Stage 17 From Koszeg to Budapest

If I make it to Hungary I guess I'll feel like running to Budapest. I'll be desperate to finish and get home. The pre-occupation with finishing could be a shame as the last stage of the walk looks completely different to anything that has gone before and special. The E4 in Hungary follows the route of the Countryside Blue Tour which can claim to the first long distance hiking trail in Europe (although other E4 parts can make that claim) and is without doubt the most important walk in Hungary. After crossing a whole series of mountain ranges since leaving Tarifa it has also has the attraction of being relatively flat.

The Countrywide Blue Route

After struggling to get quality information on the E4 route through Austria, alignment of E4 with the Countryside Blue Tour means you don't have this problem in Hungary. The information available online is the best so far with two outstanding sites, available in English and both called Countryside Blue Tour, one maintained by Peter Istvan Papics and the other by Horpolin and Son.   I used both to develop my proposed itinerary.

Have been to Budapest twice before, the first time about 15 years ago and the second 5.   The first time I stayed in the famous Hotel Gellert and swam in the Gellert Thermal Baths which are a definite once in a lifetime must.  Budapest is a really lovely city which given the quality of the buildings must have been very properous in the period running up to the First World War. It feels to me a bit like Paris.

Although I never got out of the city on either visit I did visit the Budapest Central Market.  As well as another wonderful building, buzzing like markets should, it is full of "produce" all pointing to a lush and rich Hungarian countryside.

Budapest bears witness to the prosperity of the country running up to the First World War but after that it went through a period of sustained turmoil from which it only emerged following the collapse of the Soviet Union.  Although the country's economy is suffering following the recent recession its success over the last twenty years has been huge.

Given that I will inevitably be looking to home and the end of the trek the route from the border to Budapest is not very direct.  In fact it meanders both at the macro level, heading south then north and finally south again, and at the micro level, with some of the loops being so complete they almost form circles.  As well as linking the country from border to border (I'm justing doing the western half) the aim is clearly to visit as many of the local highlights as possible.

This is not a mountainous walk but nor is it completely flat.  Based on the huge quantity of pictures on both web-sites there is almost the look of some English countryside with the long views, hills protruding from what would otherwise be a plain and very green.  The architecture is completely different and we are back to hill-top towns and ruined castles.

The itinerary I have developed assumes both fairly level walking, body fully functioning, and a desire to get to Budapest quickly.  It assumes 16 days of walking which is not going to break any world records but is cracking on.

The itinerary is attached and involves identified accommodation at every stop-over (assuming you can stay at the Gyangyosi Inn on Day 5).

After Koszeg particular highlights look like being the hill top towns of Sarvar, Sumeg (with Hungary's best preserved hill top fortress) and Nagyazsony; the huge inland Lake Balaton and the special landscape of the Balaton National Park as well as what looks like lots of protected woodland.

Budapest of course, as well as the end of walk,  a highlight for that, is also a special place to visit.

Some of the sites along the way.

Savar

Sumeg

Rock formations in the Balaton National Park

Lake Balaton

Budapest

Stage 16 Spital am Pyhrn to the Hungarian Border

Stage 16 is a 14 day walk mainly along eastern end of the Nordalpiner 01 Weitwanderweg to the Austrian border with Hungary.  Crossing from the Upper Austria region and joining the 01 in Styria, the eastern end is perhaps a bit less demanding than the route through the Lechtaler Alps in the west of Austria.  There is still some tough walking, however, before the descent into gentler countryside running up to the Hungarian border and beyond.

Perhaps not as famous as the Austrian Lake District in Stage 15 the route still visits some special places.  The Gesause National Park, with its dramatic limestone landscape, looks particularly good (days 2 and 3) but so does the Hochshwab, another limestone range, and the Murztaler Alps, the last high altitude part of the E4.

Working out an itinerary has not been easy and it may still need some revision.  Again I have had to use a German language guide without being able to speak or read German.  The NordAlpiner Weitwanderweg 01 by Wurst/Rachoy/Messeritsch seems to be the definitive guide and forms the basis for the itinerary in Wikipedia.  It goes from east to west however and doesn't always work the other way.   Long days involving descent become longer days when your climbing.

The proposed approach to joining up with the E4 in Hungary is also very confusing.  The route, using the 01, takes you to the Neusiedler See and then back again before heading south to the Austrian Hungarian border. Makes me tired even thinking about it so I'm cutting that loop off, heading south at Semmering, joining the 02 and then the 07 before crossing the border into Hungary.  If your really interested there is a clever little graphic on the OEAV website which helps - I also have the Osterreichische Weitwanderweg map (1:800,000!) and Google Earth.

Anyway the net impact of all this is positive in terms of journey time.  Instead of the 19 days proposed by Wikipedia I race to the border in 15 - could be in Hungary for the beginning of September.

The proposed itinerary is attached as a link.

After 2 tough days at the end of of the previous stage the first day of Stage 15 is a fairly gentle  6 hour walk to Admont, the gateway to the Gesause National Park and home to a famous abbey.

Admont Abbey

Hess Hutte with Hochter behind

On Day 2 you have two options, a high route over the top of a limestone massif or a not so high route around the side.  Either way the target is Johnsbach and even with the not so high route it's a 1,000 metre climb and a 30 km walk.  The standard itinerary based on east to west, would have added to this with a climb up to Hess Hutte.  Instead I propose to do this on Day 3 and then carry down to Radmer am Stube, a 24 km walk with 800 metres of climb.

Day 4 is a 20 km walk to the iron ore town of Eisenez - been mining iron for over 800 years.

Leopoldsteiner Lake

Day 5 takes you up to the famous Leopoldsteiner Lake and then onto the Sonnschien Hutte.  It's a 25 km walk with an 800 metre climb.

Conserving height for another two days, Day 6 is a 17 km walk to the Voisthaler Hutte and Day 7 a 25 km to the hutte at Turnauralm.  Leaving the Hoschwab range midway through Day 8 you drop down to the small town of Krampen, a walk of 31 kms but with a fall 700 metres.

Day 9 and it's into the Murztaler Alps, a climb of 1,200 metres over 31 kms to Schneealpen Haus.  There is a more direct but less scenic alternative if an easy day is needed.

Day 10 and I'm proposing to go on past Karl Ludwig Haus (the recommended stop over) and press onto Wax Riegel Haus.  The 01 has now split with a northern option carrying onto Vienna.  Day 9 is a 28 km walk staying high all day.

Karl Ludwig down to Wax Reigel

Day 11 and its downhill to Semmering, my last stop of the 01 and at last out of the Alps.  It's about 26 kms and involves a drop of around 800 metres.

Day 12 and I'm now making it up.  My route leaves the 01, heads down the 126b and joins the 02 at Pfaffensattel.  If I'm not totally lost I'd like to get to Monichkircken, a walk of 40 kms.

Day 13 and it's Landsee which sits in the middle of a Natural Park (with its own ruined castle) - a walk of around 30 km.

Day 14 and it would be great if I could make it to Koszeg, the first stop heading east on the Blue Countrywide Tour, the Hungarian section of the E4.  Koszeg looks great (flat!) and will be a good place to stop and recover before the final journey to Budapest

Koszeg

Stage 15 -Through the Salzkammergut

Although Bregenza, the starting point for Stage 14, is in Austria, most of the Maximilianweg is in Bavaria and Germany.  If you follow the sub-alpine variant it's not until you get to Salzburg that you start to walk through Austria in a sustained way.  I have walked in Austria three times (including the test run earlier this year) and it's very walking friendly.   There is a  really strong walking tradition, well marked trails,  lots of good fun places to eat and stay in the mountains, and because of long history of tourism (both winter and summer) lots of good value accommodation in the towns as well.   It shares with Switzerland a brilliant public transport system and is an easy country to travel in.

Have also stayed in Salzburg and Vienna and both are really interesting places.  Vienna in particular with its imperial legacy is fascinating.  Austria, which after all is quite a small country, has a capital which a hundred years ago was the centre of a huge and complex empire.  The empire has gone (almost overnight) but the imperial architecture remains.  

You could go via Vienna if you stick to the sub-alpine variant of the E4 but I have now just about convinced myself that going along the sub-alpine variant and then switching over to the Alpine variant presents the fastest way to Budapest.  You could held south from Salzburg but instead I plan to continue east to Steyrling and then head south for just a few kilometers (along the Osterreiche Weitwanderwege 09) until I hit the Alpine variant at Spital am Pyhrn.  

Stage 15 has two obvious highlights, Salzburg itself and Salzkammergut, the area often referred to as the Austrian Lake District.  I have walked in the Austrian Lake District and it was so wet (like the last time I walked in the English Lake District) that I was forced to take a trip down the famous salt mines - a legacy of the industry which gives the area its name.  Both Salzburg and Salzkammergut are world heritage sites.

Salzburg of course is the birth place of Mozart, the location for the filming of the Sound of Music and famous for its baroque architecture.   Will be a great place to stay for a day after two weeks or so on the Maximilianweg.

The Salzkammergut has a reputation for some of the best walking in Austria.  It has its own Cicerone Guide "Walking in the Salzkammergut" by Fleur and Colin Speakman and offers truly varied walking from tough Alpine to lakeside strolls.

The plan is to do the walk from Salzburg, through the Salzkammergut, and down to the Alpine variant in 7 days. The total walk is 180 kms, with 5,500 metres of climb.  Most of the days are fairly easy although I'm planning to do a 12 hour, down hill all the way day.  The last day to Hinterstoder is very short so it will probably make sense to carry on along the Alpine variant of the E4 to the next stop.

The walking looks excellent.  Day 1 involves a climb up the Gaisberg, a mountain close to Salzburg and apparently very popular with the locals.  End of the day accommodation is at Faistenau, which looks like a small ski resort.  Day 2 involves two lakes, Fuschl am See and Wolfgandsee (via St Gilgen) and then up to the spectacular Schafberg.   Day 3 is a nice short walk down to a lake side stop at Wiessenbach am Altersee followed by a steep climb up to the Rieder Hutte on Day 4, again set in a spectacular location.  Day 5 is the long day with three lakes, Traunsee, Offensee, and finishing at Alamsee.  Day 6 involves a walk to Preisegg and then down the valley to Spital am Pyhrn where I can join the Nord Alpenweg 01 for the next stage which takes me to Hungary.

The proposal schedule can be found via the link.

Salzburg

Fuschl am See

Schafbergalm

Stage 14 - Maximiliansweg

The more I think about it the more attractive the idea of the mixing the sub-alpine variant of the E4 with the alpine variant becomes.  By walking from Bregenz to Salzburg (Stage 14) and then crossing over to the Alpine variant  a few days after Salzburg, I think I'm going to save at least 8 days on the Alpine route even after taking all the alpine "short-cuts".  The whole walk starts to look feasible again (at least before I actually start).  Also it makes the route more varied and in particular presents the chance to walk through a piece of Germany, Bavaria and along another famous walk, Maximiliansweg.

Apart from passing through, I have hardly ever been to Germany and Bavaria looks like a really interesting place to start.  Turns out that a lot of the things outsiders think are the essence of Germany are in fact Bavarian.  This includes some iconic business brands (BMW, Audi and Siemens); classic pastoral  countryside, cows with bells and villages with dome churches, traditional dress and lederhosen and, of course, the huge litre glasses of high quality "Bavarian" beer.  Even the famous white sausage - the Weisswurst is a Bavarian rather than German invention.

However while we see Bavaria as quintessentially German, they, and apparently the rest of Germany see them as different.  This must be partly to do with its distinct history -  Bavaria had its own kingdom until 1918 and partly to do with a different religious tradition.   This part of Germany shares a Catholic tradition with German speakers in Austria and Switzerland and "Gross Gott!" is the greeting you get when out walking.

Bavaria's rich history is reflected in the architecture of the towns.  Highlights include Fussen, with its amazing Gothic Castle and the Lindehof Palace.

More infamous is the Kehlsteinhaus, commissioned by Martin Borman for Hitler's 50th birthday which is located in the Berchtesgaden.

The Kehlsteinhaus features in last episode of Band of Brothers, the story of Easy Company's fight across Europe in the second world war.  Also featured is the amazing Bavarian countryside and in particular the wonderful mix of lakes and mountains.  I'm sure I have got it wrong but I think there are seven significant lakes (or See) along the Maximilianweg all with opportunities for swimming.

The Maximilianweg runs along the same route as the Nord Alpine Weg 04 and forms the first part of the E4 sub-alpine variant.  It's an important long distance walk in its own right and originates from a 5 week trip the Bavarian King Maximilian II took from Lindau (near Bregenz) to the Berchtesgaden in the summer of 1858.  The Berchtesgaden is just south of Salzburg and presents a really stunning end to the walk.

I have developed my itinerary from the Oesterriechischer Alpenverein Guide "Osterreichischer Weitwanderweg 04" by Fritz and Erika Kafer.  It's in German, which I don't speak, but does have all the maps and charts you need to put an itinerary together.  They recommend 18 days for Salzburg to Bregenz (everyone goes east to west accept me!) but I'm proposing to do it in 16 days.  Accommodation is plentiful both in mountain huttes and towns - this is a very active recreational area - and it will be easy to vary the schedule if necessary.

Apart from a couple of long days it's a similar grade to the Jura Crestway in Switzerland.  It is middle difficult in the Austrian Grading system with difficult and very difficult above it and easy below it.  Very difficult corresponds to scary in my grading structure.  Overall the walk is 407 kms long with a climb of about 17,000 metres.  Just over two weeks and then a day off in Salzburg - good plan.

Things to look forward to.

Linderhof Palace

Fussen Castle

View from Alatsee on Day 4

Bad Wiessee

Berchtesgaden

Healthy Food