Your First Trek With Children (in Austria)
Many years ago, when our (first two) children were four and two-and-a-half (2019), we went on vacation in Vienna. We wanted to do a trek with them walking on their own, and this post will describe what we did and how it turned out.
Our primary concern was for it to be easy and successful. We didn't want their first experience to be frustrating; we didn't want to turn back midway. Since we were planning on going to Vienna, we thought we'd go somewhere nearby. The Vienna “Alps” were an obvious first choice, specifically the Rax plateau. It's a great place for a first hut trek with children (or for adults looking for an easy introduction to hut-to-hut trekking).
In order to reach the Rax plateau, we decided to go by public transportation. Trains leave for Payerbach-Reichenau quite often, and it's an hour-long train from Vienna. From there we took a bus to the Rax-Seilbahn – the cable-car that goes to the top of the Rax plateau. This bus leaves two or three times an hour from the train station's parking lot. This brought us to the “beginning” of our trek.
When we got off the cable-car, we bought snacks at the mountain inn at the top. We were amazed at how much colder it was, even in August – though given the height (1547m) it really isn't that surprising. From there it was a leisurely 2km walk to the Ottohaus. It was quite foggy, which our children liked and which gave the walk a sense of adventure. We spent the night there.
The Ottohaus is a large and friendly establishment. Our children woke early and were thrilled to see deer from our window. We had a nice breakfast and started for our longest day – walking to the New Seehütte and back. There are two paths you can take there, and we chose the easier one that's further from the plateau edge. It was comfortable, well marked and we were able to let our children run ahead of us without worrying that they were in danger. The trail is basically a dirt road, but there are no private vehicles on the plateau, only one or two that were brought there by helicopter. The entire length of the trail between the Ottohaus and the Seehütte is about 3.5 km.
Once we were there, we enjoyed a hearty lunch and a long rest. We chose to go back the same way we came because we didn't want any surprises; if your children are older you can vary the return by taking the alternate route. Both trails are described further in “Hut Hopping On The Raxalpe”.
Another option is to walk to a different hut, for example the Karl Ludwig House or the Habsburghaus. Neither is far from the Seehütte; if your children can make it back to the Ottohaus they can probably reach one of these two as well. On the way back my younger child got tired; I carried him for short spurts on my shoulders to give him some time to rest, but I didn't have to do this too often or for too long.
We reached the Ottohaus in good spirits and had an early dinner followed by a virtual miracle – our children went to sleep in the late afternoon and slept for more than 14 hours! (that had never happened before and has never happened since) The next morning we walked back to the cable-car and started our trip to Vienna. We got off the bus in the beginning of Reichenau and had a lovely walk along the river on our way back to the train station – it was the perfect denouement to our time in the mountains.