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Hiking shoes for Berchtesgaden?

My family will be spending one day hiking in around Berchtesgaden in late May/early June. We will definitely visit Almbach Gorge and probably do some hiking around the Konigsee as well. What kind of shoes will we need for the terrain on these hikes - will regular athletic shoes/sneakers be ok, or do we really need hiking shoes? Hiking shoes are heavy, so I'm hesitant to carry them around for two weeks unless we really need them (this will be our only day of true hiking, although we will do plenty of walking elsewhere).

Thank you in advance for your advice!

Posted by
4156 posts

If you haven't already, you might take a look at this by someone who did the hike with kids. The pictures and description can give you some hints, but you could contact her (if she is still at the email address she has on the blog) for more details about the Almbach Gorge and the Konigsee (linked at the bottom of her page).

It looks pretty challenging to me, but I'm one of those who wears lightweight hiking boots in big city museums.

Having lived in Germany in the last century and having done an alps trip in late June of 2011 (no hiking), my biggest concern would be the weather. I'd expect it to be wet, muddy, cold and maybe have some snow in late May or early June.

Posted by
47 posts

I just bought a pair of Ahnu SugarPine WP hiking shoes. They are super light and comfy! I've been wearing them to break in before my May trip. No need really. They pack wonderfully into my backpack, too.

Posted by
1443 posts

I almost always struggle with what shoe to bring as I only allow myself one pair. We almost always do some serious hiking and biking. A few trips ago I bought some keen WP hiking shoes. That is now my goto pair of shoes. My only problem with them is they are pretty hard to dress up:(