The Leutasch valley and the Geisterklamm

The Leutasch runs west from the Seefeld plateau towards the German border: fifteen kilometres of hay meadow, scattered farms, wooden chapels and the Leutascher Ache running clear down the middle, with the Wetterstein wall closing the southern side. It is the quiet half of the destination — no resort centre, almost no crowd, and long open foregrounds that are hard to find elsewhere in Tyrol.

At the far end, where the valley meets Mittenwald, the river has cut the Leutascher Geisterklamm. The gorge is walked on steel galleries and stairways bolted into the rock a long way above the water, with a suspension bridge over the deepest section — a place of hard shadows, spray and turquoise pools rather than open views.

Light in the gorge is a narrow window: the sun reaches the water only around the middle of the day, and the rest of the time it is a cool, even, blue-green light that photographs well but wants a steady hand. The valley itself works at either end of the day, best in the last hour when the Wetterstein goes warm.

Summer is meadow, cattle and full water. In winter the valley is one of Europe's larger cross-country areas, with tracks running past the farms and the Hohe Munde white at the eastern end; the gorge galleries close for the season and after heavy rain. Check before you go.