Chiemgau Hut Tour

Three days, three huts, one circuit above the Priental — and hovering over it all a peak the Chiemgau locals call simply the Flower Mountain.

Chiemgauer Hüttentour is not a trek where you need to strap on crampons and pray for weather on a glacier. It is 32 km over the grassy ridges of the Chiemgau Alps, where instead of firm snow you walk through blankets of alpine flowers, and instead of ropes you trust your own legs. Moderate difficulty, no via ferrata, no exposed chimneys. Yet 2,746 m of climbing over three days — equivalent to climbing up and down from Aschau five times, only with a pack and views worth every step.

Start and finish is Hohenaschau in the Priental, with a view of Kampenwand. From here the route climbs via Hofalm to Riesenhütte (1,345 m) on Riesenalm beneath Hochries. The hut has stood here since 1913 — but note: since autumn 2013 it has been closed indefinitely, so nowadays you sleep higher at Hochrieshütte. That matters to insiders: Hochrieshütte was, when it opened in 1914, the very first ski hut in all of German and Austrian alpine territory. The first. No one had thought before that a hut could be reached on boards.

Day two leads the ridge across Predigtstuhl (1,494 m) and Klausenberg to Spitzsteinhaus (1,252 m). This building has history: built in 1902, it burned to the ground in the winter of 1980 and a new one rose the very next autumn 50 m lower. The walk here is panoramic — all of Priental below, peaks of Chiemgau all around.

Day three is the reward. Via Sachrang and Burgeralm you reach Priener Hütte (1,410 m), a traditional Bavarian hut that the Prien section of Alpenverein opened August 10, 1930 and which today sleeps more than a hundred. And it stands exactly where it should — right below Geigelstein (1,808 m). That is the Flower Mountain: one of the highest peaks in the Chiemgau Alps, on whose slopes grow roughly 720 species of ferns and flowering plants, of which 111 are protected. A nature reserve since 1991. From the summit you see across Reiter Alm and Loferer Steinberge all the way to the High Tatras. A cross and small chapel at the top — and beneath them flowers you will not see elsewhere.

For whom? For anyone wanting to taste a multi-day hut-to-hut trek without a glacier, ropes, and adrenaline-rush exposure. Families with capable children, beginners at mountain huts, anyone who wants three days hearing only cow bells and wind. Want more? The official Chiemgautour continues with a fourth stage across Geigelstein to Kampenwand.

When to go? Hut season is summer, ideally June through September — Geigelstein blooms strongest in spring, but precisely for that reason, from late March through late May, protective closures apply toward Roßalm and Weitlahnerkopf. The flowers come first.

How to book? Sleep arrangements at the huts go through Alpenverein, or directly at individual huts (Priener Hütte is run by the Prien section). Members of DAV/ÖAV pay less for a bed — and during main season, book ahead, not at the door.

Chiemgauer Hüttentour is short. But not small. Three days above Priental, three huts with their own stories, and one Flower Mountain that teaches you to watch where you step. Who said mountains have to hurt to matter?