A week in Sesselebene, our tiny summer village in Tirol

This summer, I travelled with my parents and grandmother to Austria to rediscover the beautiful country that we all fell in love with on our family trip there in 2004. I returned last year to explore the country’s three pene-exclaves, which are areas that are cut off from the rest of the country by the mighty Alps. But last year’s trip wasn’t enough to satisfy my curiosity and my longing to return to Austria’s Alps.

For our week-long holiday, we stayed in a gorgeous little village called Sesselebene, located deep in the Paznaun Valley in Tirol. The valley is well-known for its ski resorts, the most prominent one being Ischgl. Our little village is situated between the ski resort villages of Kappl and See. Outside of the winter months, the valley is still a popular outdoor destination due to its many hiking and mountain biking trails.

We arrived in the little village after a two-day drive, with an overnight stay in the city of Kassel in Germany. We were met by our lovely host, Petra, who gave each of us a Silvretta Card to use for the cable cars in the valley, giving us a free ascent and descent every day for the week. Given that my grandmother and dad can’t do much hiking, it was the perfect gift for us.

Out of our six full days in Austria, we spent two of them in the valley. The other four days were spent on day trips around Tirol and the nearby tiny country of Liechtenstein.

We spent our first day exploring the city of Innsbruck, known as ‘the capital of the Alps’, but on our second day, we were keen to explore our own beautiful valley.

We drove into Kappl to try the cable car, which took us high up into the mountains to 1.830 m. above sea level. Unfortunately, the higher cable cars weren’t operating, but we were still rewarded with lovely views of the village, the valley and the mountains beyond.

Back down in the village, we went for a drive along the mountain roads towards Sesselebene, stopping every now and then to take in the views. We met a mountain cat, out roaming the trails with her human family.

Wanting to explore Kappl some more, we headed back to the village and visited the gorgeous Church of St. Anthony, built in the late 15th century on the site of an earlier chapel that gave name to the village (the German word for chapel is ‘Kapelle’).

We enjoyed a little afternoon snack in the village centre, and then parted ways as my dad and grandmother drove back to our apartment, and my mum and I walked the scenic six-kilometre route back to Sesselebene.

The route took us along mountain roads past gorgeous cottages full of hanging baskets with colourful flowers, and along forest trails with waterfalls cascading down the mountainsides.

We were awarded with incredible views throughout, and a sense of mystery caused by the low-hanging clouds. Those clouds eventually decided to open up, getting us caught in a huge downpour, followed by thunder and lightning, which forced us to hurry down from the trails and into the safety of the apartment.

Two days later, after spending a day chasing my grandmother’s hero, Hansi Hinterseer, in his hometown of Kitzbühel, I joined my mum and grandmother for a walk into See. We were hoping to find some nice shops, but the town is small and doesn’t have a huge amount of shopping opportunities.

My dad joined us in the early afternoon and we drove to Ischgl, the famous ski resort which is probably best known for being the first Covid-19 hotspot in Europe. With our Silvretta Cards in hand, we boarded the Silvrettabahn and went up high into the mountains above Ischgl. 2320 m. above sea level to be exact!

The fresh mountain air was freezing up there, but I wanted nothing more than a cold soda. We went into Alpenhaus, a severely overpriced restaurant next to the cable cars, where I found a lukewarm soda for 4,5 euros (!!!). And back down we went!

In the evening, my mum and I went for another trail hike, this time above Sesselebene and See, following random trails to see where they would take us.

The hike was absolutely gorgeous, and offered the prettiest views we’d seen in the area, but I forgot to bring my camera. But it didn’t matter as it gave me the perfect excuse to return to the same trails the next morning!

After a long day spent roadtripping through Liechtenstein, our last day had arrived. My mum and I decided to go on a long hike in the Alps near Nauders while my dad and grandmother enjoyed the last day in our tiny village.

In the evening, we went on our last cable car ride, going 1.802 m. above See. With even more incredible views, it was the perfect way to end our lovely holiday in the Paznaun Valley.

Over the next few months, I’ll be writing much more about our wonderful week in Austria and our day trip through the tiny nation of Liechtenstein! Stay tuned!