At the end of May 2022 - early June 2022 me and my boyfriend hiked the Alpe Adria 3 Nations Ring circuit trail. It was one of the most challenging yet exhilarating experiences we have had.

If you are interested just in the logistics, go ahead to "The practicals" section. If you would like to read about my experience then continue to "The rambling" section. I think it may come in handy to get a feel of what to expect and chuckle at how some noobs handled it :)

The practicals:

Trail: Alpe Adria - 3 Nations ring circuit trail

Time of the year: End of May - Early June

Number of days: 7

Guided: Self guided using Alpe Adria App

Budget: 550 per person (when booked through Alpe Adria official booking center)

Fitness level required: Moderate

Itinerary:

We followed the itinerary from Alpe Adria official website except for one change - We hiked from Tarvisio to Fusine Village instead of Tarvisio to Refugio Zacchi on day 1. 

Day 1 Travisio - Fusine village: ~16km, 9 h

Day 2 Fusine Village - Kransha Gora: ~16.5 km, 6 h

Day 3 Kranjsha Gora - Baumgartnerhohe: ~21.4km, 10.5 h

Day 4 Faaker See/Baumbartnerhohe - Warmbad: ~15.1km, 6 h

Day 5 Warmbad - Feistritz/Gail: ~19.9km, 8 h

Day 6 Feistritz/Gail - Valbrunna: ~23.4km, 9 h

Day 7 Valbrunna - Tarvisio: ~13.7km, 8 h

Keep in mind that the time it takes to complete the trail is highly subjective and heavily depends on various factors like the weight of your backpack, fitness level, weather conditions, to name a few. We carried backpacks weighing around 7 & 10 kg respectively, are of moderate fitness level and are beginner hikers. We always factored in 1.5 -2 extra hours on top of the estimated hours on the Alpe Adria app.

It was the best decision to reach out to and get help from Alpe Adria trail’s official booking center to plan the itinerary. A lovely lady named Simona helped us out and booked our stays which included stays at 2-3 star hotels with half board (dinner + breakfast) except for one day when it was just B&B. All in all, we had a great experience with them, so I highly recommend contacting the booking center if you need help planning. 

My experience

It had been a while since my last multi-day hike, so before our 7 days Alpe Adria 3 Nations Ring hike, I severely underestimated the challenge of hiking 7-10 hours a day with a loaded backpack. Although, I must admit, I also underestimated the feeling of relief and astonishment when you are halfway done through a day’s trail or when you see a green meadow tucked between the mountains and you lay on the ground taking it all in.

I do remember sweaty me, barely catching my breath while climbing the uphill, but more vividly I remember the green grass with yellow and purple flowers on meadows stretching onto layers of beautiful mountains with such randomly yet spectacularly shaped peaks.

To avoid the summer crowd we chose to hike at the end of May - beginning of June. The complete trail included walking around 7-10 hours for 7 days. Each trail had its own character - some days we gained more than 1000 m altitude in a day whereas some days we were walking on relatively flat bike lanes. 

It’s a new country every few days and with a variety of natural landscapes added to that, you never get a chance to get bored. We had some drizzling days and some sunny days, luckily no serious thunder storms because there is literally no place to seek shelter once you start the trail in the morning. 

FYI: we are moderately fit individuals in our mid-twenties. I was carrying a backpack that weighed around 6.5 - 7 kg and my boyfriend was carrying a backpack that weighed around 9.5 - 10 kg. We did not utilize the luggage transport service, but we stayed at B&Bs every night so we did not have to carry our food or tent (although, taking tents in this trial has some technicalities - please check Alpe Adria’s website for details). 

Getting to Tarvisio

We started our trek from Tarvisio in northern Italy. We reached Tarvisio a day before the start of the trek, by taking a train from Venice. Tarvisio is a cute little mountain town with way more people and hotels than we expected - there were plenty of restaurants, bikers and hikers. Also some nice shops, a pretty big market and a grocery store where you can buy wine from the tap! 

Day 1: Travisio - Fusine village

The initial itinerary was to walk to Refugio Zacchi. However, as Refugio Zacchi is the only refugio (loosely translated to shelter) and it was under renovation, we had to change plans and stay at Fusine village. We walked to the glacial Fusine lakes, both Lago Inferiore and Lago Superiore. Although the clouds obstructed the views of the mountains that famously reflect on Lago Inferiore, the clear blue lake surrounded by tall green trees mesmerized us nonetheless. 

We enjoyed the view and took some pictures until the drizzle started turning into pouring rain. We rushed back on the trail happy that the trees were somewhat protecting us from the rain. We walked to Fusine village where you can count the number of houses in your hands. A tiny cute village with just a couple of hotels (from what we could see) and the nicest host who fed us until our bellies were full. What more could you ask for after finishing the first day of a 7 day hike?

Day 2: Fusine Village - Kransha Gora

After being pampered by our host with a big breakfast we left ready to walk 15 km for the day. There was not much altitude to gain this day and we walked mostly on bike lanes with clouds and sun peaking through at times. Don’t underestimate the bike lane and the non-adventurous sound of it, we got to cross an international border (Italy - Slovenia) on foot. My first ever border crossing experience on foot, literally walking on a bike lane! And of course the views of the mountains and meadows with tiny huts were delightful as well. 

Day 3: Kranjsha Gora - Baumgartnerhohe

We crossed the border, again, over to Austria, but we didn’t even know when we did it this time. This trail was the hardest one among the 7 day-trails and it said so in the Alpe Adria app as well. Believe me, it definitely was the most challenging thing we have done physically and mentally in a while! 

We gained an altitude of 1200 this day - the highest point of the trail was at 1931m in Truoejevo Poldne after which we summited Schwarzkogel and continued to walk on the ridge of the mountain for a few kilometers. On the second half of the trek we went through super steep and never ending downhills that made us feel like our knees were gonna pop. It was not just about the physical strength need to continuously walk uphill for a long period of time, but also about the balance while walking on the ridge and the ability to keep yourself calm when you can clearly see the never-ending slopes you may slide down if you step a few inches to the right or left while walking on the ridge. 

I kid you not, be prepared for this day! We ended this never ending day at Baumgartnerhohe at a B&B located on top of a hill with the nicest views of Faaker See (lake), had aperol spritz, enjoyed the evening sun in awe of the view, which definitely made up for the difficulty of the trail. More importantly, my favorite view from all of the 7 days was on this trek at Srednij Vrh. I am not going to even try to describe the view, you just need to see it for yourself.

Day 4: Faaker See/Baumbartnerhohe - Warmbad

We slept in until a bit later this day, our bodies needed that extra rest after our hike from the day before. It was after 9:30 when we left the cozy B&B and ventured the trail that was pinned as “easy” in Alpe Adria app. The trail was indeed easier than previous days’ trails- we walked mostly through well-defined paths, some passing through natural parks, some through forests and some through small villages. However, the sun was not very kind to us, it was around 25 degrees and walking in the sun with minimal to no shade and a loaded backpack was draining. 

The views were nice, but mediocre compared to our previous hikes. We reached Warmbed at around 16:00 and after that we decided to walk another 3 km to visit Villach central. It was a nice cozy town with noticeably very well dressed people. We enjoyed our dinner in Villach and walked back to Warmbad where we were staying and starting our hike the next day.

Day 5: Warmbad - Feistritz/Gail

We started the day by walking through trails in a natural park, the trails that were apparently used by the Romans as their road through the forest back in the day. It was a nice trail, not difficult in terms of the terrain, but it was a long day. This day was a mix of bad and good experiences - a long trail but an easy one, scorching sun but a trail next to a river to dip our feet in, a snake I was about to step on but also a relatively clear path so you could see snakes or any insects/animals and give them their space. 

However, the trail ended with a bad surprise for us. Although, the map in the app ended at Notsch im Gaital, the place we were staying at was about 3 km further away. To make it worse, the extra 3 km had to be walked next to a highway being baked in the sun. The good part however, we were 3 km into the next day’s trail.

Day 6: Feistritz/Gail - Valbrunna

This day we crossed the border again and headed back to Italy from Austria. The trail was marked as  “difficult” in the app and indeed it was. The trail was not as dangerous as the one in Day 3 but the climb was steep and long. We gained an altitude of around 1,300 meter and climbed down around 1,055 meter.

At the top of the never-ending uphill was a small village with a handful of houses and cattle that exceeded the number of people. It was sunny and hot, but seeing the layers of mountains, the closest one covered with sheep, horses, cows and goats hanging out in the same meadow, the bells around their necks ringing, probably not realizing how beautiful their grazing area is, definitely made up for the difficulty of the trail. 

We walked downhill to Valbrunna, stopping by a river bank to dip our feet in, totally ambivalent to the difficulty of the “moderate” trail the next day.

Day 7: Valbrunna - Tarvisio

This was the last day of our trek! We were excited- this was going to be the first trail me and my boyfriend were to complete together. It was supposed to take a little longer than 5 hours (or they said so in the app). But in these 5 hours and a relatively short trail of 13 km we had to gain an altitude of around 1000 meter and come down around 1,100 meter. 

This was definitely the second most challenging day we had, probably because we didn’t expect it to be this difficult. From the start of the trail, the trail was not clearly visible. The uphill we were climbing were never ending, the path was very very steep and covered with leaves so it was also slippery. The map on the app and the path we could barely see were not aligned. This was a big deal because it would definitely be dangerous to climb down the path we were climbing up.

Some point during the uphill, I pulled my achilles muscles and I basically had to walk on my toes, with the help of the two “walking sticks” my boyfriend made out of fallen tree branches, and rest every 5-10 minutes. We also took a wrong trail at one point, which meant we had to walk through an unmaintained trail, which was another dangerously steep uphill. Nonetheless, we made it to the top and to celebrate we ate at one of the only open restaurants on the top of Lussari Mountain with the prettiest view. 

After lunch, since I was injured, I decided it would be “smart” to follow the motor road shown by Google Maps rather than walking downhill on the narrow path that was a part of the Alpe Adria trail. I have never been this wrong. We had to climb quite some uphill again, and then we had to climb down through ski slopes. 

Yes, the path was wider because it was a ski slope but the path was also super steep, because it was a ski slope! 

This day was just a mixture of bad surprises, bad decisions, emotions, heat and also nice views. The nice views made up for the most part. We somehow made it to Tarvisio, but we took almost twice the amount of time than what was estimated in the app. Anyhow, we made it! 

We completed our first trek together and had aperol spritz, gnocchi, calzone, tiramisu and panna cotta to celebrate. Oh what a dinner, oh what a trek!