By taking the Salvenbahn gondola you can get to the Alpine terrain beneath the Hohe Salve.
There is then an easy ascent up to the Hohe Salve, one of the best viewing mountains in Tyrol. Austria‘s highest pilgrimage church is located right on the summit. The descent via Salven- and Filzalmsee is via scenic steep paths. In Hochbrixen you can again take the gondola to descend further – or hike via a steep path down to Brixen im Thale, with its impressive double-towered church.
Take the
Salvenbahn from
Hopfgarten to the intermediate station (1,157 m).
Use the signposts for
Rigi, Hohe Salve to get your bearings here and hike to the right, under the gondola cables, direct to
Gasthaus Tenn. Above the guesthouse, the route proceeds on a
narrow road to a
third bend at the junction for
Tennerwald 1,231 m. Bear right, on a short section on
road to
Salvenalm, Rigi, Hohe Salve. After around one hundred metres, the route branches off
left on a
steep cart path.
Continue on this route, climbing through
forest and
pasture towards the
Hohe Salve, until you come to a wider
forest path. There are now
three bends through open Alpine terrain up to the
Kälberalm and
Alpengasthaus Rigi (1,537 m; 1 hour from the intermediate station).
Continue on a
steeper forest path in several bends, past the ‚
Speichersee Kleine Salve‘
viewing point, with sun loungers by the banks of the lake, up to the
summit of the
Hohe Salve with the
pilgrimage church and the
summit restaurant (1,829 m; 1 hour from Gasthof Rigi).
On the south-eastern side of the summit, the
descent to
Filzalmsee/Brixen begins via a hiking path, which proceeds down in several bends to
Salvensee, which is always in sight. Just
after the
reservoir, bear
left off the
path and on to a pasture path that proceeds via a ski piste to
Filzalmsee. Keep going
down on this path, always heading to
Filzalmsee, Brixen.
The lovely steep path soon leads into a section of
forest and you then hike right past the little chapel
Jordankapelle, from which a spring arises. Hike through
open terrain again now, down to a
forest road that proceeds initially to the managed
Filzalm and the
lake of the same name. From here it is just a few metres across to the
mountain station for the
gondola (1 hr 15 mins from Hohe Salve). Alternatively, from here you can take the
cable car to the
stage finish in
Brixen im Thale.
On foot, continue until just before the station in
Hof, Brixen im Thale and hike to the
right on
route no. 95 into the valley. Shortly after, the path leads into the
forest, bear
left on to the steeper but well-constructed
hiking path to Brixen.
The path proceeds down through the forest, with a
trench on either side. At the
Oberkaslach junction at 1,013 metres, there are
several routes to Brixen.
The route now proceeds to the
left through the
trench (get your bearings by following the
signposts to
Brixen featuring a
cable car symbol). On the
opposite trench area, hike down next to an area of
pasture to the
asphalt access road. Continue
down on this route until you come to the
village road Dorfstraße. Continue on the
left and head into the
centre of
Brixen im Thale (1 hour from Hochbrixen mountain station).