Austria for All

In August 2014 we took a family holiday to Mayrhofen in Austria. There was myself, my husband, our 8 year old and my mother who is 64. What a great place for all ages.

Mayrhofen is situated in the Tyrol region between Innsbruck and Salzburg. A small town with plenty of options to eat out, restaurants, cafes and bakeries are in abundance. There is one cable car and one gondola in the town that serve the Penken and Ahorn mountains. If you buy a Zillercard this allows you one return trip per day on one of the 6 cablecars/gondolas in the region as well as free rail and bus travel, and discounts of other attractions.

We stayed at the fabulous Hotel Neuhuas, at the end of the town. It had a great location being just minutes’ walk from the train and bus station, whilst also being close to all the town facilities. The hotel offers a fantastic choice of traditional food and there is also a resident guide for a choice of walks. The hotel has both an indoor and outdoor pool as well as a spa. The town itself has an outdoor pool, a bowling alley, mini golf and plenty of cafes and restaurants.

Being a land locked country Austria offers you the option of visiting neighbouring countries with ease. Whilst there we did a coach trip over the boarder to Germany to visit King Ludwigs castle Schloss Neuschwanstein, this castle was the inspiration for Walt Disney’s princess castle and you can see why. We also did an escorted walk over to Italy, a fascinating walk with history of smugglers routes and world war involvement.

For activities for all there was so much to choose from, we did rock climbing, hired mountain bikes, white water rafting, tobogganing, paragliding and plenty of walks. For when the weather wasn’t great we did bowling and went to a fantastic indoor pool/spa complex in Fugen, we took advantage of the free rail travel with the Zillercard to get there.

The resort also has a great kids club where children from all nationalities can join in some fantastic adventures. My son took part in the Tyrolean day where they built dams and campfires and cooked sausages. He also did the mini golf competition day. Also on offer were white water rafting, cannoning, horse riding and wet day activities. A very reasonably priced way to keep kids entertained and meet others.

I would recommend a trip to Austria and in particular to Mayrhofen to all, there is plenty for everyone to do whether you are looking for an active or relaxing break and in good and bad weather. It breaks away from the traditional sun and beach holidays offering a back to nature type feel to a holiday.