The Defereggen Valley is one of the most untouched high-mountain valleys in the Alps, tucked away between the Defereggen, Rieserferner, Lasörling and Schober mountain groups within Hohe Tauern National Park. It's a place where remoteness and raw alpine beauty still reign.

Running east-west parallel to the neighboring Pustertal and Virgental valleys, Defereggental is carved by the Schwarzach river. Steep forested slopes rise into rocky peaks and glacial cirques, creating a dramatic backdrop for hikers in summer and a quiet, snow-covered retreat in winter. As one of the most sparsely populated areas in the Austrian Alps, it offers a genuine sense of solitude rarely found elsewhere, protected by its national park status.

How to get there

• The valley is accessed via the Defereggentalstraße, passing through the villages of Hopfgarten in Defereggen, St. Veit in Defereggen and St. Jakob in Defereggen
• From the upper valley, the historic Staller Sattel and Klammljoch passes lead into South Tyrol, Italy

Good to know

• The valley lies within Hohe Tauern National Park, so nature protection rules apply
• South Tyrolean farmers still hold traditional grazing rights in the upper valley

St. Jakob in Defereggen is East Tyrol's oldest settlement, inhabited since the 7th century - and the valley's name is thought to derive either from the Celtic word for 'dark' or the Slavic word for 'good'.