Way off topic here. Are there any long distance hiking trails in southern Germany, Austria, and/or Switzerland? When I google this subject I just get ads for tour companies.
bowlegs
Germany, usw - Long Distance Trails
system
#2
Hi Bowlegs,
there are quite a few long distance hiking trails in Germany, but other then in the US, camping is only allowed at campgrounds. So almost everybody stays at lodges along the trail. Hence the hiking is less strenous, as you do not need to carry as many things but more expensive that way.
A good website to see a list of (probably) all long distance hikes in Europe is http://fernwege.de. This website is in German but at least it gives you a graphical idea where all these trails are located, which terrain they cover and how long they are.
My number one pick is the Goldsteig trail (http://www.goldsteig-wandern.de), its roughly 400 miles long, the north part is very remotely, goes through the Bavarian National Forest, and has a lot of mountains to climb. That part always reminds me of the Georgia part of the AT without the hassle of to much weight in the packpack…
Happy Hiking,
Steamin’ Mountain
Steamin’ Mountain
system
#3
Check out the 2007 journal for Rocky & Swamp Fox for the via Alpina. We only did the country of Slovenia. The via Alpina is a 3000 mile system of trails thru Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and France. Some spectacular stuff.
swamp Fox
system
#5
Forgot to mention there is via Alpina.com web site. The maps 're for a preliminary plan only. You can search the web for more detailed stuff at 1:50,000
swampfox