Читать книгу Trekking Munich to Venice. The Traumpfad, 'Dream Way', a classic trek across the eastern Alps онлайн

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What’s the walking like?

As well as passing through superlative scenery the Munich to Venice trail neatly combines challenge with accessibility. Although it stays within the magic zone between treeline (1800m) and snowline (2800m) for much of the way, valleys do have to be crossed and descents made, with varying levels of ease. It’s a safe and accessible route, providing sensible caution is taken with the weather, and largely avoids the skiing areas which scar the landscape in many places (the chief exceptions being the Sella massif and the Hintertux Glacier). Although the route is rarely crowded, this is not a walk for those seeking solitude, despite spending so many days above 2000m.

How hard is it?

Climbing out the Val de Tita (Stage 17) with the help of fixed cables

Ludwig designed his Munich to Venice backpacking route for ‘any able-bodied walker’. By this he meant walkers who were happy to walk for around thirty days, carrying seven kilogrammes for around seven hours a day and climbing an average of a thousand metres a day. Ludwig was a German and an Alpinist so he assumed walkers would have a head for heights, which is an essential requirement on several short exposed stretches. On the most exposed sections there are fixed steel ropes and pegs driven into a rock face to help you progress. This is a common feature of Alpine walking and something the average German or Austrian takes for granted but which you might find challenging the first time you come across it. Most of these stretches are near the most spectacular sections of the route, however, and it would be a shame to miss them.