Söll - Kitzbühel

The rain was still hanging about this morning but cleared shortly after we opened the blinds. The view down the valley was a little clearer, and improved as the  morning progressed.. We had a leisurely breakfast before leaving for Kitzbühel in the Kitzbüheler Alpen region of the Tyrol.  

Views leaving the Gasthof this morning. 

The route we took was through the Wilder Kaiser Valley with the first stop being the village of Söll, a very popular stopping spot for walkers and bikers who were planning more adventurous excursions in the Wilder Kaiser mountains. We took the more leisurely options of walking around the village and admiring another  decorated Tyrolese village. Söll doubles as a very popular winter sports centre as well.  

 

The timber industry is a huge business throughout the Tyrol. 

Our next stop was Kitzbühel. We did a little shopping before having lunch. We later ventured into the village where they were celebrating the firefighters of the region. 

Kitzbühel is a small medieval town that these days turns into an upper-class playground during the winter months - luckily we visited in summer! The first settlement here was over 3000 years ago when a tribe mined copper in the surrounding hills. The Romans arrived around 15 BC, and after the Romans the Bavarians settled and started clearing the forest. It remained pretty much under Barvarian control for centuries before being taken into the Austrian domain. The town remained undamaged during the 1st and 2nd WW. 

St Catherine Church - built in 1360-1365 with the elaborate high-gothic design and the coppersmith altar. The high tower is the striking landmark of the town. 
The prosperity of Kitzbühel stemmed from the copper mining, but towards the end of the 19th century the first skiers from Norway arrived and so the town discovered a more lucrative source of income - ski tourism! 

 Shops selling traditional Austrian clothing for both men and women. 

A market was underway in Kitzbühel with some interesting items available to purchase. 

We later drove on and up the Pass Thurn where, at the top,  we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening. Fantastic views down the other side of the mountains towards the town of Mittersill. 

Inclement Innsbruck

The wet season has struck! The beautiful, scenic Austrian landscape has disappeared for the time being. The rain started at breakfast time and stayed with us to Innsbruck, and then was still with us at Gasthof Rieder in Jenbach this afternoon and this evening.  

This morning we were traveling in parallel with the Inn River. Every creek, and river, in the area drains into the Inn. By the time we had reached Innsbruck it was a decent size, swift flowing river. The Inn winds its way further north-east through Austria, into Germany, and meets the Danube River at Passau. 

Our planned trip to Innsbruck happened, but was cut very short by the weather. Perhaps another time. We drove into the city to a GPS suggested parking area, only to find that the carnival and sideshows had taken over the whole area. We drove a little further into the centre but there was no parking,  and the weather was against having a good look around. 

So, we quickly changed plans - the beauty of motorhome travel - and headed for our next stop in Jenbach at the delightful Gasthof Rieder - raining even harder after we arrived.  We bunkered down for the rest of the afternoon before enjoying a very pleasant drink and a meal in the Gasthof. 

(Not our photo - but the gasthof on a better day)

We had actually ascended  up the mountain to reach the Gasthof because the scenery was promised to be spectacular, but with the weather the way it was, we had no chance of a pleasant outlook - and it doesn’t appear to be clearing in the next 24 hours. 

We later had a meal in the restaurant, where everyone entering the restaurant was greeted by all the diners, and on leaving everyone said good bye - a very friendly place. And the meal was great too. 

It could have been a better view from Hilton if the weather had cleared!

Later in the evening the rained had stopped. Hilton now was enjoying a pleasant resting place for the night!

Arlberg Pass - Flirsch

We departed Vandans a little later than expected, so Innsbruck was out of the question today. Instead, we slowed our movements down as we passed from the region of Vorarlberg to the popular Tyrol region via the Arlberg Tunnel. We thought that Switzerland was the land of tunnels but we are discovering that Austria is up there with them for the title. 

This single lane 15.5 km tunnel keeps you concentrating a little more religiously than normal driving, and some of the big lorries don’t take prisoners! A few years ago we tackled the 25 km tunnel in Norway- still the longest we have been through.  

The Arlberg Pass in the Eastern Alps is part of the European watershed between the catchment areas of the North Sea, the Black Sea, the tributaries of the Rhine and the Danube. Arlberg used to be completely cut off from the rest of the country, oriented more towards Germany and Switzerland, until the railway tunnel was built in 1880–84, connecting Vorarlberg with the rest of Austria. Today the  road tunnel passes underneath the Arlberg Pass being 15.5 km long, it was the longest in the world when it opened in 1978. Today, the Arlberg region has some of the country’s most exclusive ski resorts.

Shortly after exiting the tunnel we stopped at Flirsch, an alpine ski village looking resplendent for the summer visitor. The main buildings (mainly guest house) were decorated with the typical Tyrol window boxes filled with all colours of flowers. We took some time “ooing and aahing” around the village before hopping back on the autobahn and heading to Landeck. 

Landeck was a busy town which services the surrounding villages. It is where water seems to be flowing in all directions.  

We did some provisioning ourselves with a stop at the supermarket, and other domestic necessities. 

An interesting decoration around the boundary of a school - also, note the large mobile decoration in the background. 

You have to love the dedication of the builders who built this structure (church or castle) on top of this rock!

We had a late lunch and then drove on to Sautens in the Ötztaler Valley where we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening.  Shortly after arriving another thunderstorm hit with the rain sweeping  up the valley, adding to the already large quantities of water flowing down the rivers. The outside temperature plummeted to 14 degrees while Hilton maintained a comfortable 25 degrees inside.