66 stages across three countries: Slovenia, Austria, Germany.

The Purple Trail takes the walker through the Eastern Limestone Alps, from the Karawanken to the Allgäu. It forks off to the east of the Red Trail in the heart of the Triglav massif.

Far from the beaten track, through the high limestone plateaux and forests, it crosses nine of the ten national long-distance trails that cut through the Austrian Alps, incorporating the Via Alpina to a network of paths leading to Vienna and the Hungarian, Slovakian and Czech borders.

A path strewn with the very best cultural sites such as the Abbey of Seckau, the Abbey of Admont which is home to the largest monastic library in the world and then the World Cultural Heritage site of Hallstatt-Dachstein.

In Bavaria, most of the trail follows the Maximiliansweg, which commemorates King Maximilian II of Bavaria’s journey across the Alps in 1858.

The trail covers a number of tourist sites, such as the Berchtesgaden National Park with Lake Königssee, the castles of Ludwig II of Bavaria (the son of Maximilian II) and religious monuments, in particular from the Baroque and Rococo periods.



Massifs crossed: Eastern Julian Alps - Kamnik Alps - Karawanken - Styrian Alps - Lower Tauern - Dachstein - Salzburg Alps- Berchtesgaden Alps - Chiemgau Alps - Bavarian Pre-Alps - Ammergau Alps - Allgäu.