It’s not guided.We took the toll road through Ginzling(bus also goes) and park at the Schlegeis reservoir.The route is shown on the walking maps but plenty of information boards.

Sorry unable to answer this.

We wore sturdy walking shoes though other folk wore boots. We (both 60+) did up to 15km per day on easy and medium trails both in the valley and up the mountains and were fine. Buy a good map and you will have a good idea of the terrain, ascents/descents etc. Everything is very well signposted and there are lots of gravel type paths. The one thing I'd strongly advise is take a pair of walking poles if doing any ascents/descents. Makes it so much easier. Oh and always carry a raincoat and a second layer. We got caught out by the drop in temperature between the valley and up the mountains. Get a Zillertal Activ card - well worth it. You get a good map as part of the pack and then more detailed individual maps at each cable car station. Recommended walks? Edelhütte at Ahorn or several at Penkel - maybe try the one that ends up down through the meadows to Vorderlanersbach. And visit one of the reservoirs and Hintertux glacier. We were there for two weeks and there were lots we didn't get doing. Must go back! Enjoy!

We got a really good set of four maps of the Zillertal area from the tourist office in Zell am Ziller about five kilometres from Mayrhofen. As it was produced by the official Zillertal organisation, I would assume it is also available in Mayrhofen. The Zillertal area has lots of brochures in English. Look online for info about the Zillertal Active Card.

Our Hotel in Mayrhofen supplied hiking poles free of charge. They also had a hotel mountain guide who conducted brilliant hiking tours (free of charge) I suppose that other Hotels may do that, too. There are lots of hiking trails in the area, of any length and difficulties. Some of them need you to take a specially dedicated bus to the starting point. We went up a glacier, and the particular hike took the whole day (including two breaks). There were no extreme immediate drops, but we had to take a cable lift up to the start of our walk (Marienwand).