Route: Traumpfad München-Venedig (Germany, Austria, Italy)

Traumpfad München-Venedig, Marienplatz in Munich – Markusplatz in Venice, 550 km

The very name sounds magic: Munich - Venice. Moreover, consider the famous start and finish: Mariënplatz and Markusplatz - two of Europe's most beautiful squares – and you will understand the popularity.

This trail, through the prettiest parts of the Alps, was invented by one person: Ludwig Gassler, in 1977. He wrote down his ideal route over the Alps in a book. Afterwards, other hiking guides were written and the route was drawn on maps. But it's not an official, marked route.

This dreamtrail over the Alps takes one month to complete. The 550 km of trail, one long hut-tour, takes a lot of energy. Technically, it is almost nowhere a difficult trail, apart from a via ferrata above Belluno (one you can bypass). But you must be healthy and strong. In one month time, you climb and descend 20.000 meters. The average hiker looses quite a few pounds of body weight.

The Shorter Route variation is an alternative route that goes more directly from the one city to the other, still crossing the beautiful Alps.