfast was a typical European spread: cereals, yoghurts, breads, fruit, meat, cheeses, tea, coffee, boiled eggs and sometimes a hot buffet. I didn't take any photos, as hikers are up early and queuing before the buffet opens.

• Large beer: €5–6
• Large bottled water: €4.50
• Large Coke: €4.50
• Typical evening meal: €20–25

Arrival & Transport

Arrival was straightforward, flying direct from London to Innsbruck from Gatwick. Passport control was straightforward and luggage collection quick. We landed at 11.50am and were on the bus by 12.20pm.

The airport bus is Route F, stopping immediately outside the terminal and departing every 20 minutes. The fare is €3.40, purchased from the machine at the bus stop.

At Innsbruck railway station you can purchase one ticket covering the train to Langen am Arlberg and the connecting bus to Lech, which is easier than buying separate tickets. The train is comfortable, with reserved and unreserved seating, and takes about 1 hour 15 minutes; sit on the right-hand side for the best mountain views. From Langen am Arlberg, the bus stop is immediately to the left of the station (25 minutes to Lech), with luggage stored underneath. It drops off in the centre, and Lech is small and easy to walk to your hotel from there.

Day 1: Arrival in Lech am Arlberg

Our hotel, the 3 star Hotel Garni Schneider, is run by a lovely mother and daughter team, located right next to the cable car station in the centre of town. There's no restaurant on site for dinner, but there's an outside terrace if you want a drink in the evening. Tourist tax was €10.30 per person for two nights.

The hotel provides the Lech Card, giving two days' use of the hiking bus, selected chairlift access, and access to the swimming pool you pass on the first walking day. We also received a Travel Wallet at check-in, with luggage tags and instructions, a hotel list, a reply-paid feedback form (with the chance to win a EUR300, 200 or 100 voucher at the end of the year), a letter with our meeting time, a coaster with information in German about sharing photos on Facebook and Instagram, a business card with the service phone number, and a pen.

Euro Hike has a representative in Lech who holds a welcome briefing on day 1, between 5pm and 7pm depending on your hotel. If you want to arrive comfortably before a 5pm briefing, don't leave Innsbruck later than the 1.16pm train.

We arrived on the summer solstice, so we used the Lech Card to catch the Rufikopf cable car to the top station, where they'd lit a bonfire and set out lanterns around the tracks. The cable car normally shuts at 5.30pm, but the restaurant at the top stayed open late, so we had a traditional Austrian dinner up there. Restaurants don't serve tap water, so we had to buy bottled.

Day 2: Formarinsee to Lech am Arlberg (14km)

The first bus to Formarinsee leaves at 8.21am and is included in the Lech Card. It was full, standing room only. I thought a lot of people must be walking the trail, but it's actually a very popular day walk; the numbers thinned out further along.

Most passengers just went to the trailhead rather than down to the lake. Some walked the section around the lake on the wide path, and only a handful completed the full circuit.

Formarinsee sits at 1,793m, beneath the limestone cliffs of the Rote Wand, and marks one of the main sources of the River Lech. It's a striking spot, and not just to my eyes: it was voted Austria's most beautiful place in 2015. The circuit is approximately 4km on a well-maintained path; at the top you pass Freiburger Hütte, a mountain refuge where you can stop for coffee, cakes and other refreshments (too early in the day for us). The second half becomes an alpine walking track, requiring careful footing, occasional hand support and rougher terrain.

On the walk back to Lech, the descent is a gentle, easy walk through alpine meadows, and the mountain scenery is stunning. Visually this was the most gorgeous of all the days. We didn't use the app and just followed the waymarking. Near the end of the walk, about 20 minutes from Lech, you reach the local swimming pool by the river in the forest; the Lech Card gives free access, so we stopped for a beer and a dip.

Not many restaurants were open that evening, and the scale ran from high-end hotel restaurants to pasta. The only traditional restaurant was serving schnitzels for €35, so we opted for €18 pastas at an Italian place instead.

Day 3: Walk to Warth, then on to Steeg (26km)

If you finish in Warth, you can start later, have a leisurely breakfast, picnic along the river and then catch the bus to Steeg. Being purists, we walked the full day. It's worth knowing that the trip notes actually rate this one Moderate to Challenging if you skip the bus and walk the whole section, so it's not just us being precious about it.

Starting uphill out of Lech, you walk along the Lech Valley, crossing fields with great views of the surrounding mountains and villages. There are some mildly steep uphill sections as you climb above Lech Gorge, along forest tracks with tree roots to watch for. You make your way back down to the river before a short, steep gravel track leads into a forest, which you switchback through into Warth.

In Warth we stopped at the dairy and butcher's shop for a schnitzel sandwich (€7) and at the Spa Market for snacks and cold drinks. There's also a natural swimming lake.

The walk out of Warth follows a lovely panorama trail above the river, overlooking the town. You start by dropping down to the river, then back up onto the trail through fields of spring flowers. The route winds through villages and hamlets with views of the valley and the river's turquoise water below.

The final descent into the forest is a gravel switchback road, about 4km, which was the least enjoyable section of the day and considerably harder on the knees. A welcome surprise at the end of it was a drinks trough with an honesty box. The heat was real. You then follow the river for a while into Steeg, which sits in the Lechtal Nature Park.

Our hotel, the Styrolerhof Hotel & Wirtshaus, was 3km outside Steeg. We had a complimentary voucher for cheese at the local dairy, Sojer, which supplies the "Lechweg Cheese" that comes as part of the trip, so we stopped and ordered sandwiches instead, which were also included, and enjoyed them on the terrace with a couple of beers. We caught the last bus at 6.15pm to our accommodation. We were spent. Tourist tax was €3.40 per person.

Day 4: Walk to Elbigenalp (18km)

Our hotel was right across the road from the trail, so it was easy to rejoin. This was a good day in that you walk along the Jochweg path beside the river before reaching Holzgau, which has colourful painted houses. You then continue uphill to the 200m long Holzgau Suspension Bridge (a head for heights is required). I took Scott's word that the views were good. There's an honesty box to pay €2 to cross, and it isn't policed.

You also walk past the Jochelspitzbahn cable car. There's a restaurant at the bottom of the station and also at the top; we stopped at the bottom for a drink, since it shuts from midday to 1pm, then headed up for a wander using our Lechtal Aktiv Card, enjoying stunning views and a break before continuing on through meadows and forest paths to Elbigenalp.

Our hotel, the 4 star Gasthof Stern, was on the edge of town, family run, with traditional Austrian décor. As it was the start of the season, they were only serving guests staying at the property on a set menu, so we wandered into town instead and ate at Café Restaurant zur Geierwally, which had a great salad bar as part of the meal and generous mains. No tourist tax was payable.

Day 5: Walk to Stanzach (20km)

From Elbigenalp, the Lechweg continues through the heart of the Lechtal Nature Park, on forest paths, open meadows and riverside trails, through the picturesque villages of Häselgehr and Elmen, where traditional Tyrolean farmhouses and mountain scenery reflect the region's alpine heritage. Somewhere along this stretch is the Doser waterfall, a strange local landmark that, according to tradition, only flows between late April and mid-November.

As the trail approaches Stanzach, the river broadens into one of the largest gravel riverbeds in the Alps, home to an abundance of birdlife; there are signs along the river asking you not to step down onto the riverbeds during breeding season. This section reminded us of rivers in Alaska. From the swinging chair, you make your way down to the valley floor and into Stanzach.

Our hotel, the 3 star Hotel Garni Waldhof, was on the edge of town next to the river, family run, with an honesty system for drinks and snacks in reception. If you get talking to the owner about the hundreds of solar panels on his roofs and his electric car charging ports, expect schnapps to follow; at one point I found Scott and Tony up ladders looking at panels. No tourist tax was payable.

We were pointed towards the only restaurant open in the village, Gasthof Post, serving dinner between 5.30pm and 7.30pm. Lost in translation, we thought we were ordering a steak sandwich; what arrived was pork in a mystery sauce.

Day 6: Walk to Höfen (19km)

This is a very flat, easy walk, with a lot of exposed gravel sections, close to the river for most of the day. The trail passes through Forchach and skirts the Lechzopf, a braided stretch of the river where the water splits into multiple channels weaving through gravel banks, one of the wildest-looking sections of the whole valley. You follow powerlines for a while, past the Moosberg Nature Reserve and the village of Weissenbach, which makes for a relaxed day despite sounding unglamorous on paper.

This allows time to stop and swim at the quarry lake, a highlight of the trip. The water was clear and cool, and we didn't want to leave. If doing this day again, I'd recommend leaving a little later, since it's not far into the day's walk, organising a picnic lunch at the hotel and spending a good few hours here.

Our hotel, Hotel Garni Die Lilie, was on the edge of town, across from the airport where gliders were taking off (Scott was in his happy place). Reception opened between 4pm and 6.30pm; they have seating outside, and there's a supermarket down the road, so we picked up some drinks and waited with the other walkers.

Close to the hotel was a pizza restaurant, but we stuck to tradition and walked about 20 minutes up into town with a German couple to a bar and restaurant instead.

Day 7: Walk to Pflach or Füssen (26km)

You could feel the nervous tension in the breakfast room, with people deciding what to do; I believe the heat was a deciding factor for a lot of walkers. There were three options: walk to Pflach and bus to Füssen; take the river route to Pflach, cutting out 5km and a short steep climb but missing the lake; or walk the whole section as a purist. Those out of the breakfast room quickly, we knew, were heading out to complete the section. That included us, and this is the other day the trip notes bump up to Moderate to Challenging if you walk it in full.

You start by walking along the panoramic path above the Reutte valley basin, then a short, steep climb up to the Costaries Chapel, where there are shady seats. Descend through the forest to Frauensee, a swimming lake with a restaurant; we knew we had a long day and it was getting hotter, so we stopped for a quick swim before heading downhill to Pflach.

On the way to Pflach there's a nature reserve and a 20m observation tower over the wetlands. In Pflach we found the supermarket for ice creams, drinks and sugar before continuing the final stretch into Füssen; at this stage we were feeling good.

Crossing the railway line, you start a steady, gradual climb towards the German border and into Bavaria, along forest and woodland paths and down towards the Alpsee, catching glimpses of Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein Castle. There's a visible change in the forest as you head towards the border: more vegetation, thicker growth, no logging, and cooler air. Scott went back and forth past the border marker a few times, making sure it was actually the border. It is.

From here you switchback along the forest and down towards the Alpsee, where you can turn right for a swim and continue around that side of the lake, or turn left, following the Lechweg waymarks, towards Füssen. We went left, thinking there'd be swimming around that side too, but there wasn't. It became a bit of a trek towards the end; the views were lovely, but the heat had made the day harder. The route finally climbs up to the Kalvarienberg and its churches before descending to the Lech Falls and the end of the Lechweg Trail. Walked as signposted, it's a 32km day.

From the falls it's about 20 minutes into town. We stopped by the river to dunk our feet (Scott threw himself in) before heading to our hotel, the Best Western Plus. It's located outside the main centre, closer to the train station. Having been to Füssen before, I was a little disappointed we weren't in a more traditional property, but I soon changed my thinking: the room and the air conditioning were great, and because we arrived after 8pm it was easy to have dinner at the hotel, since most restaurants stop serving at 9pm. My ankles had also had enough.

Do I Recommend This Walk?

Absolutely, for those wanting a moderate grade walk that isn't too hard on the knees (poles recommended), that lets you hike through lovely alpine environments while staying in traditional Austrian accommodation. Most sections of the walk have opportunities to catch buses and shorten the day.

Who doesn't want to catch cable cars in the middle of their walk and marvel at the surrounding views while enjoying a Radler? Who doesn't want to go swimming in alpine lakes, rivers and quarries?

How fit do you really have to be? A moderate level is recommended to enjoy it, though the heat at this time made it harder than expected, especially with the long exposed sections. Lech Cards are provided each day, covering buses, pools and cable cars.

Leaving Füssen

There's a small train station with connections to Munich, with one or two changes. DB trains haven't been coping well with the heat and, according to locals, have gone downhill in general; we had cancelled trains and delays.

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Thanks to Scott, for being my model for most of the pictures, and to my physiotherapist: I don't think I've ever travelled with so much ibuprofen, kinesiology tape, resistance bands and recovery balls. My Achilles made it!

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