Austrian Alps: Mountain Magic and Children Wonderland
After three weeks of living La Dolce Vita in Italy with sun, sand and sea, our next destination was a very different scenery: the Austrian Alps, more specifically Zillertal in Tyrol. With mountain peaks of more than 3000 meters, glaciers and significantly lower temperatures than what we had experienced in the last weeks, Zillertal was a completely new adventure.
Not only the setting was different – the choice of accommodation was also new: We stayed in Hintertux, right next to the Hintertux Glacier, and had picked a family hotel, Hintertuxerhof, where there were plenty of playgrounds, children’s activities and other children to play with. I am always a bit skeptical about such hotels, but I have to say it was a great break from the apartment accommodation and the kids really enjoyed interacting with other children and making new friends.
Hiking and Playground Fun at Mountain Summits
While the week was also about giving the children some time to play, we were very determined to do some great hikes in the mountains and introduce the kids to the amazing world of hiking. Living in Denmark where there are no mountains whatsoever, the entire landscape was a completely new experience for Niklas and Frederik and our plan was to awaken their interest in such kind of holidays for the future.
What is great about hiking in the Austrian Alps is that everything is extremely family-friendly. You find playgrounds or children’s activities at almost every mountain summit which worked very well for us. We would typically take a gondola halfway up a mountain, hike for 1-2 hours to reach the summit where there would be some fun for the children – and a small restaurant to get something to drink and eat. The kids loved the gondola ride and the playgrounds and hiking downhill. Hiking uphill was more of a challenge but once we made it to the mountain peaks they were super proud!
And we were all stunned by the amazing landscape and the magic of the mountains. Standing on a mountain peak with a view to the surrounding mountains, mountain lakes, valleys and rivers is simply gorgeous and worth every step up the mountain!
From our first hike we also learned that when hiking with kids, four topics will come up every five minutes for which answers are needed: “where is there a toilet” (remember always to go before starting the hike…), “I am hungry” (always bring lots of foods and reserve candy when energy levels drop), “I am thirsty” (have plenty of water bottles in the backpack), and “when are we there” (don’t be over-optimistic, but find part goals they can look forward to – and have fun stories at hand to share to make them forget that they are hiking!).
Mountain biking through the Zillertal Valley
During our hikes, we saw many people out on mountain bikes – both in the mountains and in the valleys. Niklas and I decided that this would also be a fun experience for us and one afternoon we drove to Mayrhofen, the main town in the part of Zillertal where we stayed, and rented mountain bikes.
We decided for a flat trail and luckily there is a great bike path stretching 30kms from Mayrhofen to Strass. We did not bike the full 30kms but did a good part and had a lot of fun on the way. We came by several cafes, ice cream shops and not least playgrounds where we could do quick stops and recharge our batteries. We were especially proud when we overtook other bikers on e-bikes as we only had the old-fashion models without electricity!
In conclusion, a hiking holiday with children in the Austrian Alps can definitely be recommended. It is extremely children friendly and family oriented and you can accommodate your hikes and trips to children of all ages. But make sure to bring plenty of different clothes – we mainly had our summer clothes and waking up to temperatures of 5 degrees Celsius some days, this was very cold!!!
