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I'm interested in combining a three to five day "rifugio" based trek in southern Austria with a visit to Vienna.

In other words, I'd like to be able to fly in to somewhere nearby - Vienna, Salzburg, even Munich - and be able to conveniently drive/take public transport to the trail head. If I didn't fly in through Vienna I would want to fly out through it, thus combining a stay there with some hiking, in a place where cooking and a tent are not essential.

For an idea of the kind of place I'm looking for, I'll give two examples of places I've been to (that I liked). In Spain I flew to Barcelona, and took a bus to the Pyrenees and hiked in the St.Maurici region. In Italy I flew to Milan and drove to the Dolomites and hiked in the Rosengarten.

My prime "candidate" area is Gesäuse National Park, based on the answers below. Can anyone confirm that this is a good choice? Or offer a different suggestion?

(English) resources for finding/planning such a trip are of course also welcome. The German sites are difficult to use, even with the automatic translations.

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Do you mean you want to walk from hut to hut, or stay in a hut and do day hikes from there? – gerrit Jan 19 at 22:17
I'm interested in hut-to-hut walk, either a loop or with the ability to get back to the start via hitchhiking or public transportation ... I prefer such trips over using a single location as a hub for day hikes. – Eyal Jan 20 at 8:22

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One such resource would the website of the Alpenverein.

On their website, you can find an intercative hut-finding service. If you click on any of the huts, you will get detailed information about opening dates, services available, possibly a link to a website, etc. Most of this information is in German. If you can't read German, you might try Google Translate. I think in most huts you can order food, but not in all, so it's best to check this at the website.

There is a wealth of information available on the Alperverein website, although most of it is only available in German. For example, Trekkingrouten lists many well or lesser known multi-day hikes going from hut to hut. There is a rough map of Weitwanderwege and information on Fernwanderwege. I'm not sure what the difference between Weit and Fern is, but it appears the Fernwanderwege are mostly the very long distance European routes — not what you're looking for.

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Fern is remote, Weit is far... – Rory Alsop Jan 25 at 19:40
Have you been in that area? Are there any routes you'd recommend? – Eyal Apr 21 at 11:41
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@Eyal I've rarely been to Austria, but I've been a lot to the Alps further west. I can't really recommend a particular area, but I think many places are beautiful. Just avoid the ski resorts. – gerrit Apr 21 at 13:27
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The Hochschwab is a mountain range in Styria. You can find trail information with photos about this region in German or English using Google Translate.

You may want to spend a few nights at the same hut to simplify the logistics. You could plan several day hikes from the same hut.

There is a beautiful lake that people scuba dive in which is car accessible. The Brandenstein is particularly interesting because of its use of a cave as a pass on the top of the mountain. Make sure to bring a head lamp! :-)

The website was suggested to me by a fellow local hiker. The language barrier will most-likely be a challenge.

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