Joy-Inspiring Tour: Großsee – Märchensee – Tauplitzsee 1650 m

Three lakes, flower-strewn alpine meadows, fragrant mountain air

A joy-inspiring hike for nature lovers and anyone who loves to go walking next to the water. Hike from one lake to the next, along the shoreline, allowing the gently splashing waves to soothe your senses – a glorious escape from the hectic outside world! 

This tour greets you with the full beauty of the Tauplitzalm: In early summer it is transformed into an iridescent sea of flowers, with purple rhododendron, blue gentian, hellebore and Carthusian pink in full bloom. And in autumn, the larch trees on the surrounding mountainsides are adorned in gently shimmering gold. You will hike between all of this magic along well-maintained pathways to three different lakes – the Tauplitzalm is in fact the biggest lake plateau in Central Europe. 

Setting out from the mountain terminal of the quad chairlift on the Tauplitzalm, you will make your way past Hotel Berghof and the Steirerhof, and via the Grashütte to the northern slopes. Now take the eastern side of the Schneiderkogel, one of our local ski mountains. This will bring you to the Großsee – filled with water pure enough to drink, it also teems with Arctic char and trout. Many visitors like to spend a little time here in order to feed the quacking ducks. The next stage takes you above Großsee to the romantic Märchensee – an emerald-green natural gem. You will now hike to the Öderntörl, a broad, rocky alpine saddle. There, you can take in the beautiful views of the idyllic Ödernalm and the Totes Gebirge. Your walk back will lead you via the Märchensee and the northern shore of the Großsee to the Tauplitzsee – a dark, shimmering moorland lake. The complete tour takes roughly 1 hour. If you would like to experience even more of the Tauplitzalm, you can continue your hike out to the Grazerhütte, a hut which used to be operated by mountaineering icon Heinrich Harrer back in the 1930s. You will then return via the Naturfreundehaus to the mountain terminal of the chairlift in Tauplitzalm village.

If you are out and about in the fresh mountain air, you are certain to work up an appetite – in Tauplitzalm village, you will discover several different eateries that offer table-side service and heartfelt Styrian hospitality.