Hintersteiner See in Wilder Kaiser was actually the main reason Matt and I went on our honeymoon in the Austrian Alps! We wanted to honeymoon in a place with mountain lakes, and after looking at some places and comparing flights, we chose to honeymoon near Wilder Kaiser, thanks to Helene in Between’s glowing recommendation- and it did not disappoint!
We stayed in a chalet in Niederbreitenbach during our honeymoon because it was close to Wilder Kaiser and cities like Innsbruck and Munich, and we spent half a day walking around Hintersteiner See. It rained most of the time we were there so it was pretty cloudy, but as you can see, it’s still a beautiful place, even in the rain š
Hiking around Hintersteiner See
The path around Hintersteiner See is paved and pretty flat, so it’s an easy hike around it. The lake is fairly large and the path around it is a little more than 5 kilometers, so I would make sure you give yourself a few hours to walk around it and stop for pictures (which I did about every 10 feet- sorry, Matt!).
Hintersteiner See is a beautiful deep blue and turquoise color, which you can just barely make out in these first photos. The clouds and fog were beautiful and had a cool effect on the mountains, but the color of the lake really brightens up in the sun! If you can see Hintersteiner See on a sunny day instead of when it’s raining, I highly recommend it so you can really see the stunning colors of the lake.
When the clouds started to clear, we could finally see the colors in Hintersteiner See brightening! There are some places where you can get in the water if you want to go swimming, but we tested the water and it was pretty cold! So you might want to wait for a hot sunny day before cooling off in the cold water.
Even though it was a rainy, cloudy day in the middle of the week, there were still quite a few people hiking. On the opposite end of the lake, you can stop at a cafe for coffee and food. There wasn’t much seating inside and everything outside was really wet, but thankfully a nice German couple let us sit at their table with them under an awning.
We got to see alpacas! They were just wandering around the cafe, and they would let you get pretty close to them. They did start spitting things into the air, so I would warn you not to get too close to them.
Hintersteiner See is one of the most beautiful lakes I’ve seen, and you should visit if you’re in the Wilder Kaiser area! Like I said before, the colors really brighten up in the sun, so I definitely recommend going for a hike on a sunny day š
This looks like such a beautiful and tranquil destination š I absolutely love the Alpacas!
Julia, your pictures are always so stunning. I just love them. This looks like a beautiful place to relax and recharge. I love that the path around the lake is paved as well!
Thank you so much! š
Wow stunning photos ???? Iām not surprised you added it as a honeymoon destination it looks absolutely amazing and very peaceful!
Thank you! š
I lived in Switzerland for 3 years and never got here! It is absolutely gorgeous like the rest of the country. My hubby and I are going back to visit friends and spend some time there, I want to go here!
I hope you can go soon, it’s such an amazing place!
We fell in love with Austria when we visited it last summer. Iād love to head back there and explore it some more. After reading your detailed post I know now that we will be adding Hintersteiner See in Wilder Kaiser to our list of places to see there. Hiking around the pristine lake is something we would love to experience. Thanks for sharing all these details ā the photographs in the post are incredible!
Thank you! š I’m dying to get back to Austria already!
Wow! It looks a lot like Switzerland. I loved seeing the alpacas š
Yeah the alpacas were so fun!