The rise of "luxury hiking"

There's an interesting article over at Expatica about the growing trend of "luxury hiking". I'd have thought this might apply to well-heeled pensioners, but they describe this new group of hikers as...


In comparison to the veteran hikers who...


Wow. I remember doing some training hiking a bit with the Sierra Club back in the day, and I'd swear the standard was 20 miles a day with a 45lb pack and a lodestone for guidance. Overnighters brought a sleeping bag and an all-purpose tarp, if one is a wuss in the rain. A single-man tent was permissible if it was certain to snow combined with hurricane force winds. Aside from Chex trail mix, water and a can of beans, the only sweet thing to look forward to was a raisin granola bar.

Have times changed so much? Is a hut-to-hut hike, each serving beer, strudel, cheesecake and pasta, a warm bed, and hot showers, now the domain of the grizzled, hardened hard-core hikers? Are signposts measuring distance to the next hut in time to reach, the new badge of honor?

What standard do the folks here enjoy while hiking? The hard basics: roof, shower, 3-course meal, music and libations? Or luxury: spa, massage therapy, concertos, foie gras, champagne?

They'll be installing escalators next.

Top tip: never hike up to a hut that's also accessible by cable car. You'll only get there to find all the seats occupied by the fat bastards who took the easy way up.

It depends on the circumstances. I would certainly think that spas and the like defeat the purpose of a hike- to get away from shit like that. But one of my girlfriends and I are gearing up for the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, and although it's a trek it's hardly going to be a test of endurance. There are special hostels with beds and showers that we will be taking advantage of, and there may even be opportunities to wash clothes. But we are at least going to forgoe the offered meals and stick to our budget-happy diet of dried fruit, nuts, and self-cooked lentils instead.
But yeah, I would consider this to be taking it pretty damn easy. Usually my preference would be a blanket, tarp, cooker, basic sustenance, and good shoes!

I don't know, it has an appeal in a way. I mean, if I do a day hike and head home to my comfy bed at the end of the day, what's the difference really? And I've always hated the competitive aspect they mention in the article about the old style hikers. I don't care if you can get up the mountain before me, it's hardly like it's going anywhwere before I get there 20 minutes later. If the new hikers are all about the experience and not the conquering, I wouldn't mind giving it a try. But I do like the mountain huts and the atmosphere in them. It's like being in a beergarden vs a fine dining restaurant.

coming from a hiking mad family, anyone who wants luxury while hiking is a wimp and not a real hiker

This is the way of the world. Look at Youth Hostels in the UK; their original clientele of hostel-to-hostel hikers are dying off, so they've had to reinvent themselves in order to attract the yuppie car-driving families. Cue large-scale closure of rural hostels in favour of urban locations, replacement of dorms and large toilet blocks with private en-suite rooms. Same in the Alps: the newer huts have more private rooms.

I think it's partly because we have more disposable income these days, are used to higher standards of hotels thanks to business travel, and perhaps also because of a desentisation to nature. That said, many people do still choose to camp.

Really? This is good news, I hate having to share a room with 16 other people, farting and snoring through the night. I've tried hiking, I'm even a member of a skiing and walking club, but I'm afraid although I love the mountains, the prospect of getting hot and sweaty walking up them and then having to go without a shower and then sleep in a room full of people just turns me off.

and its also to do with the fact that there is not one single square inch of anything, anywhere, that can't be commodified, marketed and sold to gullible fuckwits keen to jump on the latest bandwagon. Coming soon - luxury breathing!!!

I've always had an idea of doing a long-distance hike, staying in clean, friendly, unpretentious, comfortable accommodation. A nice meal, friendly staff, and clean and comfortable room for the night. I wouldn't want the snobbishness that would probably come with places that considered themselves "luxurious".

So true, I tried doing the hippie backpacking hostel thing my first time through europe. After 1 day sharing a large room that experiment was cancelled.

Just to clarify, I would be quite happy with that as well, I don't want or need 5 star luxury either and wouldn't expect it.

I'm in two minds about the Matratzenlager idea. Earplugs take care of the snoring, but when the hut's busy then you are sleeping uncomfortably close to strangers – and still paying a good €15 or more for the privilege. If you actually had your own bed then I'd be OK with it, but the hut owners will argue there's no space for such luxury.

The private rooms are also Matratzenlager style, but the big difference is that you only share with the people in your own group.

We are avid hikers, and now that we have a toddler, something "in between" roughing it and luxury is nice. I think the positive spin one needs to consider with these changes is that more people are trying to appreciate nature/ the environment, and that is not a bad thing. One does not have to be a stinky hippy to enjoy the great outdoors, and even better, one does not have to sleep in the same room with several stinky hippies, either.

Personally I'm a huge convert to the YHAs, just wish that Germany would get with the programme and open the sites up like other countries such as Australia, NZ and Japan have done. Which is why the name has changed.
Their previous market of teenagers and young families just don't hike as much as they once did, preferring to sit on their arses with a PS3 drive and caravan or use guesthouses. Due to this, other countries have opened up the hostels to other age groups, which is why they are so popular with we the "middle youth" and the oldies - who let's face it, love hiking and have the time to do it.
And it's great - I'm a proud card carrier.

Ugh. That looks awful. I wonder where they got that idea from ...

Do you mean the original pilgrimage hostels? Many of them are anything than "luxury", they look more like this (Albergue de Roncesvalles):


Add to this a day of climbing up the Pyrenees with a backpack, possibly heat, then arriving in a hostel packed with people, after a rough night being woken up at 6 in the morning (monastery life style) ...

I haven't done that (although I'm vaguely interested), but friends told me that the Camino de Santiago can be a test of endurance. But the fact that the Camino has become so popular again with young and older hikers shows that not everyone cares for "wellness hiking", I think it's more one trend among many others.

If I am going to walk somewhere, I want beer. Quite honestly, if I am going to not walk, and just sit, I want beer. I could not possibly understand the point of walking somewhere only to get there and find that there was no beer, and whats worse, loads of beds all next to each other?!?! Fuck me, prisons have better sleeping conditions than that.

Germany is and has been with the programme for a good few years - if you have an YHA card you can stay at any German YH http://www.jugendherberge.de/en/

No age limit and so on. Details in the above link and here at hihostels: http://www.hihostels.com/web/membership.en...&country=DE

Sadly the Bavarian hostels interpret the rules differently...
Bavaria price list 2008 look at page 2

Under 27 year olds have priority - not the case elsewhere. I have the brochure at home as I live close to one of the Munich YHAs, picked it up there and pulled them up on this.

Only if its not full. I mwt someone who runs a hut at 2950 metres. Believe me 15 euros is a steal.

I quite agree, imagine the sheer agony after being persuaded to hike halfway up an effing mountain only to find the gasthaus closed, absolute torture.

You just described the only hike/overnight trip I did on Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. There were 6 of us (me and 5 guys) and we stayed at the Lake of the Clouds Hut. You get a room with 3 levels of bunks and 12 people and their stinky clothes and boots and socks (most of which have not been washed for days because this hut is part of the Appalacian Trail). I shared a room with 11 guys - and they served baked beans for dinner AND there were no showers just running water in sinks to wash your face or brush your teeth. But, I still remember it fondly ;-)

They do say that odour plays an important part in memory

They already have that. Behold: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_bar

Heh, I can relate, but it's more rewarding to bring your own. I'm not an elitist though, and enjoy the odd hut now and then for entertainment and socializing (sometimes i miss those girls in Patagonia dearly). But not for sleeping, I prefer my hiking and camping to be in the wilderness (as much as possible).

I'm just a bit dizzy that luxury is considered a 4 star hotel with spa/wellness program, and the basics are defined as only warm beds, hot showers, and waiters. I was delighted at the comforts of bivy sacks and super-chlorine/peroxide combinations; heaven dreams of being handed a menu card and perusing a dessert counter in the middle of the Alpine boondocks.

the words spa/wellness written on a page make me want to commit genocide. God, even writing them has made my left eye start to twitch

This discussion reminds me of the episode in Bill Bryson's book "A Walk in the Woods", where Bryson and his friend Katz, who have been hiking the Appalachian trail, are forced out of their mountain shelter by a bunch of Ralph-Lauren-wearing hikers, who want the shelter all to themselves. Bryson and Katz have to camp in the rain, but the next day Katz exacts revenge ...

Until a few years ago, Bavarians hostels didn't accept over-26s at all. I kind of understood this approach. After all, the whole idea of youth hostels is that they are for the youth. This used to be the case in Britain as well. Unfortunately, those youths got older and older and the younger generations weren't getting involved to the same degree, which is why the hostels had to evolve.

That said, the over-26 rule was waived if you were travelling with children. It absolutely infuriated me that, as a 27-year-old, train-travelling, independent student traveller I was being turned away from hostels whilst yuppie families pulling up in their BMWs were being shown the red carpet. That made my blood boil. Now I don't stay in hostels anyway. As the quality increased, so did the price, and I can now stay in a hotel or Pension for the same price or only slightly more and get a private room with proper bedding, usually in a more central location. This applies to both Britain and Germany.

I loved that book!!

I´ve not read the whole thread through, but was wondering if anybody else ever stayed at Tanner´s Hatch Youth Hostel on Ranmore Common, in Surrey?
Optimistically classed as "basic" by the YHA - it was wonderful!!
- big open fires, outside toilets, bunk beds three or four high - a real adventure!!!

Unfortunately, it closed down a few years ago, or I´d have taken Shorty there just so that she realises how good she has it at home ;-)

If you are ever in Tokyo, try the HI Hostel Sumidagawa, it's a steal and you also get to stay in tamami rooms. They even have the robot toilet and all the usual toilet shoes, lounge shoes...
Other fantastic hostels are Te Anau, NZ - there's no better place to stay to start the Milford Track or the Fjordland area, Wellington NZ, Katoomba NSW and Hunter Valley NSW.
Vienna Hütteldorf isn't bad either with excellent transport links. Think it isn't just the accommodation, it has been the staff with their local knowledge and tips which made the difference.