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.

The Skyline Trail in Mount Rainier National Park is the quintessential Pacific Northwest alpine experience. Starting from the historic Paradise Visitor Center, this stunning loop takes hikers high above the tree line directly onto the southern flanks of the massive, heavily glaciated Mount Rainier volcano (14,411 ft). The trail weaves through impossibly lush subalpine meadows that, in mid-summer, explode with knee-high wildflowers in every color. As you climb higher, the meadows give way to rugged, rocky moonscapes and permanent snowfields. The apex of the hike, Panorama Point (6,800 ft), lives up to its name, offering sweeping, unobstructed views of the Cascade Range, including Mount Adams, Mount St. Helens, and even Mount Hood in Oregon on a clear day.