Kaisertal — The Stairway to Heaven

Voted Austria’s most beautiful place in a national poll in 2016, the Kaisertal is a legendary valley nestled between the Zahmer Kaiser and Wilder Kaiser massifs. For decades, it was the only inhabited valley in Austria with no road access. Even today, only residents are allowed to drive, making it a hiker's paradise. The journey begins with the 'Kaiseraufstieg'—a relentless series of nearly 300 vertical steps that lead over the Sparchner Gorge. Once past the stairs, the valley opens into a pastoral world of historic mountain inns, chapels, and soaring vertical limestone walls.

Pen y Fan is the highest peak in South Wales (886m) and the crown jewel of the Brecon Beacons National Park. While thousands stream up the 'tourist path' from the Storey Arms every day, the true mountaineer's route is the Beacons Horseshoe starting from the Neuadd Reservoir. This challenging 10-mile (16km) circular route climbs steeply onto the Craig Fan Ddu ridge, walks the long, grassy skyline over four peaks—including the 'diving board' rock at Fan y Big, Cribyn, Pen y Fan itself, and Corn Du—before descending back to the valley. It provides magnificent 360-degree views over the sheer, glaciated northern faces of the peaks down into the emerald Welsh valleys.