You climb beside Austria's highest waterfalls, eat at an inn with no road and come down on the park taxi.

The Krimml waterfalls drop 380 metres in three leaps, the highest in Austria, and most people climb to the top one and come down the same way. This day goes a little further: above the last waterfall the path enters the Krimmler Achental, a wide, almost flat valley of pastures, and at the end the Krimmler Tauernhaus awaits, an inn documented since 1389 where the food comes from its own farm. To avoid retracing your steps, you come down on the national park taxi.

How do you get there from Spain?

Fly to Munich, with direct flights from several Spanish cities, and hire a car: Krimml is about two and a half hours away. You don't need to cross the Grossglockner road; Krimml is at the far west end of the national park, in the upper Salzach valley.

The day, hour by hour

7:00 · Leave Munich. By the motorway towards Kufstein and then the Ziller valley and the Gerlos pass, or via Kitzbühel and Mittersill. The Gerlos pass has its own toll.

9:30 · The Wasserfallweg. Park in the waterfall car parks and buy the ticket: €9 for adults and €4.50 for ages 6 to 15. In 15 minutes you are at the foot of the lower fall, where the water splashes you. The wide, well-kept path climbs in zigzags past ten viewpoints to the upper waterfall, at 1,460 m. Allow an hour and a half without hurrying.

11:00 · The Achental. From the top the path continues along the valley, by now almost flat, among pastures and huts. You pass the Hölzlahneralm, which opens from May to October, in case you want a drink halfway.

13:00 · Lunch at the Krimmler Tauernhaus. From the village, the house reckons three and a half or four hours' walk. You eat à la carte until 16:00, in the 600-year-old Stube or with a view of the valley: beef and pork from their farm, Speck and Graukäse from their cheese dairy.

15:30 · Taxi down. The park taxi leaves the Tauernhaus at 15:30 (and at 17:00) for Krimml car park 3, beside the Pizzeria Cascata. It costs €15 per person, in cash. Book it by phone beforehand: it is compulsory.

16:15 · Back to Munich. About two and a half hours.

Is it for me?

Yes, if you like walking: it is a long climb but on a wide path, with no difficult passages. With small children, reverse the order: go up by taxi and walk down, or stay at the lower part of the waterfalls. On rainy days the Wasserfallweg is still pleasant, but the valley loses its charm.