FOR clients who want to combine Austria’s lakes and mountains with an activity, several operators offer hiking and cycling holidays in the country.
Thomson Breakaway offers an eight-day Salzkammergut Walking Tour in its Lakes and Mountains brochure for those who want a serious ramble. Clients are recommended to have hill-walking experience as the tour takes in some steep slopes and they are required to cover distances of up to 25km in one day. The tour costs around £485 which includes half-board accommodation, flights and transfers.
Programme manager for ski and lakes and mountains Ian Simkins said: “We are discovering a new type of client within the grey market who doesn’t just want to take it easy and lie on the beach. Typically it is couples between the age of 45 and 50 who are still very active and whose children have flown the nest.”
At the other end of the scale, for those who want a more gentle stroll, DER Travel offers an eight-day walking holiday in the heart of Austria’s Salzkammergut lake district. “The walk goes round Lake Fuschl, it is very scenic and tranquil. The water is clear, as the Austrian government is very conscious about preserving the environment. It is chocolate box Austria with traditional houses decked out with hanging baskets of flowers,” said customer relations manager Liz Tjostolvsen.
As the typical lakes and mountains client belongs to the 45-65 age group, the package offers relatively easy walking. “Clients walk just three or four miles a day, anyone can do it,” said Tjostolvsen. There are daily departures from April to October, and prices start at £459 for seven nights in three-star accommodation, return scheduled flights and rail transfers.
Inghams has tweaked its programme to offer clients more chances to walk – it offers guided walks as day excursions in Austria. “Walking is a big feature of our Austrian programme. It is very popular. This year we have expanded the number of guided walks so we feature one in each resort,” said sales manager Laurence Hicks.
He added: “The great thing about walking in Austria is that you can make it as light or as strenuous as you want, using the pre-bookable walkers lift passes. Using the lift system you can start and finish anywhere on the mountain. The lifts are in operation throughout the summer.” Passes cost around £29 for seven days.
Prices for a seven-night break lead in at £359, which includes three-star accommodation with half-board, flights and transfers.
For clients who are happier on two wheels, Inghams offers free cycling tours at many of its hotels, with free bicycle hire.
“A lot of the resorts have marked mountain bike tracks, and they are graded for beginners, intermediate or advanced riders,” said Hicks. “I can particularly recommend the resort of Bruck which has a very scenic ride around Lake Zell.”
First Choice offers an eight-day cycle tour along the banks of the Danube in its Lakes and Mountains brochure. Distances range from 18km to 53km, and bags are ferried between hotels. The tour starts in the town of Passau on the border with Germany and finishes in Vienna. The cost is around £559, which includes return flights, half-board accommodation and bike hire.
Director of the Austrian National Tourist Office Oskar Hinteregger is keen to emphasise the more active sides of lakes and mountains holidays: “Up until now we have been portraying the gentler aspects of a lakes and mountains holiday, but the themes we want to highlight this summer are walking and other activity holidays. We feel we miss out on the family market who might consider Austria as an alternative to their summer beach holidays.
“Everyone knows that we have lakes but not everyone knows that they are Mediterranean temperature – 21C in June, so this year’s adverts show people swimming in them, to get the message across.”