GO AUSTRIA:A walk in the Austrian Alps brings out the 'Sound of Music' in DARRAGH REDDIN, who then visits Salzburg to find out more about the von Trapps and Mozart
YOU HAVEN’T LIVED until you’ve been on a skiing holiday,” a fresh-from-the piste colleague smugly informed me, after a week spent on the Austrian slopes earlier this year. Sadly, my one and only flirtation with winter sports, during a boozy January break in the Catskills in the US, ended in my careering – Bridget Jones style – into a carelessly positioned tree, an episode from which I’ve never truly recovered. Even a Christmas card illustration of a child blithely tobogganing down a hill is enough to trigger a grizzly flashback.
The fact that I’m in the skiing resort of Kitzbühel, staring up at the vertiginous slopes of the 2,000m-high Kitzbüheler Horn, should be enough to induce a meltdown – were it not for one thing: the absence of snow. It’s the middle of June, a very pleasant 25 degrees and, given I’m here on a hiking holiday, the chances of my incurring serious injury are, hopefully, reduced.
A walled medieval settlement about 90 minutes southwest of Salzburg, Kitzbühel has been popular as a winter resort for more than 100 years. In January 1893, local thrill-seeker Franz Reisch got a pair of skis by mail order from Norway, then set about introducing the sport to Tyrol. Since then, Kitzbühel has become a destination for skiers who divide their time between dicing with death on the famed downhill Hahnenkamm route, and kicking back in the resort’s boutiques and restaurants.
Still, it would be a shame to discount a visit in the summer, when its fairytale meadows are so verdant and carpeted with wild flowers you’ll long to run through them wailing the title track from The Sound of Music (I know, because I did).
The surrounding countryside has some 1,000km of hiking trails scattered about the four main mountain peaks (Kitzbüheler Horn, Hahnenkamm, Gaisberg and Resterhöhe) and can be accessed via one of several cable cars that are dotted about the village’s outskirts; a three-day adult pass, which can be used on any of the cars and ski lifts, costs €38 during the summer.
Our first day’s ascent takes us up 2,000m to the tip of the Kitzbüheler Horn, 300 metres on foot and the rest by cable car, affording amazing views of the – whisper it – snow-covered, vastly steeper peaks in the distance.
Finding rare Alpine flora might suggest the necessity for abseiling down formidable rock faces, but the Kitzbühel Alpine garden, situated just below the Horn’s summit, is a fairly untaxing 20- minute trek. Cultivation on the garden began in the mid 1980s and its karst landscape is peppered with Alpenrose and gentian as well as “blow-ins” from across Europe and the Himalayas. It’s certainly beautiful, but nothing compared to the sublime scenery we’re greeted with on our descent. Here we traverse a walkway that snakes its way past picture-perfect cabins and cattle-filled pastures, before a steeper, more arduous track weaves through dense coniferous forest.
On the following day we tackle the Hahnenkamm – okay, so “tackle” probably isn’t the right word, given the cable car does most of the hard work – but a three-hour round trip from the summit though undulating pastures to the pretty Pengelstein Lake is not to be sniffed at.
However, our most memorable excursion takes place on the Gaisberg, which towers above the nearby village of Kirchberg; a ski lift takes us half way to the top and we complete the journey upwards on foot. It’s the most difficult of our walks but also the most rewarding: our downward journey towards the village of Skirast taking in the kind of mossy, wild-flower filled meadows that would render Sister Maria breathless.
On our fourth day, thanks to our efficient travel operator Crystal, we head to Salzburg – “the Rome of the north” – for a guided tour of that baroque, compact gem. For many visitors it’s a case of Maria vs Mozart as kitsch Sound of Music tours and solemn guided jaunts through Wolfgang’s city battle it out for tourist bucks.
Our enthusiastic tour guide Sylvia opts predominantly for the latter, taking us to the composer’s birthplace on Getriedegasse – the busy street at the foot of the city’s giant 11th-century Hohensalzburg fortress – via the nearby Domkirche, where Mozart was christened.
To my shame, I have to claim ignorance when Sylvia asks if I recognise the Irish saint whose statue adorns the entrance; it’s St Virgil – no, me neither – who purportedly built the first chapel on that very spot in the eighth century.
While Salzburg has a reputation for snootiness that’s not entirely unearned, you’ll receive a warmer reception the further you go from the tourist hub on the city’s left bank. After we cross the fast-flowing River Salzach for a breather in the impossibly pretty Mirabell Gardens, we proceed to Franz-Josef Strasse, a wide, tree-lined avenue where there’s nary a Mozartkugel in sight. Here, handsome cafes boast delicious cakes for a fraction of the price of those on Getriedegasse.
For lunch, visit Pescheria Backi, a frill-free seafood restaurant where the management really don’t stand on ceremony. There are no menus and the staff are far from pally, but the grilled tuna is the culinary highlight of our holiday (a meal for two with wine costs about €50).
Salzburg’s citizens appear straitlaced, but they’re not above a raucous night out. The best place to get started is Augustiner Bräu, an enormous, cavernous hall 15 minutes northwest of the city centre, where Augustinian monks have been brewing their own beer since 1621.
Here we join the boozed-up punters – earthenware mugs in hand – in a queue awaiting a frothy brew so quaffable I was convinced I’d been duped with an alcohol-free concoction. That the night ended with my asking an elderly Asian couple sitting nearby if they’d like to go clubbing was proof the monks hadn’t hoodwinked me after all.
Get there, stay there
Get there:Crystal Holidays offers packages to Kitzbühel, with transfer from Salzburg airport and half-board accommodation in a choice of three-, four- and five-star hotels, from around €600pps. crystalsummer.ie
Stay in Kitzbühel:Hotel Jägerwirt, Familie Bartenstein, Jochbergerstrasse 12A-6370. We chose this central, four-star hotel which oozes rustic charm. Staff are superb and the sedate atmosphere will appeal to visitors keen to escape city life. hotel-jaegerwirt.at
Stay in Salzburg:NH, Franz-Josef-Strasse 26. A-5020 Salzburg. Tel: 0043-62 820 410. Crystal Holidays offers day trips to Salzburg, but it's worth an overnight stay. The four-star NH Hotel is within walking distance of all the main attractions but on a non-touristic stretch with some cracking cafes. Take the train back to Kitzbühel for awe-inspiring views of the Alps. Rooms from €75pps. nh-hotels.com
Where to visit in Kitzbühel: Town Museum Kitzbühel, Hinterstadt 32. Housed in a former granary, this museum offers a breezy overview of the history and culture of the town. museum-kitzbuehel.at
Where to eat in Kitzbühel: Rosshimmel, Hotel Tiefenbrunner, Vorderstadt 3. For no-nonsene Austrian cuisine and a terrific wine selection, this is a safe bet. A meal for two is about €80.
Pano, Hinterstadt 12. For cakes of unrivalled deliciousness and strong Americanos, Pano is a must. Their banoffee – with a soft, oaty base and cream cheese topping – is incredible.