Hiking is a wonderful way to spend your free time, don’t you think? And the best thing about hiking? You only need your feet and comfortable clothes and shoes. Depending on the length of the tour, you should probably bring along something to eat and drink as well.

Exercising in the fresh air is not only a sustainable form of recreation, it is also good for you. Walking is particularly good for your heart: the risk of cardiovascular disease is reduced by regular walking, as is your blood pressure. It also improves your mood, as hiking produces endorphins that help fight mood swings, depression and anxiety.

We’ve hand-picked a few walking tours near our Green Pearls® partners to inspire your next getaway.

High up to the South Tyrolean Rittner

How about an excursion to South Tyrol, for example? On the Rittner high plateau there are a variety of hiking tours and two Green Pearls® partners to welcome you: the ADLER Lodge RITTEN and the APIPURA Hotel Rinner.

Small villages and hamlets and picturesque farms await you in the heart of the beautiful alpine landscape. You can look forward to a variety of attractions. For example, the fascinating earth pyramids, the pilgrimage church of Maria-Saal or the bee museum.

And if your feet are still sore from a hike the day before: a ride on the Rittnerbahndl (Rittner Railway), inaugurated in 1907, from Klobenstein to Oberbozen is an experience not to be missed – and at the same time a little journey back in time. Always accompanied by the dreamlike scenery of the Dolomites, you can also set off for more distant tours – or enjoy a relaxed return trip.

More distant tours start by train

One such hiking route is the South Tyrolean Heaven Tour – albeit with a different cable car. There is, in fact, a third cable car on the Rittner – the Bergbahn Rittnerhorn. The mountain station of the Rittnerhorn cable car at the Schwarzseespitze is the starting and ending point for a great hiking route. On the 16.5-kilometre-long trail you will cover 980 metres in altitude and be on your way for about five to six hours. The magnificent views really make this loop a heavenly experience. First you have a view of the Sarntal Alps and then, once you have climbed the Rittner Horn, a magnificent panorama of the Dolomite peaks opens up.

In addition, a few sights await you on the way, such as the so-called Round Table, the alpine rock garden at Unterhorn and the mountain pine oil distillery at the Barbianer Alm.

Wellness after long hiking tours

In the evening, you can indulge in seasonal and regional specialities in the restaurant of the ADLER Lodge RITTEN. As of this year, there is even a new hotel garden where the ADLER grows many of the foods they use in the kitchen themselves – it doesn’t get more regional than that!

Or you can relax your muscles in the hotel’s own spa area. Here you will have the feeling of being completely surrounded by nature. The sun reflects in the panorama pool. The fire crackles in the relaxation oases. The scent of herbs wafts out of the sauna. The ADLER Lodge RITTEN has four such lovingly designed treatment oases where you can enjoy treatments close to nature.

Or you can treat yourself to a soothing Api Wellness treatment at Hotel Rinner, where you will be able to enjoy inhaling rich beehive air. Bees bring other valuable ingredients into the hive in addition to nectar, such as essential oils, flavonides from honey, pollen, wax and propolis. These are released into the hive air by the heat and by the ventilation that the bees generate with their wings. And it is precisely this precious hive air that you can breathe in during a unique Api Wellness treatment!

Past the waterfall to the summit

The Allgäu is also known for its breathtaking (in the truest sense of the word 😉​) hiking trails. Balderschwang offers fantastic tours, whether you are a beginner or a hiking expert.

Balderschwang is a tranquil village in the Oberallgäu and is located directly on the Austrian border. It is also the starting point for the Scheuenrunde – a beautiful circular hike through the landscape of the Nagelfluh Alps with many highlights. On this loop, you hike past the impressive, roughly 20-metre-high Scheuen waterfall and then come over a steep pass into the alpine high moors. Still feeling good? Then you can make a detour to the summit of the Piesenkopf. The tour is also suitable for beginners and families. You need to be in good shape, but technically the trail is not too difficult.

However, you should plan this special tour a little later in the year, otherwise you may have to cross one or two snowfields in June. The start and finish for the approximately six-hour hike is the “Am Anger” car park on Riedbergstraße.

The Mountain Spring Spa of the HUBERTUS Mountain Refugio Allgäu offers you the relaxation you need after this treck. With four saunas and various wellness treatments, any tension will be massaged out before it can even take hold. On the roof, you can end the day in the alpine Zen garden with a Japanese Onsen.

Conquer the highest mountain in Spain

You prefer it a little warmer? Then how about a hike up Spain’s highest mountain? It’s on Tenerife, and rises impressively from the horizon as you look south from the OCÉANO Health Spa Hotel. Tenerife’s most famous nature reserve is undoubtedly the Parque National del Teide, which surrounds the volcano. In the gigantic crater landscape around the 3718-metre-high island volcano, you will feel as if you have been transported to another planet. The Teide National Park was even declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007.

The structure of the caldera, i.e. the basin in which the Teide is located, and its structure are unique in the world. The Teide itself was not formed in one step. The Teide-Pico Viejo complex is a stratified volcano formed by several successive eruptions.

Save the climb? Also no problem!

However, the park is also particularly worth seeing because of its hundreds of volcanic cones, solidified lava flows and caves. This also accounts for its great scientific and scenic importance. Added to this are its rich fauna and flora, with a great variety of Canary Island endemics species that you will find exclusively in this park.

If you don’t want to take the high road, there is also a cable car to the volcano, which will take you up the 3,555 metres in less than 10 minutes 😉

You can also combine your hikes in the north of Tenerife with one of the OCÉANO’s individually tailored health programmes. 

If you are looking for more hiking tips, check out our newsletter on this topic – or wait until Friday, when we’ll take another look at the Austrian and Swiss Alps.

We are curious: Where do you like to go hiking? Tell us or send us a snapshot on Instagram!

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