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Ötztal Alps

The 2965m summit of Schesaplana (Rätikon Alps, Route 3)

An impressive district of 3000m mountains, whose highest summit is the 3772m Wildspitze, the Ötztal Alps contain the largest number of glaciers in the Eastern Alps. Rising east and south of the Inn river, the massif spreads over the border into Italy, but from its glacial heartland, three major valley systems drain northward to the Inn: the Kaunertal, Pitztal and the valley from which it takes its name, the Ötztal, with the neighbouring Stubai Alps immediately to the east of that. The latter valley is fed by the Ventertal and, its upper tributary, the Gurglertal, famed for the winter and summer resort of Obergurgl which, at 1927m, is Tyrol’s highest parish. Other resort villages worth considering for a walking holiday are Sölden, Längenfeld, Mandarfen, Plangeross and Feichten.

Stubai Alps

This complex district, like its neighbours to east and west, has a glacial core and some very fine valleys worth exploring, most of which are easily accessible from Innsbruck. Although primarily a crystalline range, the limestone Kalkkogel, flanking the lower Stubaital, is a Dolomite lookalike across whose southern flank one of Austria’s finest hut tours picks its way towards its close. Numerous huts located at the head of tributary valleys make obvious destinations for walks, while the Stubaier Höhenweg links no less than eight of them in an understandably popular circuit. Of the many resort villages, both Längenfeld and Sölden lie in the Ötztal, Kühtai and Gries im Sellrain give access from the north, while Neustift is the best developed for exploring the mountains above the Stubaital.