The road less traveled in Austria

People traveling to Europe are often dismayed to find huge crowds everywhere they go. Firenze, Venezia, and Roma, not to mention Paris, Zermatt, Vienna, and Salzburg, are popular for a reason: they are beautiful and there is a lot to see and do. Everyone has heard of them. Everyone wants to go there. We do too. We’ve been to all of these places and many more but we also try to go places that are truly off the proverbial beaten path. Torino, the Val Gardena, Abruzzo, Porto Santo Stefano, and Procida are places unaccustomed to seeing very many North Americans and we’ve enjoyed these visits as an escape from the usual suspects such as the Cinque Terre and Sorrento, though we enjoy the latter as well.

Beautiful country. The only downside is that our hiking is at lower elevations.

Continuing to find places new-to-us, this week we are in the Pillerseetal (Pillersee Valley)  of Austria. Specifically, we are between two tiny towns: St. Ulrich am Pillersee and St. Jakob in Haus, staying at the charming and low-key Landhotel Strasserwirt  for some winterwandern or winter hiking on groomed paths. Yeah, it’s a thing in Europe. We’ve done winterwandern in Switzerland and Ortisei as well.

Loving the sun! Had a bit too much of the gray skies and rain in Vienna and Salzburg.

This is a destination patronized mostly by Austrians and Germans, with a smattering of other Europeans. Luckily English is widely spoken in Austria, although my college German comes flooding back at most unexpected moments. (I’m hoping it doesn’t push the Italian out.) The menus can be a little challenging to figure out, but that’s part of the fun. As long as I avoid anything with the word leber (liver) or blut (blood) I should be OK. The wines are excellent, too. We drank a lot of Grüner Veltliner in Vienna and Salzburg. Here we have turned to the Zweigelt, a generally lighter red with notes of berry and cherry, appropriate with the mountain cuisine of the hotel. As always when we leave Italy, we miss the ubiquitous bars with €1.00 espresso shots. There are no damn bars in these tiny towns so we are coffee deprived. 

Our home for 4 nights, Landhotel Strasserwirt.

We have certainly found a quiet, no-stress, restful retreat from the city. The scenery is excellent and the prices are low. All-in-all we prefer the hiking in all seasons that the Berner Oberland of Switzerland offers. There the amazing system of lifts and trains and rifugi offering coffee and lunch along the trail are an unbeatable combo, but the prices in Austria make for a more affordable trip. Here is a place a family of four can pass a week enjoying the horses and lessons, two-meals-a-day, and mountain activities nearby for €1700.00. Can you do that in the U.S? I don’t know, but I suspect you’d have to have a car to do it, and here you can do it car-free if you like thanks to the network of trains and buses.

Here we are high above the valley on a hiking trail. with Nordic trails crisscrossing below us. See the tiny people?

In the Pillerseetal there is a convergence of downhill skiing, Nordic skiing, and hiking, something for nearly everyone. The Dutch are apparently having their winter break so we see school-age kids and their parents heading to the slopes, but there are no huge crowds.

As I write this we’ve spent 2 ½ days taking hikes of various lengths in decent weather. Some would say it is too warm, and the Austrians would love to see more snow. It has begun to rain this evening and we hope to experience snowfall ourselves before we depart the day after tomorrow. It’s been a very long time since these Minnesota and North Dakota natives have seen significant accumulation.

Not beware of the bears, but watch out for cows protecting their calves.

A little one learning Nordic skiing already.

The Jakobskreuz at the top of the ski lift, St. Jakob in Haus. This is actually a building where one can survey the valley.

Balou, the hotel’s dog, is patient and friendly.

Ducks in snow….the Pillersee has not frozen so the waterfowl are hanging around.

Signage is excellent. Hard to get lost, and you can take a bus back after a long one-way hike.

Like a three lane highway, the trail on the left is for hikers, the two on the right for Nordic skiing.

Ric on the trail, near St. Jakob in Haus. Very mild temps.

St. Jakob in Haus, Pillerseetal, Austria. Cute town, but no damn coffee bar! That would be illegal in Italy.

Tags: Nordic skiing, Pillerseetal, Strasserwirt, winterwandern