In this weeks blog we move onto our penultimate country of the roadtrip and spend 5 days in the stunningly beautiful Austrian mountains and meadows enjoying our slow campervan life.
Our journey across the border from Italy took us over the Brenner Pass which was not what we were expecting! Having done several mountain passes over the past month - this was a great big motorway with roadworks at the summit. It was that busy, we missed seeing the Austria border sign but did spot the service station to buy our Austrian vignette. €11.50 for 10 days which seemed good value to use their motorway system - then we got back onto the road and were charged another €11 as this section was a private toll!
We decided to stay at an ACSI campsite - Camping Alpen Mark - just off the toll road near Innsbruck which had great reviews and just have a day chilling by the pool. We were pretty exhausted from 4 days of hard hiking in the Dolomites and it was fiercesomely hot. The sunset that night was beautiful which is where the cover photo was taken of the church.
Our next destination was about an hours drive down the valley to a small ski domain near the town of Fieberbrunn. Camp Tirol was in a great location for both hiking and cycling and we had 3 days of adventuring.
First we hit the cycle trails that followed the river to the picturesque town of St Johann. Austria may be known for its high alpine mountains but the 28km cycle
we did was pretty flat besides the wildflower meadows of the valley floor. The town had a lovely vibe to it - lots of cafes and boutique shops. We enjoyed a gelato and watched the world go by before cycling home.
Richard enjoyed a nice cool dip in the campsites natural swimming lake - something I have not come across before and we made the most of the quiet pool side in the sun for the rest of the day.
At this point I need to highlight just how fantastic the facilities at Camping Tirol are. It is an all year campsite that is very popular as a skiing base in the winter.
The shower and toilet facilities had been recently refurbished and were incredible! There were little dressing tables with hairdryers, mirrors and seats. Each shower cubicle had a sink, a bench to sit on, a spacious shower that ran for as long as you wanted with an impressive rain shower head AND its own squeegee to mop the floor after! For €27 a night with the ACSI card - we found it pretty good value.
I did check out the equally impressive ski locker and boot room which was huge with plenty of racks to dry wet ski gear on and a small ski service station including a wax iron.
We did 2 hard mountain hikes from the campsite - the paths are really well signposted and what we like about ski resorts is that there are refreshments at the top! The Austrian resorts seem to have lots of activities set up for children at the top lift stations and we enjoyed making the most of the fun water play area while it was still school term time and no children around.
I had seen on the drive to the campsite what looked like a huge cross on the hillside - when I looked it up on google, it looked even more impressive, so that was the destination for the second hike. With the lasse fair attitude of - how far away can it be? - we set off! The answer was - actually only a 10km round trip hike BUT it was 5km of constant ascent with a total elevation gain of over 800m in 30 degree heat.
We were rewarded with spectacular views over the wider Alps and the cross I had seen was actually a huge new building that had 4 meeting rooms and 5 viewing platforms at the top.
One peculiarity of Astria is that ALDI is called Hoffer? in all the other countries we have visited - including the USA - it is just plain old ALDI. Anyway, before moving on to our next destination we did a big food shop and stocked up on ice creams as the high temperatures continued.
Our final stop off in Austria was the iconic ski village of Mayrhofen. The campsite which we selected as it was still accepting the ACSI card so late in the season was pretty average. It was one of the busiest campsites we had come across since we left Lake Bled weeks ago and felt pretty cramped. But, it was reasonably cheap, it had a much welcomed pool and was in a beautiful part of the world. It also had 4 resident pygmy goats!
It was a short walk into Mayrhofen and we decided to treat ourselves to using one of the cable cars so we could access the higher mountain hiking trails. At €30 each, it was a big chunk out of our budget but the value of escaping the 35 degrees forecast in the valley was priceless! We had a lovely day hiking to one of the mountain huts for lunch where we sat with a cool breeze and a pint of ice cold lager.
The wild flower meadows at the top were quite spectacular and the hillside at some points was a mass of pink and white. We were hoping to catch a glimpse of a marmot or two but still they were proving illusive.
Sometimes we are treated to the strangest of experiences on our travels and an enormous American vehicle rally touring through the valley was up there as one of the strangest yet! It started with 'The Sherrif' going past all sirens blazing - followed by dozens of retro and vintage cars and trucks of all shapes and sizes. All honking their horns and the owners in retro dress.
Sadly we only had time on this trip for 5 nights in Austria and it is another country that we feel we will want to keep returning to. We only sampled a fraction of what it has to offer and we liked what we saw.
In our next blog we are off to Liechstenstein and the Alsace wine region before heading home for a party to celebrate Luke and Charlottes engagement.
Have a great weekend
Jackie and Richard
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