| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 23/04/01 |
| Author: | Page Number: 43 |
| Copyright: Other |
Austria
Where:Kitzbuhel and Zell am See are popular with the more mature crowd thanks to their picturesque position, established infrastructure and quality hotels. Vienna and Salzburg are popular city add-ons. Obergurgl and Ischgl in the western Tyrol are good for thrill seekers, thanks to the high Alpine walking on offer.
ambience:’Fairytale setting’ covers it. Tiny villages dominated by picturesque churches nestle in valleys banked on all sides by stunning mountains.
wild activities: Thomson gives Obergurgl – the highest of its Austrian resorts at 1,930 metres – a four-boot rating for hiking (resorts are rated one to four for strollers, ramblers and hikers, depending on how suitable they are). Overnight hikes stopping in mountain refuges are available to experienced walkers. Seven nights’ bed-and-breakfast accommodation leads in at £349. Mayrhofen also gets a four-boot rating. As well as night hiking, it offers a summer skiing and biking excursion available for £35. Dubbed ‘up and down’, the package includes a lift pass, ski and boot hire in the morning and bike hire in the afternoon. Seven nights’ half-board accommodation leads in at £359.
mild activities: Inghams’ Grand Austrian Tour has been selling for 40 years. The 14-night £798 trip makes a circular route around the country, showcasing both the mountains and the cities.
sample product: a seven night stay-put break in Kitzbuhel leads in at £320 half-board. Inghams offers a selection of excursions for each of its resorts, as well as its free ‘wonderwalks’ guided walking programme. Inghams Austria product manager Anita Webber noted that city add-ons are also popular with the more mature visitors. As an add-on to a stay-put break, three nights’ bed and breakfast at a three-star hotel in Salzburg leads in at £129; three nights in Vienna from £165.
High life: there’s plenty of Alpine walking in the Tyrol