5 Best Snowshoe Hikes in the Val Aurina
Author : Lara Ehmler
22nd September 2025
Snowshoeing is a key winter attraction of the South Tyrol’s magnificent Val Aurina. Here are our 5 best snowshoe hikes in a valley loomed over by magisterial 3000m peaks, many forming the Italy/Austria border. This is a destination of awe-inspiring snowy landscapes, where white pastures glisten in the winter sun and enchanting woodland trails meander between Tyrolean hamlets. The silence is overwhelming, whilst the pure cold air generates joy and energy under deep-blue skies.
Our special partnership with the Hotel Drumlerhof in the valley’s principal village, Campo Tures, provides our guests with a magical winter adventure in a destination largely free of downhill skiing. In this article, we tell you more about a unique winter holiday, as we also focus on our Top 5 snowshoe hikes in Italy’s most northerly valley.
What is snowshoeing?
Simply speaking, snowshoeing is a sustainable and easier way to negotiate walking on soft and/or deep snow. In countries with long winters, it is how many people get from A to B. Inevitably, it has now caught the eye of outdoor enthusiasts, becoming the perfect winter activity for hikers.
Snowshoeing has a low impact on the environment and, when carried out with good preparation, it is a safe and stunning way to explore mountains, forests, and winter pastures. Tuition is not necessary with snowshoeing, making it easy to participate in, unlike other winter activities. It is also inexpensive, unfolding on trails that radiate from mountain villages, so it can make infrastructure, such as cable cars, surplus to requirement. Finally, like walking, it is a low-risk pastime with significant health mental and physical benefits, as aerobic exercise meets inspiration through magical winter landscapes.
Where is snowshoeing popular?
Snowshoeing is popular in higher-altitude destinations with annual winter snowfall. We believe the Val Aurina is among the best locations in the Alps for this invigorating activity.
As for a Collett’s snowshoeing holiday… aided by our friends at the Hotel Drumlerhof, our local base, we have identified our Top 5 intermediate/harder routes and our Top 5 easier routes – and there are more to choose from. With excellent waymarking, route notes, our smartphone navigation app and support from the hotel team, all itineraries can be self-guided, but there is the option to be guided (free of charge) up to 4 times a week on the intermediate/harder options.
Many of these excursions involve snowshoeing to a mountain lodge (rifugio), where you can enjoy a drink and/or a good lunch, either outside on panoramic sun terraces, or inside amidst warm and cosy Tyrolean hospitality.
Flexibility is at the heart of this holiday and ultimately, day-to-day, you decide whether to self-guide or join a guided snowshoe itinerary. Should you decide to take a break from snowshoeing during your stay, other options in the area include cross-country skiing, winter walking and downhill skiing.
Discover The Holiday
Guided Snowshoeing
Your holiday includes 4 guided snowshoeing excursions. These are generally provided on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays by the hotel’s hiking guides, usually Stefan, owner of the hotel. Simply sign up the evening before. Typically, the first guided excursion will be relatively leisurely. Thereafter, they are likely to be more moderate in grade, as the shorter routes are easier to self-guide. Below, you can get a taste of what a moderate itinerary might entail in terms of ascent, distance and duration. Snowshoes are available to hire at the hotel at about €6 per day.
Supplementary Guided Options: Just 200m from the Hotel Drumlerhof, the local tourist office also organises daily guided snowshoe hikes. Stefan often collaborates with them, so if you should seek something a little different from what is being offered at the hotel, we might steer you to an alternative itinerary provided by the tourist office. As a guest of the Hotel Drumlerhof, you will only pay about €15 for one of these excursions.
Self-guided Snowshoeing
A key priority of our holidays in the Val Aurina is to make self-guiding easy and hassle-free. At the Hotel Drumlerhof, you will be provided with everything you need to enjoy many blissful self-guided days out. This includes comprehensive route notes, map sections and the daily support of the hotel’s team, who are connoisseurs of all the routes.
Furthermore, via our Holiday Handbook and smartphone App, Collett’s provides easy navigation of Stefan’s Top 10 Snowshoe Hikes and Top 10 Winter Walks in a destination, where waymarking and trail maintenance is excellent.
Discover The HolidayTop 5 Snowshoe Hikes
During this holiday, our detailed holiday handbook provides you with a selection of 20 different itineraries comprised of our 10 favourite snowshoeing routes (5 x Easier / 5 x Moderate Harder), and our 10 favourite hikes (5 x Easier / 5 x Moderate Harder).
So, to give you a flavour of snowshoeing in the Val Aurina, here are 5 short overviews of our personal favourite snowshoe hikes.
Kofleralm
Ascent: 600m
Duration: 4hrs 30mins
Walk Type: Out & Back
Distance: 8kms
A breathtaking hike through the snow-covered forests of Riva di Tures; on reaching your destination, be prepared for wondrous mountain views.
Klammljoch
Step into Austria!
Ascent: 700m
Duration: 6hrs
Walk Type: Out & Back
Distance: 12kms
A hidden gem for snowshoe hikers, rife with seclusion and tranquility. At your destination, you are greeted by a magical winter landscape towered over by magnificent peaks.
Pircheralm
Ascent: 550m
Duration: 3 – 4 hrs
Walk Type: Out & Back
Distance: 8kms
The Pircheralm, with its delicious culinary specialities from the region, has a panoramic sun terrace perched under shimmering white mountain peaks . Afterwards, walkers descend via a perfectly groomed toboggan run, but this can be avoided by hiring a toboggan from the Picheralm for a bracing return to the start!
Sonnklar
Ascent: 480m – after cable car ascent
Duration: 4hrs
Walk Type: Out & Back – with Circular option
Total Distance: 7.5kms
This hike unfolds above the tree-line before reaching a summit with majestic views that span from the Dolomites to the blanketed peaks of Austria’s Zillertal and Hohe Tauern National Park, home to Austria’s highest peak, the Grossglockner at 3798m. Cable car & chairlift used to good effect. For a shorter alternative with the same start and finish, have a look at Kleiner Nock (Distance: 3.8kms, Walking Time 2 – 3 hrs, Ascent/Descent 189m) which visits Speikbodenalm.
Schlafhäuser
Ascent: 650m
Duration: 4 – 5hrs
Walk Type: Out & Back
Distance: 6kms
Originally a shelter for families farming the valley, Schlafhäuser provided somewhere to cook meals and sleep. Marvelling at the Zillertal’s 3000m peaks is a mesmerising highlight of the day.
