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.

Technically Stage 8 of the Swiss Via Alpina, this traverse crosses the border between the Cantons of Glarus and Uri. Starting at Urnerboden—Switzerland's largest alpine pasture—the trail climbs toward the Klausenpass before a massive, spectacular descent into the Schächental valley. The path stays high on the sunny northern slope (the 'Schächentaler Höhenweg'), offering constant views of the jagged Glarus Alps and the limestone spires of the Schärhorn. It is a hike of immense scale and pastoral charm, passing through active cheese-making settlements.