Family holiday to Kaprun - Austria

Lisa Ratcliffe on 05 October 2014
My husband, daughters of 17 and 14 and I travelled with Inghams to Kaprun in August and, after a horrendous flight delay, we arrived at the chalet, late in the evening, about 9 hours after our expected arrival time.

We were greeted by the happy, smiling, welcoming faces of Dolores and Ebony who had been waiting for us. They whisked our cases away and ushered us straight into the dining room for our wonderful 3 course meal. From that first impression - we knew that we were going to enjoy staying in the Chalet!

The girls - Dolores, Ebony, Molly and Natasha - were the most fantastic hosts and each meal time was full of fun and smiles. And singing! The meals were nothing short of superb! Canapes were served in the little lounge prior to us being called through to the dining room where a 3 course meal of excellent proportions greeted us. Wine flowed throughout the whole meal and was also of a good quality.

Breakfast was a buffet with a good choice of meats, breads, cereals plus freshly cooked boiled eggs and porridge if you wished. The staff had one day off during the week which was a great chance to eat out. The rooms were clean and modern, with comfy beds and great pillows! It was lovely to have the balcony that ran along outside all the rooms and we would often sit there with a drink and a book.

The fact that the chalet only has 9 rooms means that you really get to chat to and get to know the other guests. We had a lovely crowd staying at the same time as us and we always had a good chat and laugh in the evenings.

The chalet is perfectly located about a 5 minute stroll from the village centre and there is lots to see and do - both in the immediate area and on the excursions. We did the walk with Dolores to the Sigmund Thun gorge located just outside the village centre. This was an easy walk to and up through the Gorge and then around the beautiful lake at the top.

It was easy to catch the bus into Zell am See, which we did to eat out and look round the midweek festival (summer only). The buses do not run back very late, but taxis are very easy to find by the railway station. Zell was lovely but obviously very busy because of the festival. We walked half way around the lake - which took longer than we thought! If you do decide to do this and want to catch one of the ferries back across, then allow plenty of time to get between ferry pick up points. We came very close to missing the last ferry of the day!

We also took the excursion to Grossglockner along the High Alpine Road. We were so lucky with the weather as it was clear and sunny and the views were spectacular. It was an amazing day out and thoroughly recommended.

Sadly, the weather for our trip to Salzburg was not so kind and it poured down ALL day! We chose NOT to have a city guide and, with hindsight, realised that this was a mistake and would advise anyone taking the trip to definitely invest in the extra money to have someone show you round. We don't feel that we made the most of the day because of that - but we did have an excellent lunch that day!

We also went on the trip to Krimml Falls that was included by Inghams. This is also a trip well worth taking. The Falls are spectacular! You do have to be very fit for the climb though and it is very busy - but definitely worth persevering!

We love Austria and have visited different resorts in the past, but we would definitely look at doing the Chalet option again as it was so friendly, informal and fun.