Pfaffensee loop from the hotel

From the hotel, follow markers no. 20 and no. 3 up to the Plantapatsch hut at around 2,140 m. The trail leads over meadows and through light larch forest and climbs steadily. The hike is rated as easy; it is the length that makes it a half-day tour.

From the hut, trails no. 4 and no. 4A lead to the lakes. From the hut allow about an hour and around 110 metres of ascent. The lakes lie at just over 2,200 m: the Large and the Small Pfaffensee, as they are also called on maps.

You return via the Plantapatsch hut and down trail no. 3 to the valley station of the chairlift and the hotel. The map below shows the route; the GPX file puts it on your device. On the ground the markings on site always take precedence.

Between the hut and the lakes the high plateau opens up with its alpine meadows. In calm weather the glaciated Ortler range is reflected in the lakes; the operator also lists panoramic views of the Sesvenna group, the Ötztal Alps and the Upper Vinschgau basin for the hiking area.

The loop is especially beautiful in October, when the larches turn golden. In early summer patches of snow often remain and the trails are wet. At the hut, the play lake invites children to linger.

South Tyrol Marketing and the operator describe a much longer circular hike that starts in Burgeis at the information office on trail no. 4: up to the Bergsee lake, keep right past the unstaffed Platzer alp to the Pfaffensee, then down trails 4A and 3 to the Plantapatsch hut, on along trail no. 2A to Prämajur and via the Röfen farms on trail no. 2 to Marienberg Abbey and back to Burgeis.

The operator's figures: 15.8 kilometres, about 1,030 metres of ascent, around six hours, difficult. As a hotel guest you can shorten it by joining or leaving directly at the hotel.

The lakes lie about 480 metres higher than the hotel; it can be cooler and windier up there. Take rain protection, warm clothing, sun protection and enough water, and check the weather and trail conditions. The lakes can be reached in summer and early autumn, when the snow has gone.

You can stop at the Höfer alp, the Plantapatsch hut and the inns in Prämajur and Burgeis. Which of them are open depends on the season; information is on watles.net.

You reach Prämajur from Mals by bus no. 277. With the Reschensee Guest Pass, train and bus travel throughout South Tyrol is included in your stay; current timetables are on suedtirolmobil.info.