AUSTRIA: High season in the High Alps
 

We're home now (in August), wishing to avoid exhaust fumes on the roads and squealing kids in the restaurants in scenic Austria.

Assuming our premise is correct, which would be the better time to enjoy the beauty of the likes of Hall, Hallstatt & Heiligenblut - June or September? Or, is the premise wrong?

ttt

I spent 4 nights in Heiligenblut last year and enjoyed it. We rented a room in Landhaus Christoph run by the Kramser family. The children range in age from 5 to 20. They were there, but only the 4 year old (last year) made his presence known. He would run up to my wife when we were eating breakfast, jump in her lap, whisper something in German (which was totally incomprehensible), and giggle. Then he would jump down and run off to hide. For some reason he thought my wife was an ok person and wanted to greet her every time he saw here. Certainly 4 year olds are nothing new to her even though it has been a few years since we played the fantasy games with one.

I think either month is ok.
If you go in September, make it early September.

If you drive the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse, there is a toll.
If you plan on driving on it more than once, you do NOT pay the full fee each time. For a little more you can reuse the original ticket.

The squealing kids will probably be Americans. I have never seen many children in German or Italian restaurants.

Bob, thanks for your response. Actually I was hoping you'd drop a line because I've been following your words of wisdom since I came on board. Your love of mountain beauty (both in North America and Europe) comes through in your many posts.

I regret that I was less than clear with my question.

My concern has to do with a hang-up of mine of having a sublime experience compromised by less-than optimal circumstances, i.e. traffic snarls on narrow mountain roads and/or a flood of tourists and their buses in the quaint villages. (If for no other reason than this, I prefer Glacier National Park to the Grand Canyon.)

By definition, these beauty spots of the High Alps draw the crowds and there's no way, once encountered, by turning away onto a side road or something, to avoid them.

Thus my re-phrased question is, what is the best time to enjoy summer-like weather, yet it be a time when there's a minimum of other vacationers around?

Also, why did you prefer early September to the later; and wouldn't June be better because of the wildflowers and the longer daylight hours?

Again, thanks!

To answer your questions about timing, bear in mind that many high alpine trails and roads are not open until middle June, or later if snow fall is heavy that year. Even then, the trails can be slushy and muddy.

September usually finds the big vacation push over, but you still have days with more than 12 hours of daylight. We found the Franz Josef Höhe at the end of the spur road off the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse to be lightly visited during the middle of the week. No trouble finding a parking place. The restaurants were not crowded, and in Heiligenblut I had the best wienerschnitzel I ever ate; it was better than Fiegenmüllers in Vienna.

The Grossglockner highway itself is a well engineered road. We drove over it 4 times for one reason or another last summer and never got trapped behind slow vehicles. For the most part, European drivers as a group are much better than American drivers when ti comes to negotiating those curves. I had to push it a little to keep my place in line. Of course, the vehicle I had, a diesel engine Opel something or other, left a lot to be desired. At least it had manual shift rather than a slush pump transmission. I did warm up the brakes a time or two even though I downshifted. The car rolled too fast in 3rd and too slow in 2nd. I was nearly redlining the tachometer in 2nd.

Another tactic is to avoid the most popular spots on Saturday and Sunday.

We also visited the Ötztal the year of 9/11!! The Gletscherstrasse is fabulous and Das Timmelsjoch (high pass) is well engineered on the Austrian side, but something of a fright on the Italian side. I retreated once I achieved the summit because we were in dense fog and could see nothing. I saw no point in risking a steep, twisting downhill journey in the fog through unlighted tunnels.

That valley is interesting and full of attractions, particularly if you are a skier. The glacier ski slopes are groomed daily almost all year.

There is a re-creation of the village in which the Iceman, also known as Ötzi, could have lived. It is very authentic. The Austrian genetics specialists have rebred hogs and cattle very similar to the types that are believed to have existed during that time.

Our last two trips to Austria were in May. The weather was great in Hallstatt and no crowds! In May 1999, we went over Grossglockner and it was cold and a little snowy. Quite beautiful actually. In May 2002, there was a heat wave in Vienna and it was very warm. I like traveling to Europe in May. My next choice would be September.

Late August-September was perfect for me in Austria. I've been in June/July and there were too many kids (mostly American and German tourists) around. I'm a teacher, so I like to escape the kids for a little while.