A hut tour with kids is an exciting experience for the whole family. I still remember exactly how we sat in front of the hut in the evening on our first hut tour with our then two-year-old daughter and admired the sunset over the Kaisertal together. A magical moment! My daughter certainly found the fountain in front of the house more exciting – as well as the fact of being kept up late. Everyone was happy and that was the main thing.
In the meantime, we hike with two children. My big daughter is five years old and walks all the tours herself. She has often stayed overnight in mountain huts. She loves the food at the hut, being allowed to stay up until the sun goes down (if she makes it), the intense family time and the feeling of adventure. A hut tour is something special and children already know that.
The first hut tour with child raises many questions. Because the planning and the equipment change with the offspring.
In the following, I have compiled 10 tips for the first hut tour with children for you.
Planning
1. Take it slow
When hiking with kids, the focus should always be on having fun and never on sporting ambitions. If your child is already walking by himself, then take it slowly. Unlike a day hike, it is often not possible to shorten or break off the hike on a hut tour with children. So less is more. If you arrive at the hut in the early afternoon, it doesn’t matter. This way you have more time to play, romp around or enjoy a Kaiserschmarrn.
For example, you can first spend the night in a hut to try out the adventure hut tour.
We threw ourselves right into the deep end and spent three nights in the mountains with child. However, at that time our daughter was still mainly carried in a carrier backpack and we spent the night in one and the same hut.
2. How to find a suitable hut
The first big challenge of a hut tour with kids is the planning. You have to find suitable huts and what is even more important: The hiking tours that lead to the huts have to fit you as a family.
What makes the planning so unpredictable: the children or their walking pace. You can safely forget the information about walking times when hiking with kids. With a five-year-old child we plan about twice the time. Including breaks, that fits well so far. Once we are faster, there is more time for breaks or more time at the hut.
When choosing the huts, the location and the equipment are important.
The huts should be close to each other and the meters in altitude that have to be overcome should correspond to the child’s ability. The special challenge for us adults is to find a trail that matches the children’s physical and technical ability, but is still adventurous enough for the little climbers to have fun. Forest trails are boring, small mountain paths or forest trails are definitely a better choice.
Reading tip: How to motivate kids to hike – The best tips and tricks
When furnishing the hut, I make sure that it is possible to stay in room camps. These are rooms with 2 to 5 (bunk) beds that can be reserved as a family. The selected hut should of course be serviced. This is what makes a hut tour with children so enjoyable: you will be fed along the way.
Many huts are geared to children as overnight guests and have playgrounds, animals and much more. For me, these criteria are secondary when choosing a hut. A well, stones for climbing or nature itself offer enough opportunities for discovery and play.
3. Involve the children in the planning of the hut tour
Once the hut tour with kids is planned, involve the kids in the planning. Whether the hike was created with a map or in an online planning tool, you can discuss the hike with the kids. At five years old, my daughter doesn’t want to be just a “fellow hiker” anymore; she wants to know what’s coming up.
4. Reserve the huts and coordinate with the hut keepers
Hut tours are becoming more and more popular. The chances that you can spontaneously spend the night in a room camp for three or more people are virtually zero. I recommend to book every hut of your hut tour in advance.
Especially if you are hiking with very young children, it can be useful to call or write to the hut owners in advance.
On our first hut tour with a child, we stayed three nights at a hut in the Kaisertal. Our daughter was still diapered at the time. It goes without saying that hikers – including families – take their trash from the hut back down to the valley. However, full diapers from three nights or four days of hiking are impossible to transport. Especially since the diapers definitely spread an unpleasant odor. If you are planning a long tour, then you can clarify such points with the hut hosts in advance.
5. Good equipment is important for everyone
Personally, I think that novice hikers do not need to buy the full hiking equipment for simple day trips. However, if you are planning a hut tour with kids, you are certainly an experienced hiker and accordingly well equipped.
Children also need good equipment. Suitable hiking boots are the be-all and end-all. Blisters and wet feet can make a hut tour a torture for children and adults.
Waterproof clothing is a must! The fact that you will be hiking mostly through sunshine on a multi-day hike with kids would be great luck. Of course, the clothes will not only protect you from rain, but also from wind.
As with a day hike, you should dress yourself and your children on hut tours according to the layered clothing principle, i.e. many thin layers that can be put on and taken off again accordingly.
Whether for kindergarten, preschool, day trips or adventurous hut tours: At Tatonka you and your child will certainly find the right kid’s backpack.
In different sizes and designs and with many practical features.
Where “in the past” a small, compact hut sleeping bag could be easily stowed in the hiking backpack, nowadays, i.e. due to corona, proper sleeping bags have to be taken to the hut.
Also remember to bring a first aid kit. This is usually more extensive for multi-day hikes with children than for a day trip. In my opinion, a first aid kit for hiking with kids also includes an emergency ration of “sweets”. A jelly bear can be a great comfort and release unimagined hiking motivation.
We are currently hiking with two children. My little daughter sits in a carrier backpack, in which the space for luggage is very limited.
No matter how minimalist we tried to pack, my Pyrox 40+10 Women touring backpack was always full to the top. I can’t and don’t want to carry more luggage, and I think a smaller backpack for a hut tour with kids is unrealistic.
Should children carry their own luggage on a hut tour?
It depends. The size and weight of the backpack depend on the child’s size and physical condition. Since kindergarten children should carry a maximum of 10% of their own body weight over a longer period of time and elementary school children a maximum of 3 kilos, small children cannot yet carry their own luggage.
Children should definitely have tried hiking with a backpack beforehand and feel comfortable with it. Be prepared, especially in the beginning, to carry the children’s backpack frequently yourself. Only from the age of about 9 years can children be a real help in carrying your hiking luggage.
Packing list for a hut tour with kids
I assume that you as parents have already made a hut tour and know what should be in your hiking luggage. If not, here is a detailed packing list for a hut tour.
What do children need for a hut tour of 3 days/2 nights:
- 1 pair of pants (long)
- 1 T-shirt
- 1 sweater
- Fleece jacket
- 2 pairs of underpants
- 2 pairs of socks
- Ski underwear (we used them as pajamas and it can also be worn underneath during the day if the weather changes)
- slippers
- undershirt
- sleeping bag
- First aid kit extended by fever suppositories, tick pliers, something against insect bites, a wound protection ointment
- mud pants
- Insect spray & sunscreen for children
- Headlamp or flashlight for children
- Sun hat
- Hiking boots
- Hiking backpack
- Hardshell jacket
- Pixi book, card game, pocket knife (depending on age)
- Cuddly toy (depending on the space in the backpack)
Touring backpacks from Tatonka for your next hut hike with adjustable back system and extensive equipment details can be found in our online store or at your outdoor retailer.
7. The right motivation during the hike
My personal experience is that children hike with much more motivation on a hut tour than on day hikes – provided the trail is exciting. My daughter does not question the “point of hiking” on a hike to a hut. The destination, unlike day hikes, is always clear: the hut to spend the night.
I’ll be honest: Even on a hut tour, at least my daughter doesn’t hop along the trail in a good mood and motivated throughout the entire hiking day. There are always lean stretches when we parents have to dig into our motivational bag of tricks.
“I can’t walk anymore” means, in the case of children, “I’m bored.”
It’s always important to be sure that your kids actually need to be motivated. So they really don’t need a break, they’re not hungry, and they’re not thirsty.
Worth reading: The 10 most frequently asked questions about hiking with kids
Every child is different. Basically, it always helps with us to engage my daughter in conversation, and before boredom sets in. Candy, (healthy) snacks, and in really bad motivation lows, the emergency gummy bear work wonders for our hikes.
Although I have the feeling that she is eating throughout some tours, her energy needs are probably much higher than I can imagine. A clear indication of this are the large portions she still eats in the evening on a hut tour.
Popular games with us are: playing hide and seek and “I see what you don’t see”. Also, guessing animals, rhyming words and guessing objects. The child thinks of an object and we adults try to guess it by asking questions that can only be answered with a yes or no. The child can also try to guess what the object is.
Balancing, climbing over stones, looking for hiking sticks, looking for signposts, singing a song, practicing whistling on blades of grass, and pondering about the hut meal also quickly dispel hiking boredom.
8. Take your time
I personally enjoy a hut tour with kids especially the lack of time pressure while hiking. Of course, a hut also wants to be reached at some point so that there is still something to eat. When planning a hut tour with children, however, we choose the routes in such a way that no family member reaches their limits and there is plenty of time for extended breaks.
In the evening there is not much to do at a hut: Arrive, order food, unroll your sleeping bag and enjoy.
You can take much more time on a well-planned hike than you would on day hikes. When hiking with kids, it’s well known that the journey is the destination. You can enjoy this and the intensive family time to the fullest on a hut tour.
9. Relaxed cottage stays – How it works with children
Children are not a nuisance at a hut! If other hikers give you the feeling that children are not welcome, then think of the many sleepless hours that someone snored in your ear or the noisy evenings that you could not fall asleep because a few too many shots were drunk loudly in the lounge.
Also interesting: How to plan a hike with and for kids
Children find huts exciting. Around a hut there is a lot to discover and in the cozy lounge there is delicious food and tasty sweet drinks. Depending on the age of the child, a small card game or a (Pixi) book should not be missing from the hiking backpack.
My children are also allowed to stay awake as long as they want and can during a hut tour. There are no fixed bedtimes on such days. Our main focus is on spending time together as a family. And as the saying goes: relaxed parents equal relaxed children.
10. Have the courage
With the above tips you should be well prepared for your first hut tour with kids. My last tip is: Be brave.
It doesn’t have to be a remote hut for your first tour. One night to get to know the adventure of a hut tour with children is enough. I’m sure that after that there will be no stopping you, and a hike lasting several days will become an integral part of your vacation planning from that point on.
Have fun!
