The mighty Alps span eight countries, but did you know that they’re also home to a number of…
Times visited: 5 (1 week in 2003, 2 days in 2013, 5 days in 2020, 1 week in 2021 and 2 days in 2021)
Cities visited: Salzburg, Vienna and Innsbruck
Villages visited: Hinterriß, Eng-Alm, Jungholz, Riezlern, Hirschegg, Mittelberg, Baad, Sesselebene, See, Kitzbühel, St Johann in Tirol, Kappl, Ischgl and Nauders
UNESCO sites visited: Historic Centre of Vienna
When I was 8, my family and I drove to Salzburg for our summer holiday. This is probably the most memorable trip from my childhood. I remember how incredibly small I felt against the high mountains. How adventurous it felt to explore a salt mine. How I was in awe over the pretty Austrian cottages. And how proud I was when I took my first ever travel photograph (which was a really blurry picture of a waterfall 😂).
I had wanted to return to Austria ever since, so when my parents announced that we were driving to Croatia in the summer of 2013, I suggested spending a few days in Vienna on the way. I was excited to explore a different part of Austria, but unfortunately, Vienna didn’t quite live up to my dreams of the beautiful scenery that we saw in Salzburg. It wasn’t until that trip that I realized that Austria is much more than just mountains and colourful cottages.
Years later, in the summer of 2020, I finally returned to the region of Austria that I fell in love with, the Alps. I spent two weeks roadtripping through Germany and visited all three of Austria’s pene-exclaves, which are regions that can only be reached from Germany as they are separated from the rest of Austria by the Alps. I walked through the green valley of Eng-Alm in Hinterriß-Eng, climbed a very special mountain in Jungholz and went for a beautiful, post-rain hike in the Kleinwalsertal Valley. And I actually also walked into Austria for a quick visit while hiking around Lake Alatsee.
I returned the following summer for a week-long visit with my parents and grandmother. We stayed in a small village in the picturesque Paznaun Valley, and took day trips out from there. We explored the city of Innsbruck, walked in the footsteps of Hansi Hinterseer (my grandmother’s hero!) in Kitzbühel, took cable rides in the valley and even went on a roadtrip to Liechtenstein. On our last day, my mum and I drove to Nauders and took a chairlift up to a hiking paradise where we spent the next five hours. After a hard hike with many gorgeous views, we reached Dreiländergrenzstein, the very spot where the borders of Austria, Switzerland and Italy meet!
Some months later, I returned to Austria for a two-day stopover in Vienna en route from Serbia to Berlin. This time, I enjoyed Vienna a lot more and wished I’d had more time to explore the beautiful city.
