An Austrian Hiking & Yoga Retreat: The Perfect Wellness Vacation in the Mountains

The Austrian Alps and the surrounding pristine, verdant landscape are enticing to even the novice hiker.  It’s the sort of place where you step outside, breath in, and physically feel that the air is cleaner and fresher.  There are so many Austrian hiking options, with over 24,000 kilometers of marked routes in the Tirolean Mountains alone and over 100 hiking trails just in the Kals Valley.

Ultimately, I chose MoaAlm Mountain Retreat to help simplify planning and where I could have everything in one place.  Here are just a few reasons to choose Moaalm for your own Austrian hiking vacation.

Eco Conscious Accommodation

Typical Austrian Alpine housing is where mountain chalet dreams are made.  The wooden flower boxes dotting the windowsills, stuffed with brightly colored geraniums is incredibly inviting.  MoaAlm does fantastic job with being comfortable yet environmentally focused.  With only six guest rooms, the B&B style ensures your stay is will be peaceful.  There is a yoga studio on the second floor and the first floor has a stylish seating area and dining space.  The highlight is the wood fire hot tub, overlooking Kals am Grossglockner and the village below.

The building has green initiatives, with sustainable heating and solar panels for hot water. The waste management has the environment in mind, there are little recycling stations on each floor to ensure everyone is thinking about where our garbage goes.  I like that they give you the option to not have your linens changed and linen napkins are used at the dinner table.  Small touches like this show they care about their environment.  You are here to enjoy nature so staying in a place that backs that up with eco choices are important.

Guided Austrian Hiking Trails

Solo female travel has so many perks.  Over the last several years I’ve really enjoyed exploring new places alone.  One thing I’ve found is the more adventurous I am, the more I need to travel in a small group.  I have done several solo hiking trips, but to be honest, it feels unsafe to be out in the wilderness completely on my own.

Grossglockner wasn’t on my radar until I came to Austria.  It’s the highest mountain in the Austrian Alps and it’s a total stunner.  We didn’t summit, but we did have a few days where we hiked above the tree line for some spectacular views.  Even the easier walking trails in the valley are a great way to get out and experience the beauty of the region. Our group of 6 had varying levels of hiking ability but Martin, our guide, found trails that were enjoyable but provided a challenge. National Park Hohe Tauren is the largest in Austria and the biggest park within the European Alps. There is something to do all year round here so you can travel here in the summer or winter.  When the snow starts to fall, Kals morphs into a ski town.

Outstanding Cuisine

Can we just come here for the food?  The running joke at meal time was how many questions can we ask about the cooking.  Everything was prepared perfectly and many of the girls were consistently curious about how to recreate the dishes themselves.  With the exception of a few lunches and one dinner, all meals are prepared by MoaAlm.  Trust me, you will leave feeling pampered.  There is a small garden on the property so salad can be from the ground straight to the table.  The rest of the ingredients are organic and as locally sourced as much as possible.  All of our meals were vegetarian and vegan and we didn’t have a bad dish all week.  Read more about their “Good Food” movement to get an idea about their commitment to healthy cuisine.

Yoga & Mindfullness

Five mornings a week is a restorative yoga session before breakfast.  The opportunity for continual practice is another bonus and the chance to stretch your hiking legs is invaluable. Never tried yoga before?  Don’t worry!  This is a great place to start in a small group setting and you have a daily chance to learn. The motto for MoaAlm is relaxingly active and yoga along with hiking is the perfect combination.

We had six women stay during my time at MoaAlm.  We all came to Austria as strangers and after a week of yoga, hiking, sharing meals and stories we left as friends.  The connections we made may have been one of the surprise highlights of the trip.  It is an added bonus to take a week to relax and explore and then also have such a good time with five other strangers.  The same goes for the staff.  The staff at MoaAlm were friendly, knowledgeable and easy going.  It makes all living under one roof for the week all the more fun when you have people you enjoy being around.  Read more about the team, the types of vacations and then book your own Austrian hiking trip!  Thank you to MoaAlm for hosting such a lovely week, as always the opinions about my stay are truly my own.