The Alpe Adria Trail is a beautiful long-distance hiking trail in Europe. It consists of 37 stages and runs from the Alps in Austria through Slovenia to the Adria coast in Italy. To complete every stage of the trail you would need roughly 5-6 weeks. This is quite a long time, which you might not be able spare right now. But don’t worry, you don’t need to. I put together a 2-week itinerary that allows you to hike the most scenic stages along the Alpe Adria trail from Austria to Slovenia.

Which are the Most Scenic Stages of the Alpe Adria Trail?

The most scenic stages on the Alpe Adria Trail are hard to define because it depends so much on what you love. Each and every stage has its own magic, unique sights, and mesmerizing nature. However, this 2-week itinerary consists of 13 incredibly beautiful stages, that will likely take your breath away every single day. By using transfers in between some of the stages, I tried to include a little bit of everything nature has to offer on the Alpe Adria Trail in Austria & Slovenia. Dark green pine forests, beautiful lake views, buzzing wildflower meadows, alms, rippling streams, and emerald rivers.

Overview of my 2-week itinerary for the Alpe Adria Trail (week 1)

1. Day: Through deep pine forests to the highest church in Kärnten
(Stage 03 AAT Döllach - Marterle)

2. Day: Mesmerizing views into the Möll valley
(Stage 04 AAT Marterle - Stall)

3. Day: Dazzling heights and a journey in time
(Stage 05 AAT Stall - Innerfragrant)

4. Day: Magical nature on the path to an old mountaineering village
(Stage 06 AAT Innerfragant - Mallnitz)

5. Day: Windy Ascends to Deliciously Rewarding Alm Treats
(Stage 12 AAT Seeboden - Millstätter Alpe)

6. Day: Resting With Marvelous Lake Views and Hearty Food

7. Day: A Stunning Sunrise over the Nock Mountains
(Stage 12 AAT Millstätter Alpe - Döbriach)

Below I’ll go into a little more detail on each stage, including accommodation recommendations, pictures, and some tips and tricks on the road. You can also jump directly to week 2.

Day 1: Through deep pine forests to the highest church in Kärnten

Route: Döllach to Marterle
Distance: 18,3km
Elevation: 1168m (-318m)
Accommodation: Alpengasthaus Marterle

We’re starting off with stage 3 of the Alpe Adria Trail. This stage takes you from the romantic little village Döllach along to the emerald Möll river up to the traditional Alm guest house Marterle. It’s a demanding stage covering around 1.500m of elevation and some steep ascends. However, it rewards you with beautiful forests, vast meadows, and some pretty sweet lunch break spots. At the end of the stage, you’ll reach one of the highest pilgrimage churches of Kärnten along with a spectacular view into the Möll valley and some rewardingly hearty and traditional Austrian food, most likely cooked by the lovely host Erika herself.

Day 2: Mesmerizing views into the Möll valley

Route: from Marterle to Stall
Distance: 11,1km
Elevation: 67m (-1068m)
Accommodation: Mölltaler Apartments (I would recommend trying one of the other options in the village: Gasthof Dorfschenke or Gasthaus Postwirt)

On a beautiful clear morning, this stage offers you the most instagramable views you could only dream of. It leads across vast alp meadows where numerous cows are grazing while always overlooking the winding Möll valley. Make sure to use one of your breaks to close your eyes and listen to the beautiful sound of the cowbells echoing from and around the surrounding mountains. Following an old smuggler’s path, the adventurous leg through the Loisengraben will challenge even the more experienced hikers, rewarding you with the feeling of great accomplishment once you’ve found and completed it. I stayed at Mölltaler Apartments because both other accommodations were fully booked. And while the owners were super nice, I wasn’t convinced by the food or the room. I’d recommend trying one of the other two options in the village.

Day 3: Dazzling heights and a journey in time

Route: Stall to Flattach (inkl. Transfer from Innerfragant to Flattach)
Distance: 20,3km
Elevation: 1255m (-1006m)
Accommodation: Flattacher Hof

This is an incredibly beautiful stage, which is well worth the effort. It’s one of the more difficult ones on the trail, with an ascent of roughly 1200m elevation. However, if you’re really exhausted from the previous days, there is a possibility for a transfer to take you up to Sonnenberg (saving you a good 500m of elevation). This stage is said to be a journey in time as you’ll walk along an old school path, pass the ruins of a former castle, and use an old mine track as a hiking path. Along the entire stage, the views are spectacular. The Goldberghütte is an ideal place to have a hearty lunch while dreamily gazing over the central Möll valley. The stage ends in Innerfragant, however, most hotels here are closed during the off-season. Your best option is to take a transfer at the end of the stage to Flattach. This has the added benefit, that tomorrow’s stage is a little shorter (and you’re not really missing anything as you’ve already seen the views on Möll valley today).

Day 4: Magical nature on the path to an old mountaineering village

Route: Flattach to Mallnitz
Distance: 18,99km
Elevation: 1074m (-573m)
Accommodation: Haus Waldruhe Mallnitz

If you’ve stayed in Flattach instead of Innerfragant, you’ve saved yourself a few kilometers on today’s stage. I still found it challenging enough, though, so don’t worry you won’t be bored. The stage is extremely varied and you will experience changing scenery and views along the way, each of them more beautiful than the last. Passing through deep pine forests where you might see a deer or two, along open meadows with wildflowers and buzzing insects all around you. You’ll pass through several alms, ideal for a hearty lunch or coffee break. If you prefer to take a quiet break by yourself, there are also several benches with views that just seem unreal. Reaching the old mountaineering village Mallnitz on gorgeous, winding paths almost feels like magic - and it maybe actually is a little bit magical. Overall the stage is demanding, yet unparalleled in its variety of stunning nature.

Day 5: Windy Ascends to Deliciously Rewarding Alm Treats

Transfer: Mallnitz to Seeboden (Tangern)
Route: Tangern (Pichlhütte) to Millstätter Alp (Alexanderhütte)
Distance: 21,6km
Elevation: 1644m (-440m)
Accommodation: Alexanderhütte

I do recommend a slightly different route, though, which comes in a lot shorter and sports less elevation to cover.

This stage starts off with an early morning transfer from Mallnitz to Tangern, slightly north of Seeboden. I’d highly recommend having the transfer take you up all the way to the Pichlhütte as the road up is not very scenic, running solely on concrete serpentine streets with few views. The Millstätter Alp is known for strong winds and this was indeed the windiest stage along my entire journey. However, the breathtaking views of Seeboden and the Millstätter lake more than makeup for the windy ascend. Rather than hiking the regular route past Sommereggerhütte, I recommend taking a short cut which will grant you incredible views over Millstätter lake and take you directly to Alexanderhütte (I accidentally found this due to forest works blocking the regular way and was super happy with this coincidence). On the next day, you can do an easy 3-hour hike up the Tschiernock mountain to see the 3 summits of 3.000m around. The stay at Alexanderhütte was the best one on my entire trip. The food is not only unbelievably delicious but also very nourishing and healthy. To top things off, the beds are super comfy, the common room incredibly cozy and the entire team is such lovely people, you might just want to stay and hang around there for the rest of the trip.

Day 6: Resting With Marvelous Lake Views and Hearty Food

Route: Rest day at Alexanderhütte - optional small hike to Tschiernockl
Distance: 8,61
Elevation: 311m (-384m)
Accommodation: Alexanderhütte

Taking a break is incredibly important. Your body needs this time to recharge and replenish so that you’re prepared for the challenges and journey lying ahead. Luckily, there is no better place to do this than Alexanderhütte. The cozy guest room is extremely welcoming and you want to just sit by the window, or outside on the patio and savor the views over Millstätter lake all day long. And you can! From breakfast to lunch to an afternoon treat and dinner, the lovely team at the Alm will spoil you with the most delicious food you will eat on the entire trip. And if you just can’t get enough of walking and are craving some more stunning views you can even do a relatively easy 3-hour hike up to Tschiernockl summit (and if you time it well, you don’t even need to miss a single meal).

Day 7: A Stunning Sunrise over the Nock Mountains

Route: Millstätter Alp to Dörrach
Distance: 22,8
Elevation: 516m (-1726m)
Accommodation: Hotel Post

The route of stage 13 of the Alpe Adria trail first leads up to the highest summit of the Nock mountains, the Kamplnock at 2201m. This is an excellent spot to watch the sun rise over the absolutely stunning mountain scenery of the Nockberge Biosphere Reserve. You do need to get up rather early, though (as in really early). Check the time of sunrise online and plan to leave Alexanderhütte a solid hour beforehand. Pack some breakfast and head out in the dead of night. It’s not only extremely moody to hike through the break of dawn but also a once-in-a-lifetime experience to see the sunrise over the mountains on the horizon. Absolutely worth it and you’ll basically (not literally, please) fly down the mountain after this experience. While the ascend is relatively steady, it’s quite a long one nonetheless. After half of it, you might get a nice hot morning coffee at Lammersdorfer Hütte, though. At the end of the day, you can even reward yourself with a cooling swim in Millstätter if you fancy.

On to Week 2!

And with this, you’ve already completed week 1 of my 2-week itinerary for the Alpe Adria Trail. I hope I could inspire you and give you some useful information as well. And it gets even better. Week 2 awaits you with a few more lakes, several fascinating gorges, and of course, crossing the border to Slovenia! Here’s on to week 2.

Or are you all pumped to get packing already? In this case, check out my full packing list for hiking the Alpe Adria Trail in spring.