Customer reviews: Austria independent walking holidays

Everyone who goes on a Headwater holiday will be emailed a link to our post-holiday questionnaire where they can give us an honest assessment of all aspects of their holiday - everything from how quickly we answer the phone to how clean the hotels were - plus an overall rating and comments about their holiday.

Any feedback collected is posted to our website, so that people can make an informed decision based on past experiences before heading off on holiday. We don’t edit the reviews, the only thing we do is proofread them and alter any typos, where necessary, to ensure they are easy to read for everyone. All reviews will be published (except in certain extreme circumstances), and a member of the Headwater team will respond to any constructive criticisms/comments under the reviews, at their discretion. So, for the real tales, twists and turns of our holidays, look no further than the reviews from our previous travellers.

A Valued Customer
Walking in Austria's Lake District
25/09/2024

Bad Ischl is a lovely location and the Salzkammergut area is definitely worth a visit if you enjoy a lakes / mountains / woods walking venue.

Miss Davidson
Walking in Austria's Lake District
15/09/2024

We had a wonderful hiking trip in the Austrian Lake District - one of the most beautiful places we have ever visited. We had a really active trip and managed to see so many interesting places and complete lots of hikes and walks around the region. The local villages and towns were wonderful, the local people were very welcoming and food and drink was excellent. It was a wonderful holiday

Good holidays in great places. Good hotels.

A Valued Customer
Walking in Austria's Lake District
11/09/2024

a reliable company that attaches great importance to quality

David Atkins
Alpine Walks in the Stubai Valley
20/07/2024

This is an excellent holiday with varied walking. All the walks are easily accessible from the hotel. Local hospitality is impressive.

Elizabeth Black
Alpine Walks in the Stubai Valley
09/07/2024

Neustift is a lovely village in a beautiful setting. The Hotel Alpeiner is one of the best we have stayed in on a Headwater holiday. We had single rooms but they were 'normal' doubles, not the smallest rooms. The rooms were very good. The outdoor pool is great and we used it most days. Hotel staff were friendly and helpful.

This was a lovely holiday, our only caveat being that we found one of the walks more difficult than Headwater's instructions suggested, the Elfer Summit walk. In addition, the walk which Headwater suggests at the Stubai Glacier is closed and it doesn't appear on the local walking trail maps. The Ice Cave there is also permanently closed. The Glacier is still very well worth the trip, especially the 'Top of the Tyrol' viewpoint and the short walk to the chapel up at the same level. We'd recommend reading the information pack supplied by the hotel as there are other very enjoyable walks in that, particularly Stage 1 of the Wilder Wasser Weg. We had a great week.

Fiona Osullivan
Walking the Wachau Heritage Trail
03/07/2024

Great advice and service from Kate. Everything went smoothly. We weren’t able to use wine tasting vouchers due to timings but otherwise everything went as planned. Flights were a good price and time. The route wasn’t as varied as we’d hoped with lots of forest. We didn’t meet any other walkers all week which was our only disappointment

Linda Weyman
Walking in Austria's Lake District
28/06/2024

Megan organised our holiday exactly as requested including the three days we had in Salzburg which were wonderful. Hotel Villa Carlton very good, very stylish and quirky and only a 10 minute walk to the Old Town.

Alison Catt
Walking in Austria's Lake District
19/06/2024

We have had a great holiday ,it lived up to all expectations and everything ran smoothly.

John Lambert
Alpine Walks in the Stubai Valley
18/06/2024

Overall another very good experience, thank you.

Andrew Fawthrop
Walking in Austria's Lake District
10/06/2024

There was a bit of confusion when booking the trip as to which hotel was going to be used.

The staff at Headwater were very friendly and helpful and successfully resolved our queries.

The grading of the walks was variable and didn't seem to take into account terrain.

The Headwater general information was very good and helpful.

Elizabeth Spencer
Alpine Walks in the Stubai Valley
08/06/2024

Everyone was very helpful throughout the whole process of deciding on the trip, answering my endless list of questions, completing the booking, providing updates and information between time of booking and act trip

Deborah Savory
Walking in Austria's Lake District
05/06/2024

Friendly staff, great hotels and comprehensive, accurate route notes. Happy to add on city breaks and find the best flight options for you. We've used Headwater many times and will do so again.

Cecilia Walker
Alpine Walks in the Stubai Valley
04/06/2024

Our holiday in the Stubai valley was excellent. There were plenty of amazing walks to do and the hotel itself was first class. While it didn’t affect the enjoyment of the holiday, we didn’t find the Headwater app useful and didn’t think the itinerary offered by Headwater was necessarily the best one. However, the hotel offered many amazing trips and information which more than compensated for this

Michael Morton
Alpine Walks in the Stubai Valley
04/06/2024

Overall, an enjoyable experience. This was my first walking holiday, and i will certainly do more in the future.

David Hamer
Walking the Wachau Heritage Trail
27/05/2024

An excellently run organisation who have always been helpful with good communication.

have been on x2 holidays with the company and booked a 3rd for later in the year

Andrew Cole
Walking in Austria's Lake District
23/09/2023

I had a nice time.strange I was on my own. I did plan my own itinerary. I was lucky with the weather. I would go back to Austria but it was nice and relaxed and I controlled my day.nice hotel a good breakfast selection happy to go back, but disappointed that I didn’t get the free things on offer displayed in the lift.bad isch was a nice location for bus and train

Mervyn Hill
Alpine Walks in the Stubai Valley
19/09/2023

Stuart Pettet
Alpine Walks in the Stubai Valley
12/09/2023

Really impressed with Headwater. Great holiday in Austria and discovered a new holiday destination that we would return to. Thank you.

Joanna Morley
Alpine Walks in the Stubai Valley
12/09/2023

David Edwards
Alpine Walks in the Stubai Valley
09/09/2023

Had the pleasure of dealing with very friendly and informative members of the Headwater team who were always able

to offer expert advice and answer queries immediately .

Janet Offord
Walking in Austria's Lake District
26/08/2023

Everything was perfect had a fantastic time

Lisa Mackay
Alpine Walks in the Stubai Valley
12/08/2023

It was a great holiday, the app was useful but the itinerary was too difficult for us. The general info was ok. We used the trail information at the resorts and used their leaflets instead as it suggested a choice of trails and the grading instead of one trail only. We loved the resort and the hotel but not the room. Would recommend the area to friends.

Deborah Nunn
Walking the Tyrolean Mountains
07/08/2023

Lovely holiday in this beautiful Austrian town. The hotel was ideal, with friendly staff, great breakfasts and two indoor pools. Amazing scenery - we loved being able to catch the cable cars up the nearby mountains, then gradually make our way down. In the end we only did 4 of the walks - one day was too rainy, so we instead caught the train to explore Innsbruck, and we opted to spend a whole afternoon at the Schwarzsee bathing lake. The hotel is a short walk from the historic old town, with lots of restaurants, bars and street performers.

Austria's Lake District is a fabulous area to visit and explore. Wonderful breathtaking scenery, plenty of attractions to choose from, great food & drink and friendly locals.

An outstanding hotel in a great setting, with easy access to the mountains and the Stubai Valley

Mrs Dawson
Salzkammergut Lakes Walk
30/07/2022

It was Type 2 fun. Some of the walks were quite hard going in the heat but we were pleased once we’d completed them.

The locations were good.

Scrase
Salzkammergut Lakes Walk
20/06/2022

It was a very enjoyable holiday. However hiking is not all that easy in 30 degrees + heat. One needs to be careful of you descriptions. These walks are for the average fit person. 18 k walks that include ' a steep incline for the next kilometer' are not for such people.

Mr Aslin
Salzkammergut Lakes Walk
11/06/2022

A beautiful area of Austria with relatively easy walking and great hotels

Ms Nicolson
Walking in Austria's Lake District
28/05/2022

Austria is a hidden gem! Locals could not have been friendlier. Be prepared for mixed weather. Scenery spectacular. Walking could be challenging especially in damp/wet conditions

Mr Fletcher
Walking in Austria's Lake District
12/10/2019

The walks gave an excellent taste of the area and coming in October we saw the autumn colours at their best yet were able to enjoy warm sunshine!

The walk instructions and timings were spot on for us. We had a really enjoyable and relaxing time

Headwater response:
Dear Mr Fletcher
Thank you for taking the time to post your review. We're so pleased that you enjoyed your holiday and managed to relax and enjoy the warm autumnal sunshine in Austria.
We do hope that we will be able to welcome you on another Headwater holiday in the not too distant future.
Kind regards
Customer Services

Mrs Higgins
Walking in Austria's Lake District
14/09/2019

We had a wonderful holiday which more than lived up to expectations. We loved the location. The lakes and mountains, towns and villages in Austria, were really picturesque and were fortunate to see them in amazingly good weather.

Our holiday Reps, Jill and Colin were exceptional. Nothing was too much trouble for them. Their knowledge of the area and advice on walk routes were the basis we used to planning what turned out to be a wonderful week of walking.

Excellent from start to end, great base for walking holiday. Glad we could fly from local airport. Team in Austria - very friendly and knowledgeable.

Excellent hotel in Bad Ischl with very good transport connections to various walks just 10 minutes walk from hotel. All walks suggested were within the grade with some being a little more challenging than others. All with outstanding views. If there weren't so many other places to visit in the world I wouldn't hesitate to return. A friend and I found the walk descriptions easy to follow and going at your own pace gave you the options to take as long as you liked at various places of Interest. Would definitely recommend this holiday to anyone who enjoys walking with a little challenge and stunning views .

Mr Plumridge
Walking in Austria's Lake District
06/07/2019

Good location, great walks, brilliant food.

Mrs Rodgers
Walking in Austria's Lake District
01/06/2019

We have had a number of cycling holidays with Headwater but It is our first walking holiday. We were pleased to have chosen a single centre holiday in Bad Ischl and appreciated all the support that the reps Gill and Colin gave us which extended beyond their remit. Even though we happily sort our own walking routes in the UK we thoroughly enjoyed the range of walks available - some of which would have been difficult for us to find ourselves and the updates giving us information about which areas to avoid because of snow cover (unusual at this time of year) were invaluable. Overall, we had an excellent time.

We had a excellent walking holiday in the magnificent Austrian Lake District. The weather was kind and we walked every day up into the hills and mountains and were rewarded with spectacular views of the lakes,forests and snow capped mountains. Must give a special mention to our guides Colin and Jill who’s briefings and tips about the walks were excellent, went out of their way to keep in contact via text and helped to make this holiday special.