|
Traversing Tyrol
"Blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures." - Lovelle Drachman
We decided to forgo Switzerland this autumn and head back to Austria and the Dolomites instead. We’d visited Austria/South Tyrol, Italy in December 2023, which merely whet our appetite, encouraging us to return at a time of year more conducive to hiking. The goal: See more of South Tyrol and the Dolomites by spending some quality time in four different locations, complemented by a few areas in Tyrol, Austria that have been on our radar, all while trying to avoid the height of the season; plus spend a few nights in Munich for jet lag recovery and an Indian food fix (or two). I monitored flights for about a month. When fares finally dropped some $400 to $1,830 each for Premium Plus on UA on our preferred routing, we jumped (this the second week of April). We knew of course that UA would most likely change our flights at least once between purchase and departure - and true to form they did; changing the flight time and aircraft. Bill and Mel plan, UA laughs. We’d already settled on a rough itinerary, and I’d earmarked a few accommodation options, so then we set about further researching and booking, making sure local guest cards were included with our chosen accommodation. The 33 night itinerary: Arrive Munich - two nights, Kings Hotel First Class, $338 inclusive of breakfast, Hotels.com Sölden, Ötztal, Austria - five nights, Vizensn Living, Apt Fina, €680 + €40 tourist tax paid in cash upon arrival, Booking.com Brixen/Bressanone, South Tyrol, Northern Italy - five nights, Brixen Riverside Living, Air BNB, $747 + €24 tourist tax Colfosco, Alta Badia, South Tyrol, Italy - six nights, Ciasa Sunara, €528, booked directly Sterzing/Vipiteno, South Tyrol, Northern Italy - five nights - Casa Blu, AirBNB, $793 San Candido/Innichen, South Tyrol, Northern Italy - five nights, Residence Silvia, booked directly, €555 + €25 tourist tax Kufstein,”The Pearl of Tyrol”, Austria - five nights, Cityperle, Air BNB, $557 + €20 tourist tax, paid in cash upon arrival From Kufstein, we planned to take the train back to Munich for departure https://maps.app.goo.gl/9Devkb4pbGRAFjNM8 After booking accommodation, we bought insurance - TinLeg, $7,000 coverage for $528, inclusive of trip cancellation, interruption, medical, yadda, yadda. The flights - COS-IAH IAH-MUC MUC-IAH IAH-COS Planning & Issues: Sorting out bus transportation in the Dolomites for so late in the season presented issues. Bill just about drove himself crazy trying to work out various local bus schedules. Südtirol was the only reliable public transport site we could find (and what we used last year), but unfortunately some of the places we wanted to visit were not in Südtirol. We could only find Dolomiti Bus schedules in Italian and we were unable to find reliable timetables that we could understand. We finally gave up, deciding we’d figure it out on the fly, and hoped that tourist offices could help fill in the blanks. I found planning a Dolomites trip rather confusing, even the second time around. It wasn't always clear to me what to visit from each base; for example, did it make more sense to visit Cortina d'Ampezzo from Colfosco, or from San Candido? Was it better to visit Ortisei from Brixen or from Colfosco, etc? I compiled a list of what we wanted to see and do; and from which base seeing and doing these things seemed to make the most sense. I researched the closing dates for various cable cars and gondolas, and we based our itinerary on those dates, having to move a few things around in the process, which resulted in a bit of zig-zagging across the region. Best as I can tell, most visitors to the Dolomites do so by car, but we’ve yet to find a place in Europe that we can’t navigate by public transport; although some places - like Italy - are definitely more challenging than others. We booked a few trains in advance, some piecemeal, such as our travel day from Sölden to Brixen. Had we booked Sölden-Ötztal-Innsbruck-Brixen all on one ticket, the cost would have been €80, then extra for seat reservations. But instead, we bought a Sparscheine ticket from Innsbruck to Brixen in advance (€19.40, plus €6 for seat reservations), and then bought Einzeltickets from Ötztal to Innsbruck on the day of travel as there was no discount for advance purchase, €21.80 for two, one at senior rate. (Sölden-Ötzal Bahnhof was free with guest card), so a savings of €38.80 We didn’t anticipate needing to reserve seats on most trains, so decided we could probably do so on the fly if needed. In July, we discovered that effective September 23 (our day of departure from Sölden) the local bus from Sölden to Ötztal Bahnhof would switch from departures every 30 minutes to two departures a day, one at 12:35 pm and one at 6:35 pm. We contacted VVT (who provide the bus app for Austrian Tyrol) to confirm, and were told yes, this was the case. So, we booked our train tickets from Innsbruck to Brixen based on this timetable. I then contacted our apartment owner in Sölden to ask if a late check out that day would be possible. Then in late August, the new timetable was issued, and lo’ and behold it was the same as the old timetable. So, we figured we could leave Sölden in the morning, get to Innsbruck early and have a long lunch before catching our train to Brixen. Then, the day before departure, I ran across this on Trip Advisor: The road which goes from San Cassiano to Passo Valparola is going to be closed for urgent restructuring work from Monday 16th September until 30th November. This is the main route that people take from the Val Badia to Cortina so you'll need to find a way around. No doubt diversions will be signposted, but they will be long. The most obvious detour would be Corvara - Campolongo - Arabba - Pieve di Livinallongo - Passo Falzarego (but really long) So, Cinque Torri and Cima Tofana (near Cortina) were off the table - we'd planned to see both from Colfosco, and had thus planned six nights in Colfosco. We briefly considered taking one of those six nights and adding it to San Candido, but because our stay in San Candido was later in the trip, the Cinque Torri cable car would be closed anyway. As is stood, we only had one possible day for Cima Tofana while staying in Colfosco anyway as it closed on 9/29. So, we kept things as originally planned. To be continued... |
Sounds intriguing...
|
Looking forward to following and comparing notes! We spent a week in Colfosco, probably shortly before you (second week of September). We had four great days of hiking and views in the area...and then a half-foot of snow. We drove in on that road between Passo Falzarego and San Cassiano, and there was a lot of road work going on. Our apartment host told us it would be closing soon for more major work.
I've started trying to write a trip report but haven't been able to get too far. |
A foot of snow! Wow. We were there from Sept 28-Oct 4, and didn't have snow until the day we left. But plenty of rain and clouds.
|
Following along, huge fan of this region ! 33 nights, I'm envious!
|
Sept 15 & 16
Our flight from COS to Houston left a bit late. We arrived in Terminal A, an estimated 21 minute walk from our departure in Terminal C. It didn’t take us that long, so we had time for a very quick stop at the Red Carpet Club. Good thing, as I was starving and was able to wolf down a quick bite in the very busy club. Then we went right to our gate; they’d already boarded our section (1). Our flight to Munich onboard the 767-300 was pretty full. We’d booked Premium Plus; we struggled with plugging in our headphones as the plug was well hidden under the armrest at the back of the seat. Our meal came out before drinks; I suspect the crew knew there was turbulence ahead. The seat belt sign was on for almost the entire 10 hour flight even though it wasn’t always turbulent. I wondered if this was a result of all the recent turbulence issues - maybe the airline didn’t want to take a chance of being sued if the light wasn’t on when they hit unexpected turbulence? Or perhaps they just wanted everyone seated for 10 hours? Not going to happen. My bladder eventually got the best of me, so I ignored the signs. Fortunately, no one fussed at me, but how could they? A person has to pee, no? The food was decent, service rushed. We were offered a second beverage after dinner. I couldn’t get comfortable as the foot rest fought with my knee rest and I couldn’t use both at the same time. Bill did okay with his and helped me with mine on the return flight. I suspect everyone else was having the same issue, as the foot rest has to be manhandled to work. I got about three hours of sleep. It was pretty bumpy most of the flight but not roller coaster bumpy, thank goodness. We arrived to a massive line at immigration in Munich, then had to wait about an hour for luggage. Not sure what was going on, but there were many announcements advising possible delays. Luggage in hand, we got our bearings over coffee and pastry at a random bakery (€9.90) then made our way over to the train station, and tried to buy a Gruppen-Tageskarte on the DB app (all day ticket, five zones, up to five people). We were unsuccessful using the app, so bought it from a ticket machine, €29.10. We then took the S-bahn to the Hauptbahnhof. Every escalator we’d encountered thus far was out of service (with luggage no less). The weather was miserable, cold rain and wind. It was too early to check into our hotel, so we were given a keycard for the luggage area in the basement, where we pulled out our rain gear and then locked up our luggage. We then set out to explore. After a bit of floundering, we made our way to the Viktualienmarkt and settled in at Café Nymphenburg Sekt for wheat beer and a nice dry merlot, sipped while encased in their waterproof plastic tent, €25.10 for two rounds. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0939f04196.jpg Rainy day in Munich Feeling slightly refreshed, we returned to the hotel to check in. Our room was on the second floor overlooking a noisy construction site. I called and asked if there was a quieter room, and we were given the last available on the 6th floor, still overlooking the construction site, but higher up so quieter. The room was tiny; smaller than last year’s tiny room, but perhaps a different category. We got settled and then took the train to Isartor, for our dinner booking at Goa. I’d made the booking on The Fork and a second booking site, knowing full well that the restaurant probably wouldn’t have either, as they never do. Our MO is to make the earliest possible reservation, then turn up as soon as they open; we’ve never had a problem. My favorite paneer was no longer on the menu, but I asked and they said they could make it; Paneer Achari, lovely as always. Bill had the Chicken Tikka, we shared rice, garlic naan and sparking water (€39.80), and then made a booking for the following night. Our waiter asked where we were from, we told him this is our favorite Indian place in Munich and we come every time we’re in the city. After dinner we took the train back to the hotel; we were in bed by 8 pm. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3e94c49e4f.jpg Paneer Achari, Goa To be continued... |
Great start! I'm joining the train.
|
Sept 17 -
We had a good sleep, were up around six, then downstairs for breakfast shortly after. The weather was still crap, but dry so far. The hotel offers a €10 voucher if you pass on service, so we got ours with plans for a drink in the bar later in the day. More rain was expected, so we decided to visit a few churches we’d not seen before. We walked to the Hauptbahnhof, purchased an all-day M zone train/bus/tram ticket (metro zone) for €17.80. Then we headed to St. Paul’s, northeast of the Oktoberfest grounds (Theresienwiese), where we poked around for a bit. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6fc0ced73d.jpg St Paul's, photo taken on our second visit, after the sun made an appearance https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0a21db7591.jpg St Paul's https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d350c06761.jpg St Paul's Then we went to St Ludwig church on Ludwigstrasse. https://www.st-ludwig-muenchen.de/ https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...42b3abc7be.jpg St Ludwig https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e18cc4a544.jpg St Ludwig https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...50e98951a2.jpg St Ludwig Then, realizing we’d missed the observation deck at St Paul’s, we went back, only to find a locked door, which we suspect led to the observation deck; zutritt verboten. Oh well. Next we sought out the Octoberfest grounds, as we’d never been before. Oktoberfest was due to start in a few days. We walked the entire parameter of the 100 acre grounds and watched the preparations; a very long walk on Bavariaring. I had no idea how big the festival grounds were, and that they included roller coasters, etc. The buildings look permanent, but evidently they’re not. https://oktoberfesttoday.com/oktober...of-beer-tents/ https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...163d377efe.jpg Oktoberfest grounds https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4df728551a.jpg Oktoberfest grounds There was an exhibit/memorial display explaining the 1980 bomb attack at the festival grounds. Sobering indeed. https://stadt.muenchen.de/dam/jcr:09...omb-Attack.pdf We got sidetracked by the Hall of Fame monument, another place we’d never been. There was temporary fencing around the grassy areas surrounding it, presumably to keep the hordes of inebriated from passing out there. King Ludwig I had the Hall of Fame built from 1843 to 1853 above the Theresienwiese 'to acknowledge fame and service to Bavaria'. We considered climbing to the top of the Bavaria statue, but decided to save it for my next visit to Munich with my nephew. schloesser.bayern.de/englisch/palace/objects/mu_ruhm.htm#:~:text=King%20Ludwig%20I%20had%20the, hall%20on%20ancient%20colossal%20altars. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...7f399924f7.jpg Bavaria Statue Afterwards, we returned to our hood near the Hauptbahnhof via the U-bahn, on board what I can only describe as a “vintage” train, with manual levers on the doors, etc. When we arrived at the station we were surprised to see a row of yellow-vested men giving hand signals, presumably to the train driver, to let him know the doors were closed, etc. We’d never seen this before. I asked about it later on Trip Advisor, where most seemed to think it was related to security of the upcoming Octoberfest, not the vintage train. No idea. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0d1a4353e5.jpg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...299cc41a1c.jpg We were hungry, and our feet were killing us, we’d logged many miles on pavement. Not sure where to go for lunch, we ended up at Wirtshaus Rechthaler Hof near the Hauptbahnhof. We each had a bowl of Kartoffelsuppe wienerle (potato soup with tube steak - aka sliced hot dog-like sausage), accompanied with sparkling water, one wheat beer, one glass of Austrian white wine. It was a bit disappointing, not particularly good value, but it did the trick (€34.60). Then we returned to the hotel and used our voucher for a beverage in their bar (+€7.60), surprised they didn’t take cash; we had to use our credit card. Afterwards we picked up a few travel day provisions at a nearby Lidl for the next day. Later we took the train back to Isartor for an encore dinner at Goa; same table, same food, same waiter, €39.80. It wasn’t as spicy as yesterday, Bill had to ask for chili oil. Still good though. We watched an accident unfold from the windows of the restaurant; a car hit a tram, causing gridlock and trapping a second tram that couldn’t get around. A lot of chaos on such a narrow busy street. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0646f0cd2f.jpg Car hits tram To be continued... |
We transit through Munich fairly often, but we haven't spent time there since 2009. I think we're overdue for a visit.
I used to think that airport was a model of efficiency, but we've encountered more issues there the last couple of years - including loonnngggg passport control lines (not good when the minimum connection time is 40 minutes) and a Lufthansa flight that departed with no checked luggage onboard because they couldn't find a ground crew to load it. |
Hallo Mel!
Lovely and entertaining and evocative report, as always! Just a note about the Munich airport -- there were such terrible delays at the airport a little later than your arrival (early Oct, I believe), that it made German news and prompted action in the city council commerce committee. There is a thread at the other forum, titled "Munich Airport," with 58 replies. Basically, it has been a staffing & timing issue, and the staffing issue is getting resolved now. I think ....! Enjoying this! s |
Looking forward to following along on your trip.
|
Thanks for joining me, and thank you swandav for the details.
|
Sept 18 -
We were up early, had another good breakfast, then packed and got ready to leave. We rolled our luggage to the Hauptbahnhof and bought a Regio-ticket Werdenfels + Innsbruck from a ticket kiosk (€48), picked up rolls from a bakery to go with the salami, cheese and €6 bottle of dry Riesling we’d picked up the previous day (the wine was surprisingly good), and then located our train to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where we changed to a train to Innsbruck, then caught a train to Ötztal (bought a ticket on VVT app from Innsbruck to Sölden for €33.30). https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e4ec9d46c9.jpg The ride took us through some of our favorite Bavarian towns, including Garmisch-Partenkirchen (where we waved to swandav) and Mittenwald, and through some of Tyrol’s prettiest bits, including Seefeld and Innsbruck. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...71887ebe08.jpg Innsbruck train station Once in Ötztal we took the 320 bus to Sölden, which took about an hour and meandered through several small towns in the Ötztal Valley. I was surprised at the number of stops; there were loads for Längenfeld alone. Enroute to Sölden, while rejoining the main road from a narrow side road, a female driver going in the opposite direction blocked the bus driver’s way, so she had to back up. Evidently, she wasn’t happy about this as she gave the bus driver the one finger salute as she passed. Hilarious. No translation needed. It was a pretty day; a gorgeous drive, the leaves were beginning to change. Our journey had taken about five hours. We’d double checked our route the previous night due to flooding in Austria; we’d overheard a couple checking into our Munich hotel who said they couldn’t make it to Vienna due to flooding. All was okay on our route though. When researching this trip, we’d originally planned to travel via Kufstein using the Bayern Ticket, but when we checked again the previous night, routes to Kufstein also went through Innsbruck, so we didn’t see the point of an extra stop (the Regio-ticket Werdenfels + Innsbruck was just €9 each more than the Bayern Ticket). We located our apartment, just across the river from the Sölden Giggijochbahn bus stop. We got settled, and asked the owner where we might find a grocery store; we were told 300 meters across the bridge. We found it, (Spar), but it was closed until Oct 21! Uh-oh. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...90feaae36a.jpg Sölden We continued walking through town and found a mini MPreis, a small shop with limited items, no bread. After dropping off our groceries at the apartment, we went back out to see if there might be another grocery store, and to look for dinner. We found a second, larger shop (another Spar) about one kilometer from the apartment. Not much in town was open - Bill, Mel and Austria strike again. Closures are a recurring theme with us, as we often visit ski areas in the shoulder season. We fully expect them, yet Austria has surprised us on more than one occasion with how many there are. We weren’t expecting so many closures in a town of some 3,000 residents, especially since it was still summer season and the cable cars were operating. But most of the hotels were closed, as well as shops, restaurants, and even a grocery store. We finally found an open restaurant (Milano); a bowl of garlic soup for me, a shared salami pizza and a bottle of sparking water (€27). Nothing special, but open! https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...418567c609.jpg Garlic soup, Milano We returned to the apartment to discover the owner had left us a receipt for our €40 guest tax, but did not leave our guest cards, which provide free bus transport, free cable cars, etc. So, I sent him a note; seems he needed Bill’s details before giving us the cards. We considered visiting the tourist office, but it too was closed until tomorrow at 8:30. As for the apartment, it was very nice - quiet, fresh, clean, and well equipped. It had two bedrooms, a full kitchen, mountain views, balcony and plenty of space, much appreciated after our tiny room in Munich. The only thing it didn’t have, which I’d have much appreciated, was a capsule coffee maker. Bill likes drip, me, not-so-much. Unfortunately, the tap water didn’t taste good, forcing us to buy bottled. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...206f784d7f.jpg View from apartment window Many evenings would be spent on the balcony consuming salami, cheese and bread dinners. To be continued... |
Sept 19 -
We were barely outside before we went back into the apartment to get our fleece hats, and to put our thermals on under our hiking pants - it was chilly. We also put our rain gear into Bill’s backpack, just in case. We’d received our Ötztal Summer Cards; a wonderful thing indeed. We walked to the tourist office for a head spinning rundown on things to see and do, and collected several maps. Then we walked to the Giggijochbahn and took the gondola to the top, some 2,280 meters above Sölden. https://www.tyrol.com/things-to-do/s...-giggijochbahn https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...27684ce033.jpg Giggijochbahn https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...00c192e193.jpg Map of the area https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a09184426a.jpg Top of Giggijochbahn https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...187339a8b0.jpg Top of Giggijochbahn https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a3dab408c3.jpg Top of Giggijochbahn We popped into the deserted Wirtshaus for a coffee (€9.90) and then set out on the steep knee-crunching descent to Hochsolden. Once there, we hiked to the middle station of the Gaislachkoglbahn, where we had lunch at the Restaurant Falcon. Bill had a wonderful spicy soup with chorizo and basil - Gelbe Paprikarahmsuppe; I wish I’d gotten it too, but I foolishly ordered a bowl of pommes frites instead (€25.70 with a glass of Grüner Veltliner and a dark wheat beer). https://www.tyrol.com/things-to-do/s...islachkoglbahn https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d228309d46.jpg Hike to the middle station of the Gaislachkoglbahn https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...8a4d3d9dcb.jpg Hike to the middle station of the Gaislachkoglbahn...don't ask me After lunch we took the second stage of the cable car to the top of the 3,040 meter Gaislachkogl peak, where we took in the views and had a lovely Riesling in the posh, yet unpretentious Ice Q Panorama restaurant (€16). Good service, great views. https://www.iceq.at/en/ https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...47c682c1fc.jpg Ice Q Panorama restaurant https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1f358fd60b.jpg Views from Gaislachkogl Peak https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...859e5fc288.jpg Views from Gaislachkogl Peak https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b52c3dcc6b.jpg Views from Gaislachkogl Peak 007 Elements is also up here, but even with guest card it was €22 each (€49 each without). We’d never heard of it, and had no idea what it was about, so took a pass. https://www.soelden.com/en/activitie...s/007-elements We then took the cable car back down to the middle station, where I satisfied my craving for coffee and tiramisu (€10) at Restaurant Falcon, before taking the final cable car back down to Sölden and trudging back to our apartment, logging about five miles. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...77b7c93094.jpg Gaislachkoglbahn down to middle station https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...378b265050.jpg Onboard the Gaislachkoglbahn down to middle station https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...bfec790d98.jpg Cake break, Falcon Restaurant Unbeknownst to us until today, the 24th James Bond film SPECTRE was filmed in Sölden in 2015. Evidently, the Ice Q restaurant was the Hoffler Klinik where James Bond meets Madeleine Swann. James does love his mountains. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0a3d50e1cd.jpg The villian Hinx's vehicle from the alpine chase sequence that starts in Sölden and continues through the Ötztal valley in the James Bond film SPECTRE A nice, albeit tiring introduction to the beautiful Ötztal valley. To be continued... |
Beautiful views, but it doesn't look very summery, lol.
|
Thanks for writing, Mel, it's always great to hear about your adventures.
|
Finally catching up with your adventures, Mel, we are in the Grampians and wifi is spotty.
|
Thanks for joining me everyone, it's going to be a long one.
|
Sept 20 -
In the short time we’d been in Sölden we’d noticed an abundance of strip clubs (all closed). I googled and discovered that Sölden is quite the party town during ski season, and attracts a lot of Brits. Our visit to Mayrhofen last December struck us as a Brit party town as well, sans the strip clubs, but with an abundance of pubs. I was beginning to see a trend. We were having trouble getting a handle on what was open, as what was open yesterday would be closed today. Many signs in businesses stated they were closed from mid-Sept until early to mid-October. We later learned why: The Sölden ski area ranks among the most renowned ski areas in the Alps. And with good reason, also among the best: thanks to its high Alpine altitude between 1350 and 3340 meters above sea level, two glacier ski mountains and top modern snow-making systems, there is reliable snow from October through May….But that's still not all: truly outstanding mountain gastronomy and unique highlights in the ski area - such as 007 ELEMENTS or BIG 3 Rally - make every single day in the Sölden ski area a very eventful one. That also explained all the fancy cars and motorcycles we’d seen. We kept crossing paths with the Super Car Owners Club from the UK; they’d pretty much taken over the Ice Q Restaurant the previous day. I’m assuming part of the attraction is the Timmelsjoch High Alpine Road. https://www.tyrol.com/things-to-do/a...gh-alpine-road The previous night we’d painstakingly made a plan for today, working out the bus logistics to get us to Schwarze Schneidbahn on the Rettenbach Glacier, hoping to take the two gondolas to the top (the highest point in the Ötztal accessible by mountain lift). From there we planned to walk the 15 minutes to the Schwarz Schneid Nature viewing platform, hoping for those 360 degree views of several 3,000 meter peaks. It didn’t sound like there was much else up there to do this time of year, especially as there was snow at that elevation. https://www.tyrol.com/things-to-do/s...chneidbahn-iii We then planned to return to Sölden by bus at 11:30, take the cable car back up to the Giggijoch for lunch and then go back down in time to catch a bus to Umhausen for a late afternoon visit to the Stuibenfalls. But that didn’t happen. Bus 70, which was scheduled to leave the stop nearest the apartment at 9:17, never showed. https://www.tyrol.com/things-to-do/s...chneidbahn-iii So, we pivoted. We crossed the street and took a bus to Umhausen instead, where we spent the entire day hiking to/from the Stuibenfalls, the highest waterfall in Tyrol, Austria and a popular spot for via ferrata. Holy Crap Batman. The hike, which consists of some five miles and 1,400 - yes, 1,400 - stairs (we hiked both ways) damn near killed us. But it was spectacular. And those via ferrata climbers? Just wow. https://www.tyrol.com/things-to-do/a...enfall-oetztal https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a13c09b35f.jpg Hike to Stuibenfalls https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9885a88b1b.jpg Map of the area https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9a058ab9f9.jpg Hike to Stuibenfalls https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4615f38ab9.jpg Hike to Stuibenfalls https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...945441de92.jpg Start of via ferrata, Stuibenfalls https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b11c1a8fe9.jpg Stuibenfalls map https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a92e420abd.jpg Stuibenfalls https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9a8ef4e112.jpg Stuibenfalls, check out those stairs https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...10351282f0.jpg Hike to Stuibenfalls https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0b42a869f4.jpg Stuibenfalls (via ferrata climbers upper left) https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6fb16764c5.jpg View from above Stuibenfalls After reaching the top of the falls and desperate to sit down, we continued another five minutes past the top platform to Stuibenfall Gasthof where we settled in for lunch. Bill had rosti with egg, bacon and pork (Grostl). I had Austrian ravioli in butter sauce with spinach (Schlutzkrapfen), both were very good (€48 with wheat beer and a nice Grüner Veltliner). The Gasthof looked like a nice place to just relax for a few days, assuming we ever let ourselves just relax on holiday. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d2dac2e5e0.jpg Stuibenfall Gasthof https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...feb765ad26.jpg Stuibenfall Gasthof https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9c7779da73.jpg Stuibenfall Gasthof https://stuibenfall.at/?utm_source=g...n=gmb_standort We then retraced our steps, going back down those 700 stairs. We took a break at the Waldcafe Stubobele for our first Aperol Spritz of the trip, €11 and quite refreshing. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...83313f18eb.jpg Return hike from Stuibenfall Gasthof https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...390261460f.jpg Return hike https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...45ed15f270.jpg Return hike https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...13f835d539.jpg Return hike https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f546180aae.jpg Waldcafe Stubobele Back in Umhausen, we popped into the tourist office and asked about the bus issue. The woman called and was told they’d switched schedules with no notice. The tourist office had the same info we did, as did the VVT site. Evidently, there were now only two departures and two returns a day to Schwarze Schneid, with five hours in between and nothing to do up there other than the cable car and the 15 minute walk to the viewing platform. We asked about various alternatives, such as taking the bus one way and hiking back to another cable car or vice versa, but had concerns over the condition of the trails due to deep snow, so nothing looked promising. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e15a53f915.jpg Umhausen https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b948d0ebb2.jpg Umhausen https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4d2830049d.jpg Umhausen https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...63af57d3bd.jpg Umhausen Then it was back to Sölden by bus, where we hobbled back to the apartment. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4c44754bcf.jpg Apartment in Sölden We might not be able to move tomorrow, but it’d been a great day. Sometimes those best laid plans go awry in a good way. To be continued... |
Sept 21 -
Bill had picked up a bug; so we walked to the pharmacy to get some expectorant,and then to Spar to get provisions, as it would be closed tomorrow, Sunday. Several Porsches drove through town, perhaps the same UK group we’d seen yesterday. We were pretty wrecked after yesterday's adventure, so we decided to take it easy today. We took the 10:37 am bus to Oetz, about an hour from Sölden, and took the Archerkogelbahn cable car up to the hiking and alpine paradise of Hochoetz, at some 2,020 meters. https://www.tyrol.com/things-to-do/s...acherkogelbahn Since we could barely move, we settled for walking the easy Rotes Wandl, wincing at every step. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3d3f338542.jpg Walking the Rotes Wandl https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...07617e5cf2.jpg Walking the Rotes Wandl https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f669aa73e4.jpg Walking the Rotes Wandl We popped into Kühtaile Alm, for a glass of Riesling (€8.40), and to take in the views. https://www.kuehtaile-alm.at/ https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0d2523684a.jpg Kühtaile Alm We then continued walking back towards the cable car station, but were seduced into climbing one last very steep hill up to Bieldfelder Hütte where we settled in on their busy sun terrace for a plate of Käsespätzle for me, and a bland looking noodle dish for Bill, €40 including two Lilet wild berry drinks, with the tartest berries either of us had ever had. https://bielefelder-huette.at/ https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ad90c769d0.jpg Lunch at Bieldfelder Hütte Afterwards we sat on a bench behind the hütte and watched the paragliders. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...8bcbc863fd.jpg Views from Bieldfelder Hütte https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...70448a098f.jpg Paragliders We eventually walked back down to the cable car station and took it down to Oetz, hearing music and announcements below us as we made our descent, later learning the event we were hearing was the first edition of the Oetztal Kayak Festival. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...600049c752.jpg Archerkogelbahn cable car station We caught a return bus to Sölden, planning to stay on the bus and continue past Sölden to Obergurgl. Obergurgl is the highest parish in Austria, and lies at the southern end of the Ötztal Gurglertal valley. But, the bus display said Sölden OVG; it was unclear to us if it continued on to Obergurgl, so we bailed and returned to the apartment. Easy day or not, we’d still managed to log more than five miles. So far, the weather had been fantastic - low 40's to mid-50's. Perfect hiking weather. If only our bodies were as cooperative. To be continued… |
Sept 22 -
We took the 9:03 am bus to Obergurgl just to see it; but there wasn’t much to see, the village pretty much shut down for the season, even more so as it was Sunday, so we got right back on the same bus about 15 minutes later and rode it back through Sölden and on to the Längenfeld Kirche bus stop to check out a walk I’d found online. After poking around the church and locating the trail, we walked to the Längenfeld Hangbrücke, an 83 meter long, 220 meter high (721 feet) suspension bridge that was built in 2013 to connect the alpine plateaus of Brand and Bergstein, situated 200 meters above the valley floor. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ed815d2ed1.jpg Längenfeld Kirche The trail began on what looked like a private road, so we turned back, crossed the creek and then followed the trail on the other side. Unfortunately, the trail led to more stairs, not what either of us wanted to see after our stair adventure a few days prior. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...828fe37175.jpg More stairs https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...db9e75d84f.jpg And these, which fortunately we didn't have to climb At the top of the stairs, the trail led us through forest and then connected with the same ‘private’ road we were trying to avoid; evidently we were right the first time. The trail had been described as “easy”, but as we’d already learned, ‘easy’ in Austria is not to be confused with ‘flat’. The trail was rather steep, giving both sides of our knees a workout. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...89e84fee38.jpg Hike to Längenfeld Hangbrücke, near Brandalm https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1ff2be2a72.jpg Hike to Längenfeld Hangbrücke, near Brandalm https://www.oetztal.com/de/regionen-...d-3bc988f94f21 We reached the bridge, crossed it, and considered continuing to walk up to Bergstein, but knew we’d either have to double back or figure out how to get from Bergstein back to Längenfeld. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...26abd53d02.jpg Längenfeld Hangbrücke We were hungry and wanted to check out the Brandalm bergrestaurant that we’d passed en route, so we backtracked. Here we had a good lunch; pumpkin soup for me, wurst, kraut, dumpling, and freshly grated horseradish for Bill, which he said was really good. The chocolate zucchini kuchen with cream was calling me, so I ordered it as well, but it wasn’t what I had in mind; Bill had no trouble polishing it off (€40 with drinks). We enjoyed watching the animals on site. https://www.oetztal.com/en/regions-v...e-8873f14a9967 https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...88c5771186.jpg Brandalm bergrestaurant https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...afc35f1700.jpg Brandalm bergrestaurant https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4e9e58b4d6.jpg Brandalm bergrestaurant https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...04efd8beb7.jpg Brandalm bergrestaurant https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d07afd4b42.jpg Brandalm bergrestaurant https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...8b6a001df3.jpg Brandalm bergrestaurant We then hiked back down to Längenfeld and walked to the Aqua Dome; we'd brought our swimsuits in the backpack, as we’d made a 5 pm booking, but not knowing when we’d be finished with the hike; we were very early. So, we popped into the attached hotel for a pre-soak Aperol Spritz for me (€7.90), and a chat with the entertaining Italian bartender, who told us he’s lived in Längenfeld for years and has never been hiking. He said he occasionally rents an e-bike, then tells his friends that he’s had a really good workout, even though he’s not even broken a sweat. We then crossed the hotel’s grounds to the Aqua Dome (free entry to the pools was another perk of our Ötztal Summer Cards), and asked if we could get in early. Why yes, we could. So we paid €7 each for a towel and spent the next 90 minutes exploring the place. It’s a very nice facility, but the water was way too cool for either of us. We tried all the pools, same result. I like my water hot, just like my coffee. Afterwards, we considered having a meal in their bistro, but our return bus to Sölden was imminent, so we walked to the bus stop instead. https://www.aqua-dome.at/en/ Thoughts and impressions: We really enjoyed our stay in the Ötztal valley and the Ötztal Summer Card was a wonderful perk. Bill was disappointed that we were unable to visit the Rettenbach Glacier and take the Schwarze Schneidbahn for that 360° panorama of the Ötztal, Stubai Alps and the Dolomites. We’d also not been able to work out a visit to the Timmelelsjoch High Alpine Road; the logistics were just too difficult with the limited bus schedules, and the big snow the previous weekend made things a bit iffy. https://www.tyrol.com/things-to-do/a...gh-alpine-road If we return to the area, we might come back a bit earlier in the season. There’s so much to see and do, we could easily spend a few weeks. We might even consider staying in the Längenfeld Huben Kirche area, or perhaps Umhausen, as both appealed to us. To be continued... |
Beautiful church!
|
Sept 23 -
We left Sölden via the 320 bus to Ötztal, one hour, no charge as covered with our guest card. Then we caught a train to Innsbruck; we’d bought tickets via the VVT app, €21.80, the ride took about 35 minutes. We arrived in Innsbruck around noon, planning to utilize the luggage lockers in the train station for a few hours. Unfortunately, three of the four banks of lockers were out of service, and there was a group vying for the few remaining. I looked into Bounce luggage storage on my phone, which showed a nearby location, but it came to €23 once fees were added and we’d have to locate the drop off. So, we decided to just roll our luggage with us instead. As mentioned earlier, we’d booked a late afternoon train from Innsbruck to Brixen, as at the time, the earliest bus left Sölden at 12:35. Once the schedule changed, we decided to leave Sölden early and spend a few hours in Innsbruck eating Indian food and visiting our favorite wine bar. We rolled our luggage to a place I’d scouted out for lunch - Jaipur, about a 10 minute walk from the train station. It was very busy with local workers, perhaps because they offer a weekday lunch special. We squeezed into the small restaurant, left one suitcase out of the way near the bar, and tucked the other alongside our table. Bill ordered the lunch special, chicken curry €11.20, I went for the Butter Paneer; both came with rice and naan. Both dishes were toned down for the masses, or perhaps the Austrian palate, neither the least bit spicy, but both were very good just the same, €36.40 with drinks. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...7a7f6516e7.jpg Jaipur, Innsbruck Afterwards we rolled our luggage over to Vinium.in, our favorite Innsbruck wine bar. Gregory, who we’d met and had a nice chat with last December was manning the shop. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t remember us. We had some lovely Riesling (€19.60) while sitting at an outdoor table watching the world go by. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3310aae8a3.jpg Vinium.in https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...28220827c4.jpg Watching the world go by Innsbruck was hopping, sunny and gorgeous, and we realized this was the first time we’d visited outside of winter. We chatted up Gregory, who told us that it would turn cold in a few weeks, and said all the visitors were "old people from all over the world". Yep, that would be us. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...2e55b08727.jpg Innsbruck https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f1191ac8fd.jpg Innsbruck https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...acb7cccfe6.jpg Innsbruck https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4c877bea07.jpg A favorite place for hot chocolate from a previous trip We rolled our luggage back to the bahnhof; our train was 8 minutes late. Thank goodness we’d reserved seats; the train was full and stinking hot; we barely found a place for our luggage. It wasn’t clear what was going on with the air con, but we thought we’d pass out. We’d bought our Sparscheine tickets well in advance, €19.40, €6 for seat reservations. The ticket price later increased to €48. It was obvious that there was some sort of issue, as every time we stopped, the train took quite a while to get moving again. The Italian police came onboard for a random passport check at the Italian border, which slowed us down even more; but somehow we arrived in Brixen/Bresannone, the oldest town in Tyrol, only 15 minutes late. We’d missed our connecting bus (our Air BNB owner had sent digital Brixen Cards to us in advance and we’d downloaded them on our phone’s wallets, so buses/trains were free), so I suggested we walk the 20 minutes to the apartment instead, earning me no points with my spouse as it began to rain. With the help of a woman who resided in the same building, we eventually found the apartment. After getting settled, I Googled grocery store near me, and we then walked about 10 minutes to the closest Spar for coffee supplies and milk. Then we set out to find the Centro Storico (historic center), and hopefully some dinner. It was now dark and raining buckets, and not much was open on this miserable Monday night. I was hangry and needed food - now - so we settled on kebabs at a random kebab joint, but mine was awful, €17 with two bottles of water. Ugh. I instantly regretted not picking up something at Spar for dinner. Then it was out into the rain for the meandering 15-20 minute walk back to the apartment (getting turned around in the process), where we spent the evening washing clothes as there hadn’t been any washing facilities in all of Sölden. The apartment was quiet and spacious, with two bedrooms, an elevator, a washing machine and a balcony that we never used as we were just too busy during the day. The best thing about it was the location, convenient to the Centro Storico, about a 10 minute walk via a bridge over the river, a flat walk to the bus station, and a 20 minute hilly walk to the train station. My only complaint was the unpleasant sour smell in the master bedroom, which I suspect was coming from the duvets. I mentioned it to the owner via a private message when we left, but he didn’t acknowledge my note, so he either knew about it, or didn’t care, which put me off a bit. To be continued... |
Thanks, Mel, for another entertaining trip report. Great photos as usual. You really have an eye for a good shot.
|
Thanks marg! Good to see you here.
|
Enjoyed your photos and report on the Ötztal valley. We've been tossing around ideas for a mountain vacation next September, so one more destination to look into.
We spent a day in Bressanone - I think we were there 10 days before you (the 13th). The big snowstorm was the day before and trails were messy, so it was one of our rain/snow day options. |
ms_go - Based on your experience, re-visiting earlier in September might not be a sure bet weather-wise! We really enjoyed Brixen/Bressanone, but then again, we liked all of our bases on this trip.
|
Sept 24 -
Rain was expected, but it didn’t look too bad. We walked to a café near the apartment for caffeine and pastry - Alberti, where we had the first of many tepid coffees, a recurring theme in Austria and Italy; this piping hot coffee lover was not impressed, €10.60. Then we took the 9:36 am 321 bus to The Plose, Brixen’s local mountain, a massif with several peaks. The bus ride only took about 15 minutes, fortunately, as Bill almost lost his latte macchiato, thanks to his backward facing seat, the winding roads and our Mario Andretti bus driver. Once there, we took the two stage cable car to the top (2,562 meters), free with our Brixen Card. The Plose is a popular area; there were quite a few people here. It’s possible to rent bobsleds in the summer and toboggans in the winter, which looked like a lot of fun. https://www.suedtirolerland.it/en/le...in-bressanone/ Once at the top, we followed the gentle Woody Walk trail to Rossalmhütte, which on a clear day would no doubt have spectacular views of the Dolomites; unfortunately, today wasn't that day. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...40ff4edfd7.jpg Plose https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6143f36fa9.jpg Plose, non-views https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1a1272fb2f.jpg Plose We had a nice alfresco lunch, noticing that everyone was of a certain age (seems Gregory was spot on). I had the potato soup, Bill went for the barley soup with roast neck of pork cutlet - which I assume was in the soup as that’s all he was given, both very good, €30 with drinks. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d1033891d1.jpg Rossalmhütte https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ad6a2f0222.jpg Rossalmhütte https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ebc3372c47.jpg Rossalmhütte https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a7ab958948.jpg Rossalmhütte After lunch, we returned the way we’d come, taking a beverage break at La Finestra near the cable car station. What little there was of the sun disappeared; it got really cold, really fast, we could see our breath. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...346600eee1.jpg Return walk to La Finestra https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b5e2f1205c.jpg Return walk to La Finestra https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...aadd4582a9.jpg La Finestra We then took the cable car back down, where it was a much warmer 21c. Then it was back on the bus down to the Brixen bahnhof, where we caught a train to Chiusa/Klausen; the train packed, and late again; the ride taking about 15 minutes; me surprised by the abundance of vineyards we passed along the way. Once off the train in Chiusa, we didn’t know where to go; I’d read that Chiusa has a nice medieval town center. I’d also earmarked a hike from here up to Sabiona Abbey, which is the first thing one sees from the train, and Adelaidean had mentioned a hike from here via the chestnut path back to Brixen, but at 17.1 km we’d need to start earlier in the day. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...57c267921d.jpg Sabiona Abbey above Chiusa/Klausen So, we wandered until we found the lovely medieval town center. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...5e5666ec85.jpg Chiusa/Klausen https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...efc868bca4.jpg Chiusa/Klausen https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...adbdcd0742.jpg Chiusa/Klausen https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...28cdfddd24.jpg Chiusa/Klausen We had an early dinner of shared pizza at Hirschen Cervo, €31.30 with drinks. Afterwards I had my first gelato of the trip from a nearby gelato shop, €4, two scoops. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...08a6a09be5.jpg Hirschen Cervo https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...5dab3aa9fb.jpg Hirschen Cervo Then it was back to the bahnhof and on a train back to Brixen; which was late again, causing us to miss our connecting bus again, so, we walked to the apartment again. It’d been another five mile day, 3.5 miles on Plose and another two miles of incidental walking. To be continued... |
Sept 25 -
Our day began at Café am Gries for nice (hot!) café lattes, a very good ricotta filled pastry for me, and a large slice of Apfelstrudel for Bill, €12.60. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9d1ea2c96a.jpg Café am Gries https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...afc7a98dc0.jpg Café am Gries https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c13052f9db.jpg Café am Gries Then it was off to the tourist office where a helpful young woman suggested a staggering number of options. Brixen was much livelier than the day we arrived, and felt much bigger than its population of 23,000. Everything was open; the town was much nicer without the rain. We poked around a bit and visited the Bressanone Cathedral/Brixner Dom. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...376931b137.jpg Bressanone Cathedral/Brixner Dom https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4906374055.jpg Bressanone Cathedral/Brixner Dom https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...2ded3e35e0.jpg Bressanone Cathedral/Brixner Dom https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...7801f9c9e4.jpg Bressanone Cathedral/Brixner Dom https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1f85827029.jpg Bressanone/Brixen Later, we caught a bus near the apartment to the bahnhof; it late enough to make us run to our train to Bolzano. Making connections was proving stressful here. The ride to Bolzano took about 35 minutes, much of it through a tunnel. Once there, we walked about 10 minutes to the Ritten/Renon cable car station. We knew today was the best weather day we’d have as rain was expected tomorrow, and mixed weather on Friday, so we figured it was a good time to check out the cable car. https://www.ritten.com/en/1203-cablecar We were met with a long line…who are all these old people? We had to wait about 20 minutes to board the cable car (despite their website stating the cable cars depart every four minutes, so there’s no wait, another low season thing perhaps?). https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3de6f222cf.jpg Ritten/Renon cable car station The cable car was full, and before long we entered the clouds, completely obscuring any potential views. Once at the top (Oberbozen/Soprabolzano) we got our bearings over gelato - strawberry and lemon for me, lemon and pistachio for Bill - €4 each. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...8e032bc2ea.jpg Oberbozen/Soprabolzano We noticed people boarding the train, so we hopped on; it was standing room only, completely packed, yet six more people after us managed to squeeze on; one of them with a nasty wet cough; we tried not to breathe as visions of COVID danced through our heads. The Renon Railway connects the villages of Maria Assunta, Soprabolzano, Costalovàra, Stella and Collalbo. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...30686814af.jpg Renon Railway The views from onboard the train are said to be “phenomenal”, but all we saw were people’s heads. https://www.ritten.com/en/1202-railway We weren’t quite sure where we were going, but the woman in the tourist office had suggested the cable car, the historic narrow gauge railway, and the walk to the Earth Pyramids, which we’d never heard of until today. So, we listened. Once we reached the end of the train line (Collalbo) we disembarked and walked the 30-40 minutes to the Earth Pyramids. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6314dfc0a7.jpg Walking to the Earth Pyramids https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0385f6a41f.jpg Walking to the Earth Pyramids https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c0485aefe2.jpg Walking to the Earth Pyramids https://www.ritten.com/en/1201-earth-pyramids Earth pyramids consist of cone-shaped pillars formed by deposited clay and a boulder on top - they often form rather bizarre shapes, and tend to be shrouded in mystery. Europe’s tallest and most perfectly shaped earth pyramids are to be found on the Renon mountain in several locations… The pyramids were mildly interesting, but those views into the valley were lovely. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...cd13a96a5a.jpg Earth Pyramids https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...7b5362d1de.jpg Views into the valley Then we backtracked (three miles return) to Collalbo, where we had forgettable pizza at a snack bar near the train station (€24, two small pizzas, two drinks), and then hopped back on the train when we noticed it getting ready to depart. Once again, the train was standing room only and absolutely heaving. I can’t imagine this or the cable car in high season. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...cf62581e76.jpg Back in Oberbozen/Soprabolzano, we stood back from the cable car station, allowing a large group of rambunctious kids to board ahead of us, and then joined the old folks in the queue, eventually taking the cable car back down to Bolzano. This time we could see the views, and they were something else. Row after row of vineyards and copious rolling hills. Gorgeous. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...81ae8d04b8.jpg Queue for the Ritten/Renon cable car station https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6ff22465ed.jpg Views from onboard the Ritten/Renon cable car https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...813d157760.jpg Views from onboard the Ritten/Renon cable car Back on terra firma, we decided to walk to the Centro Storico, soon overwhelmed by all the people and the chaos. Bolzano is the largest city in South Tyrol and the third largest in Tyrol, and while it only has a population of ~107,000, it felt like a big dirty city to us; it just wasn’t our scene. The city is also home to the South Tyrol Museum of Archeology, where one can see Ötzi, the Iceman, Europe’s oldest known natural mummy, whose remains were found in the Ötztal Alps in 1991, but Bill was feeling crummy and we just couldn’t garner up the interest to seek it out. We did visit a church, and tried to have wine at a nearby establishment, but they were closed from 4-6, so we bailed and decided to return to Brixen, actually making our bus connection for the first time. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...5af2386e39.jpg Bolzano https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c021e3f9c1.jpg Bolzano The trains, cable car and historic train were all included with the Brixen Card. After dropping off the backpack in the apartment, we went into town to look for a wine bar and to poke around, much preferring sedate Brixen to hectic Bolzano. We ended up at Enoteca Vitis, where we pulled up a chair in their lovely courtyard, with grape vines overhead; so nice and calm after the mobs of the day. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d4a741a624.jpg Enoteca Vitis, Brixen Here we had two glasses each of a lovely Kerner white from Brixen, then decided to stay on for dinner. Bill chose the steak tartare, I chose the Cavatelli with pecorino cheese and fried eggplant. Both were very good, €70, inclusive of €2 each coperto. Afterwards we walked to the Dom and listened to an organist audition, before dragging our tired selves back to the apartment. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6a4dfe02ba.jpg Enoteca Vitis, Brixen https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...92e6ab33cf.jpg Enoteca Vitis, Brixen https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f1ef066ea7.jpg Enoteca Vitis, Brixen https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...38ddae4d61.jpg Brixen Dom https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...565e6682ee.jpg Brixen https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d63b4edc13.jpg Brixen Dom It’d been another five mile day. To be continued... |
I’m reading your TR and watching the kangaroos feeding around our holiday cottage, Mel - which would bring back memories for you, while your report is bringing back lovely south Tirol memories for me.
We also found Bolzano very crowded, but it’s very pretty and the Ötzi museum is a real draw. Looking forward to the rest of your adventure in this gorgeous region. |
The Otzi museum is really interesting, but I did feel uncomfortable viewing his poor body.
|
I do miss the 'roos!
|
Thanks for the exhaustive report.
Where did you find this crazy infoi concerning bus 320: at https://fahrplan.oebb.at/ ? As you visited Bozen/Ritten/Klobenstein anyway, I would have taken a taxi from Obergurgl via Timmelsjoch to Rabenstein and then the bus from there to Meran and the train to Bozen. I suppose you got a South Tyrol Guest Pass for free at your arrival inyour Brixen accommodation. |
neckervd - we found the info regarding the 320 bus on VVT, OBB, Google, and we confirmed it with an employee at VVT. A poster on TA also looked at the schedules and saw what we did, but told us it would most likely change back to the existing schedule, and they were correct.
Yes, we had a guest pass in Brixen, as we did everywere we stayed in Sud Tyrol, but some covered more than others. Interesting suggestion about a taxi, not sure how we'd have found one in deserted empty Obergurgl, although I assume we'd have to book one in advance. A taxi didn't even cross my mind, nor did we see any. |
|
My answer to your post concerning buse in the Dolomites:
Apr 23rd, 2024, 08:10 AM #19 neckervd Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 8,734 Likes: 0 Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts "We leave Solden on Sept 23." There will probably be no bus between Hochgurgl and the Italian border so late in the year. https://www.gurgl.com/summer/hiking-...immel-bus.html But I wonder whether it would not make sense to take a taxi for this short leg instead of making the detour via Innsbruck. neckervd is online now Report Post |
And miss a chance for Indian food and wine? No way:)
|
Sept 26 -
Rain was expected. In the time we’d been in incredibly green Brixen, we’d encountered loads of bike riders, but not a helmet to be found. Our day began with tepid coffee (despite asking for very hot) and disappointing croissants at Gasser Brothers; €10. We were not doing well on the coffee and pastry front. Afterwards we gathered up our rain gear and walked to the Brixen bus station and took bus 330 to the tiny town of St Magdalena. The drive took us alongside a river and through the incredibly green Villnöss valley, which had quite a bit of traffic. Our bus driver seemed to enjoy whipping around the corners at high speed as he drove up the curvy road to the Val di Funes at the rear of the valley. We passed through apple groves and heavily logged areas; our bus almost colliding with a bus coming in the opposite direction, forcing our driver to back up; the other driver not amused. A large group of hikers got on the bus at Mittenmuhl; at least one of them in desperate need of a shower; we nearly passed out from the BO wafting our way, especially when one of the men sitting near us took off his coat. Whew. The bus was now full. I’d read that St Magdalena is a beautiful village located in the shadow of the Dolomites and home to the Church of St. Magdalena, situated at the foot of the Ruefen Mountain. Unfortunately, the Dolomites weren’t visible today thanks to low clouds. We disembarked at the Putzen stop, and joined two women who monopolized the information board, clearly confused about where to go. When we finally got a look at the board, we decided to check out St Johann church first, and tried to locate the trail, but we too were confused. More signage would not go amiss. We crossed the street and walked up a wide gravel road, saw St Johann church below us, so backtracked and walked along the main road in the direction of the church. The other women had finally figured out the same thing, that the trail began on the main road, which didn’t feel very safe, especially with all the large trucks coming and going. When we reached the entrance, we paid €4 each to walk up to the church, but it was locked so we couldn’t go in. I’ve since read that the church is privately owned; it lies on the Ranuihof farm, and the small Baroque church offers a nice view in front the Dolomites. Unfortunately, not today. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...226110209e.jpg St. Johann https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9aa593b414.jpg St. Johann We watched a young Asian woman walk around the entire church with a camera on a very long stick as she filmed the church from every possible angle, presumably for her three traveling companions who evidently did not want to pay the €4 fee. She also set up a tripod and took numerous selfies; jumping and posing, completely oblivious to those looking on. This behaviour always baffles me. It seems we’d stumbled upon an Instagram magnet. After the church, we continued walking up the hill to Restaurant Waldschenke, popping in for a beverage, in this case a very good Lilet berry, €6 each. The food offerings did not appeal, but the place got very busy with locals and workers; the carpark was full when we left, so they must have good food. https://www.restaurant-waldschenke.com/en/ Several longer hikes originate from near the restaurant. Rain was imminent, so we took a pass. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...780e949dc8.jpg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...bb341fe450.jpg St Magdalena We returned to the village, and decided to have an alfresco lunch with the wasps (our constant companions anytime we dined outdoors) at Hotel Fines. Bill enjoyed his mushroom risotto, but my pumpkin soup looked prettier than it tasted; it needed some seasoning. (€38 with drinks). We weren’t a fan of the hard crunchy bread that kept showing up with our meals, Schüttelbrot, which is a traditional flatbread originating from South Tyrol, definitely an acquired taste. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6cc3fab8a8.jpg Risotto, Hotel Fines https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c8a9459562.jpg Pumpkin soup, Hotel Fines https://hotelfines.com/en/food-drinks. Neither of us was thrilled about hiking in the rain, so we took a pass on the hike up to St Magdalena church. https://www.villnoess.com/en/culinar...-st-magdalena/ Instead, we took a bus back to Brixen and explored town. It was much busier than we’d seen it thus far; lots of people out and about, eating lunch, having coffee and dessert, drinking Aperol Spritzes. We poked around and stumbled across a few areas we’d not yet seen; we ate gelato, €3.50 for two scoops; I really liked Brixen. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b140aa0c7f.jpg Brixen https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a37edc1630.jpg Brixen https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...908f6ba613.jpg Brixen https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...43b111e5fa.jpg Brixen We popped into Decantei, a restaurant/wine bar we’d walked by several times since we’d arrived. Nice place this; quiet and sedate. Bill had a Weltenburger Kloster black beer, I had a nice Kerner white wine. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b27d16f37b.jpg Decantei To be continued... |
Sept 27 -
It had rained all night, the river was running high. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...2d131845f3.jpg Brixen https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...55a7025efb.jpg Brixen We walked to Café am Gries hoping for an encore of hot café lattes and that lovely ricotta pastry from the other day. Nein ricotta pastry. We decided to stay for coffee anyway; same woman, same order, but she seemed confused about what we wanted. She offered us three alternatives. We picked one, and received a shot of espresso with a tiny bit of milk. It was good, but not what we had in mind. Oh well. We then went looking for food, deciding to give Gasser Brothers another chance, this time a different location. We both got a ricotta pastry to go. Mistake; it wasn’t good at all. Very bready, full of raisins, most went in the bin. Zero for two. As we nibbled, I was reminded of how disappointed we’d been with the food in South Tyrol last year. As our Italian friend Gregory (from the wine bar in Innsbruck) had told us last December, and then again a few days ago, South Tyrol is not really Italy, it’s South Austria. And unfortunately, as we would continue to discover, the food in Austria is not all that. With more rain expected we decided we’d stay close to Brixen and check out Novacella Monastery, said to be one of the most important monasteries in the entire Tyrolean region. https://www.kloster-neustift.it/en/ We took bus 401 to Neustift, soon realizing that our intended stop was not on the digital bus display, but we could see the monastery down below, surrounded by vineyards, so we got off at Neustift/Pacher some seven minutes later, crossed the street and then walked about 10 minutes down to the monastery. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1e600e627d.jpg Novacella Monastery https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f1029c00a4.jpg Novacella Monastery We were a bit early (opens at 10 am), and were surprised to see quite a few tour groups gathered at the entrance. Entry to the grounds and museum are free with the Brixen card, but we decided to also visit the gardens at €4 each. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d2fbfa98d4.jpg Novacella Monastery https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...66d8064614.jpg Novacella Monastery https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f5cf94e43d.jpg Novacella Monastery https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b67e86c731.jpg Novacella Monastery Basilica https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...59c059041a.jpg Novacella Monastery Basilica https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c79d3a0459.jpg Novacella Monastery Basilica https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0a0f6394e1.jpg Novacella Monastery cemetery https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6cdb3e6561.jpg Novacella Monastery cemetery https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d459d77998.jpg Novacella Monastery vineyards Religious art isn’t our thing, but we spent a few rainy hours here, most enjoying the Basilica and the cemetery…and of course our personal favorite, the Stiftskeller (wine cellar). Here we tried a lovely Kerner grown on site. Bill also tried the Riesling which he liked better than the Kerner, €22.70. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...5cfdbff6d0.jpg Stiftskeller The sun finally made an appearance as we left; so we decided to make hay. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a6cce8d23e.jpg Leaving Novacella Monastery https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c1183aeb74.jpg Leaving Novacella Monastery We walked back up to the bus stop, caught a bus back to the Brixen bus station, then waited about 20 minutes for the 321 bus, which we then took to Skihütte/Rifugio Sci, about 20 squiggly minutes past the bus stop for the Plose cable car, the drive beautiful. There were a lot of school kids on the bus; it seemed like a long commute for school. Once at the end of the line, we walked up to the Pfannspitz cable car station and took it to the very windy top, where we got our first really good view of the Dolomites this trip; not another person in sight. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c097eee400.jpg View from base of Pfannspitz cable car station https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...90999e2deb.jpg View from top of Pfannspitz https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4b7cf4cb6d.jpg View from top of Pfannspitz Spurred on by the sudden sunshine, our loose, last minute plan was to walk from Pfannspitz to the Plose cable car, and then take it down and catch the return bus to Brixen. But…it was damn cold and windy…we didn’t know how long it would take us to reach Plose in Bill and Mel time…we didn’t want to get caught out and miss the last cable car down…and we were hungry. So, we decided to bail on the hike and have lunch at the near empty Pfannspitzhütte, situated at 2,480 meters, where as luck would have it, we arrived ten minutes before the kitchen closed at 3 pm. We both chose the spinach, butter, and parmesan ravioli (€37 with drinks). The next bus was at 3:31, there wouldn’t be another one for an hour, so we quickly ate, paid and took the cable car back down, the staff no doubt thinking we were nuts. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...207c6d0cff.jpg Lunch at Pfannspitzhütte Dangling above in the cable car, we saw our bus pull in, and then leave, minutes earlier than scheduled. Well, poop. So, we ducked into the warm and quiet Schlemmer restaurant at the base of the cable car station to kill an hour over drinks while waiting for the next bus. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6de2215e7d.jpg Schlemmer restaurant https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6df0217386.jpg Schlemmer restaurant https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a4f3530850.jpg Views from Schlemmer restaurant As we walked into the restaurant, a medical emergency was underway. A man had passed out or fallen as he left the restaurant. He was taken inside, rendered aid and an ambulance was called. It took 45 minutes for the ambulance to arrive. Scary. Bill ordered a glass of Kerner; perhaps distracted by the emergency, they brought out a .25 liter carafe; I had an Aperol spritz, €16. There’s also accommodation up here; from the edge of the restaurant terrace we saw a couple in a hot tub below drinking champers while taking in the spectacular views; otherwise we felt like we had the place to ourselves. We were the only passengers on the bus down to Plose, our bus driver a jovial Italian who told us to “get on, let’s go!”, and who seemed to enjoy whipping around the abundant curves at breakneck speed. A lot of people got on the bus at Plose, and we felt a bit smug, as if we’d discovered a secret, the quieter back side. Upon arrival at the bus station in Brixen, we strolled through town one last time, had some gelato and a final glass of Kerner at Dacantei, before calling it a day. Thoughts and Impressions: We both really enjoyed Brixen/Bressanone, and the Brixen Card was quite the deal. The city was lively yet manageable, and we felt that we only scratched the surface. We barely made a dent in my long list of things to see and do, and our hiking was limited somewhat by the weather. I can see us returning for a longer stay in the future. To be continued... |
Wow, I am just wowed by your photos and the very entertaining text sandwiching those photos. I laughed out loud at the children's menu, how very accurate and, it seems, universal!
Lavandula |
| All times are GMT -8. The time now is 09:05 PM. |