Tyrol (Austria) > Reviews (6)

When you think of mountains in Austria if you think of them at all, on the whole most people think of skiing and winter sports. As I found out this year there is a lot more to the mountains than just snow and ski’s.
For our holiday this year we went of to Kitsbuhel which was around one hour and half away from Salzburg and situated in what is known as the Tirol. Innsbruck is the capital of the Tirolean region and can be visited either by train if you wish to do itindependently or via your local rep. You can also visit the capital city of Austria which is Vienna as well as Venice and Munich. Trips to these as well as many others are available locally.
Kitsbuhel it’s self is a very pretty town but can be very expensive as it’s inhabitants tend towards the rich to very rich. In fact when you are walking down the main streets you will see famous names such as Prada displayed all over. The town hosts two churches which are well worth a visit and a well stocked tourist information center. If you are looking for something a bit more exciting you can go the aquarina and have a go one their water slides or maybe relax in their sauna after a hard day out and about. This is also where the local swimming pool lives.
The main thing to do however in this area is walking and biking (mountain bikes can be hired locally) don’t worry if you a bit out of shape because you can get to the top of the mountains using the ski lifts which start running again after the winter session at the beginning of June. Although not all of the lifts are operating at this time of year the main ones are, this enables you to get to top without all the hard work. You can also take a mountain bike up to the top on some of the lifts and cycle down which is great fun.
All the walks in this area are well marked out and sign posted so it makes is hard to get lost and the sense of achievement you fell when you complete your walk is next to none. One of the things which I found useful whilst walking is that there are plenty of small restaurant’s hidden half way up mountains and at the tops so if you do get tired
or hungry and you stop have a rest, admire the views and have a bite to eat or drink. I recommend the cakes and ice creams !
At this time of year the weather can be varied so you must pack for any circumstance that may arise. When we were there we had a very warm time of it as it got up as high as 38. But we also witnessed some amazing lighting displays, which when seen over the mountains and thorough the valleys is a spectacular sight.
One of the highlights of the trip for me was going up the Hahenkamm mountain one Friday night, they run the lift until 11.00pm on this day. We watched the sun go down whilst drinking wine. It was very romantic and peaceful not to mention beautiful.
To sum up, Kitzbuel is one of the most beautiful areas in the world. It is host to forest, mountains, lakes, alpine pastures and beautiful valleys which are totally unspoiled by man. I thoroughly recommend you go.