Dear Readers, by the time you read this I will hopefully be on holiday in Obergurgl, the highest village in Austria at 6,330 feet. How I have missed this place! We last visited in 2019, before all that Covid shenanigans started, and it will be interesting to see how it’s changed – there were shedloads of building projects on our last trip, and a general move towards making Obergurgl a winter-only resort. What a shame that would be! Although the winter season is the most lucrative, the walking in the summer is extraordinary, with routes in every direction. The meadows are full of flowers early in the year, and they are a great draw for me personally for sure.
The walking here is not ‘easy’ but there are a number of routes for those of us who spend too much time during the year hunched over our computers (that would be me), plus some more ambitious ones for ‘proper’ year-round walkers. Like the route up Hangerer for example, the highest mountain in the immediate vicinity. In the winter, people walk up and then ski down, and by people I mean ‘over-achievers’.
View towards Hangerer
I love the local domestic animals too, the Tyrolean blue cattle and the Italian floppy-eared sheep, who spend the summer on the Austrian side of the Alps. Plus the local families breed the beautiful Haflinger palomino horses, who also spend the summer ‘wild’ in the valleys.
So, news that my heart is basically ok was such a blessing. I intend to walk, eat strudel, spot plants and birds and generally do all the things I’ve been yearning to do since the last time I was here four years ago. And of course, I’ll be reporting back here, as time and bandwidth and strudel consumption allow. Fingers crossed for reasonable weather, not too many blisters, and some peace and quiet.
My parent’s favourite place. They walked there nearly every summer in the 1990’s. They were proper walkers and used to love the high paths. Have a wonderful, relaxing time.
Thanks Jacqueline! I visited for the first time in 1994, so I might even have crossed paths with your parents…
Back in Obergurgl. Wonderful !
Good boots, steady pace, enough stops, and cake. Happy days!
In the early 60s we went camping and climbing in Obergurgl with the scouts. Happy days.
I bet it was very different then – there’s been a lot of building work, but fortunately because it’s also in a national park there’s a limit to how far it can go. And also, I saw a marmot very close to the village today, which is always a good sign!
Hopefully all the building projects are done and you will have a wonderful, peaceful and relaxing time. 👍😊 (That peak does look enticing though… 🤔)
Good to hear about the great news
It looks liek a lovely place to holiday!
It’s funny we seem to share many things – living in NW London, staying in Tirol, loving apfelstrudel!
Have a fabulous and relaxing time