Hiking in the Austrian Tirol

I have had a difficult start to 2017 and not had the chance to travel, so I wanted somewhere peaceful and relaxing to enjoy one of my passions, hiking. I love the Austrian landscape; the beauty of the lakes and the majestic mountains, so without hesitation I booked the flights to Munich!

After a short flight into Munich, we headed to the large choice of car hire companies onsite at the airport. Picking up a hire car was easy and in no time we were on route to Austria. Our destination was 90 minutes from the airport and it was an easy drive along the autobahns in Germany. The only thing we had to be aware of, was that to drive into Austria and on their roads, we needed to buy a highway toll sticker which is known as a Vignette. These can be purchased from fuel stations and must be displayed in the car windscreen. A 10 day ticket costs 8.90 euros.

Just over the border into Austria we arrived at our destination called Lermoos. It is a popular ski resort during the winter season and is situated at the foot of Germany’s highest mountain, the Zugspitze.

View of the Zugspitze from Lermoos

View of the Zugspitze from our Hotel

During our week long stay in Lermoos we saw many beautiful places. One of these places was in Ehrwald, which is the next village along from Lermoos. About 1/2 a kilometre outside the village of Ehrwald, you can park at the Ehrwalder Almbahn and this is where you can catch a cable car to Ehrwalder Alm.

Ehrwalder Almbahn cable car station

One of the cable cars inside Ehrwalder Almbahn

The cable car ride is approximately a 10 minute journey over the top of trees, with a view of the waterfalls in the Wetterstein mountains. It was a little cloudy on this particular day, but in the centre of the page you can just view the waterfall in the distance.

View from the car cable

Coming into the cable car station at Ehrwalder Alm

As we exited the cable car, we were surprised how windy and bitterly cold it was.  Fortunately we had come prepared, but we probably could have done with a hat and scarf as well! Just below the cable car station, this bar is a welcome spot for a meal or drink whilst you admire the view.

There are many trails to explore from here. One of the best trails is a 10.4km round trip hike to Seebensee, which is a picturesque lake with views of the Zugspitze and often used for bathing in warmer weather. Since it was so chilly, we opted for Ehrwalder Almsee which was close by.

Entrance to Ehrwalder Almsee

On entering this area,  my eyes immediately fell on the pretty turquoise lake with backdrop views of the mountains. Although it wasn’t sunny on this particular day, it is clearly a sun trap during the warmer weather, with picnic benches and sun loungers in carefully selected sunny spots around the lake. We were the only visitors at this time, so it was lovely to just sit and take in the ambience of this beautiful location.

Ehrwalder Almsee

Ehrwalder Almsee

After sitting here some while, the weather started to warm up and the wind had dropped, so we decided rather than taking the cable car, we would walk back down, allowing us to really appreciate the area.

The trail going down the mountain. Nice and steady downhill walk

View as we walked the downward mountain trail

This was a steady 3 kilometre walk downhill; constant downhill with no respite. I like to hike and I hike regularly, but I had underestimated how much the back of my legs would hurt by the time I reached the bottom! Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the walk, being close to Austrian nature and seeing things we weren’t able to see from inside the cable car.

At the bottom of the mountain there is another restaurant called Brent Alm (i forgot to take a photo!), but if you are here you must stop for food. I had a childs portion of Schnitzel and chips and it not only tasted fantastic, but it was amazing value for money. It was also extremely large for a child’s portion!

Whilst having our meal, we got chatting to an Irish couple who had just returned from the Waterfall round walk. This is a walk viewing the Waterfall we had seen in the distance whilst in the cable car. More on the waterfall walk on my next post!