right in the middle of it.
Active holiday in Maria Alm am Hochkönig
One place. Two seasons.More than you can fit into a single holiday.
Maria Alm lies between the Steinernes Meer and the Hochkönig, nestled with its two districts of Hintermoos and Hinterthal – and is part of a region you cannot tick off in a week. What awaits here goes far beyond pistes and hiking trails: centuries-old traditions, a ski area that ranks among the largest in Europe, excursion destinations that open up the whole of Salzburger Land, and events you will only experience here.
Sights
in Maria Alm
The Hochkönig ski area at its grandest. If you really want to see the Hochkönig ski area: the Königstour links 6 peaks across 35 continuous kilometres of pistes and 7,500 metres of vertical descent – from hut to hut, with Pinzgau cuisine along the way. Not a day trip, but a full day on the mountain. And part of Ski amadé: 760 kilometres of pistes, 270 lifts and cable cars, all with one ski pass.
With the HochkönigCard, the cable car is free in summer, bike transport is included, plus discounts on leisure activities throughout the region. If you have the card, you think less about the budget and more about the next day.
Three events that shape summer in Maria Alm – and that you should have seen: the HochkönigMan opens the season with trail running through the Hochkönig massif. Then comes Hundstoa biag di – the toughest MTB uphill race in Pinzgau, up the Hundstein (2,117 m), one of the highest grass mountains in Europe that can be ridden by mountain bike. And on 25 July, Jakobiranggeln on the Hundsstein – a test of strength that has taken place here for over 500 years. Not a spectacle for tourists, but a genuine tradition that is still alive today. Alois Schwaiger, the great-grandfather of our hostess Elisabeth, was himself Hogmoar on the Hundstein in 1922 and 1923.
14 alpine huts in the Hochkönig region have trained herb educators who share their knowledge on guided walks. Anyone collecting the Kräuteralmpass learns more about the mountain world than on any summit. Hiking and culinary delights in one – the quieter version of an active holiday.
From Maria Alm, the whole of Salzburger Land opens up. Mozart’s city of Salzburg, Königssee and the Berchtesgaden salt mine, the Salzkammergut, the Großglockner High Alpine Road – all easy to reach, all worth a day trip. If you are sitting on the bus and looking out: the landscape will take care of the rest.
In the centre of Maria Alm stands the pilgrimage church with the tallest church tower in Salzburger Land – a place of significance far beyond tourism. Every year, believers set off from here on pilgrimage to Königssee to St. Bartholomä. In autumn, the village transforms during Bauernherbst: tradition, music, regional products – not a staged folklore programme, but real village life.
From the alpine pasture
to the summit.
Approximately 340 certified hiking kilometers in the region, over 50 of them with managed alpine pastures along the way. A leisurely loop on the Natrun adventure mountain for families, the summit of the Steinernes Meer for those with more ambition – the range is wide. Six summer mountain lifts take you up if you want to save your legs or simply spend more time at the top.
