From the Dolomites to the Black Forest: The most beautiful hiking and wellness hotels for autumn
Relaxing in the wellness area after a hike: This is what the perfect active holiday looks like for many people. We present six hotels that make this dream come true – from the Dolomites to the Alps to the Black Forest.
Get out into the fresh air, into nature, exercise and then relax in style: What is often neglected in everyday life should finally be in the foreground on vacation. Hiking is one of the most popular sports because it keeps you fit – both physically and mentally – and is easy to do at any age. This is also underlined by the latest figures from the statistics portal “extra“: Among the Germans, hiking holidays rank fourth among the most popular types of holidays.
Expressed in figures: more than 17 million Germans prefer hiking holidays to beach holidays.
Hiking or a wellness holiday? Here you can switch off in autumn
A bit of luxury in the form of a beautiful hotel with spa makes the relaxation and feel-good factor even greater. We present six hotels that are located in fantastic hiking areas and are equipped with wonderful wellness areas.
1. Hotel Rosengarten, Schenna Resort: On the sunny side of the Alps
Panoramic location above Meran: The resort of the same name is located at an altitude of 600 meters in the sunny South Tyrolean village of Schenna. The family-run facility consists of three hotels: the family hotel sulfur bath, the adults-only hotel Mitterplatt and the 4-star wellbeing house Rosengarten. In the latter, active and wellness holidaymakers will find paradisiacal conditions: a hiking area with 500 kilometers of trails stretches out from the hotel door – from the vineyard to the summit cross in the South Tyrolean Alps. Due to the mild climate, the hiking season runs from March to November.
As a special feel-good resort, the Rosengarten also offers guided awareness hikes or sunrise tours. After that, a combined indoor and outdoor pool for adults only, a whirlpool, a sulfur bath, various saunas, an oasis of calm and a room of silence for meditation as well as a panoramic sky terrace await the guests. Two restaurants serve traditional regional dishes as well as refined Italian classics kitchen – accompanied by wine from our own vineyard. Oh yes, the rooms: the five suites and one single room, all furnished with solid wood floors and modern design, stand for the exclusivity of the hotel with the fantastic mountain view.
- Price: 7 nights including breakfast from 695 euros per person
2. Travel Charme Ifen Hotel, Kleinwalsertal: giant beds, mega mountain views
The Kleinwalsertal is a very special valley in the Allgäu Alps: it is almost completely surrounded by high mountains and is cut off from Austria. Here at an altitude of 1111 meters is the Travel Charme Ifen, named after the mountain Hoher Ifen. What is special about the 5-star hotel is the large amount of space. The 125 rooms start at 35 square meters, are equipped with a spacious bathroom and beds measuring 2×2.10 meters and light larch wood, all have a balcony or terrace.
In the Puria Spa, the guests gasp because of the mountain view – from the 25-meter outdoor infinity pool, the panoramic outdoor whirlpool, the sunbathing area in the garden landscape and the hut sauna. Heated loungers in the graduation tower, relaxation swings, a brine sound pool and alpha loungers for deep relaxation promise perfect relaxation after a day of hiking in the Walser mountains. Speaking of hiking: a 150-kilometre network of trails for walks, high-altitude trails and summit tours as well as climbing tours starts right in front of the hotel door. Travel Charme Ifen also offers guided tours with hiking guide Lena several times a week.
- Price: 7 nights including breakfast from 438 euros per person
3. Hotel Waldhof, Percha: The coronation at Plan de Corones
On one side the Dolomites, on the other the South Tyrolean Alps and in the middle the family wellness hotel Waldhof: the location of the 4-star hotel on a mountain in Perca near Bruneck in the Puster Valley is all Seasons ideal for a mountain holiday. The cable car to the Plan de Corones is only 500 meters away and can be easily reached with the hotel’s own shuttle. Hikers will find a variety of options on their doorstep, with the tour to the earth pyramids being particularly popular.
Back in one of the cozy rooms with wooden furniture and large windows, the spa beckons: with indoor pool, heated outdoor pool, sauna area with Finnish sauna, Tyrolean herbal room, steam bath, infrared cabin. There is also an oasis of calm with fresh hay from South Tyrol’s mountain meadows and a number of relaxation areas with loungers, water beds and cozy corners – always with an overwhelming view of the Dolomites, which are part of the Unesco World Heritage.
- Price: 7 nights including breakfast from 351 euros per person
4. Elzland Hotel Pfauen: Beautiful views in the Black Forest
Sustainable relaxation: The idyllic Elztal and the Pfauenfelsen in the southern Black Forest have given the 4-star hotel its name. The Elzland Hotel Pfauen sees itself as a combination of wellness hotel and health center in which naturopathy and conventional medicine are combined in an effective way. Cell-biological regulation therapy is also offered here, with which the self-healing powers are to be strengthened.
A swimming pool, a brine bath, invigorating infusions in the Black Forest silver fir sauna, an aromatic steam bath, a herbal saunarium and an outdoor sauna with a panoramic view of the Elz Valley also contribute to holistic relaxation in the design-oriented 63-room house. Movement is of course part of it. And this is possible in the hiking paradise of Oberprechtal, right on the doorstep – in an award-winning way. Because the two-valley region between Elztal and Simonswaldertal has been awarded the seal “Quality Region Wanderbares Deutschland”.
That means: A huge network of paths with uniform signage and different routes leads to breathtaking places in the Black Forest, to wonderful views, over meadows and through forests as well as to fascinating gorges and waterfalls.
- Price: 6 nights including full board from 442 euros per person
5. Naturhotel Lüsnerhof: Secret place in the Dolomites
Secluded location at 1100 meters: The 4-star Naturhotel Lüsnerhof is located at the end of the Lüsen valley in the Dolomites – an ideal starting point for hikes. The 69-room house in organic construction also specializes in this. Since 40 years. And awarded the highest mark by “Wanderhotels best alpine”. Up to ten guided hikes are on offer per week, as well as the rental of hiking equipment, individual tour advice, an in-house hiking shop and a hiking transfer service. Then the “naturellness spa” calls with its sauna promenade.
This extraordinary path also includes a shaman ritual in a sweat lodge, an infrared gondola with a mountain panorama view, a Kneipp waterfall, a barefoot path and the bathing pond fed with fresh spring water. The topic of sustainability runs like a red thread through the Lüsnerhof: All rooms and suites are designed with local stone pine, clay plaster and Dolomite rock millions of years old. The kitchen follows the organic and zero-kilometer principle and the energy supply is provided by our own hydroelectric power station, photovoltaic system and wood chips from our own trees. This is how a holiday close to nature works.
- Price: 6 nights including breakfast from 667 euros per person
6. Wiesergut, Hinterglemm: Boutique hotel and Pinzgau cows in the Salzburg region
Lots of space, lots of privacy, lots of peace and quiet, right on the Zwölferkogel in the Saalbach-Hinterglemm skiing and hiking area: With their Hotel Wiesergut, the couple Martina and Sepp Kröll, in their mid-forties, wanted to create something unique that defies comparison – even the star classification. The concept worked perfectly: In the small, individual hotel resort with its 25 suites, casual luxury made of natural materials reigns supreme.
The bathhouse, for example, is built from old wood and follows the design motto “Purism in perfection” with an indoor and outdoor pool, sauna, three treatment rooms and a relaxation room with a panoramic view. The guests also have this from their own sauna house in the garden of the Hideaway Suites or from the hot tub on the terrace, which is fed with spring water.
From there you can count shooting stars at night and spot the summit for the next hike during the day. If you want to take it easy, you can take the gondola, which is only a two-minute walk away, and start your tour a little further up (400 kilometers of hiking trails await). Or visit the landlord, who is also a farmer, on the Wieseralm at an altitude of 1500 meters.
- Price: 2 nights including breakfast from EUR per person