The end of the Winter show - March 1st to March 24th
Getting there -
Just the two ski holidays for us in Winter of 2025/2026. For our March trip we trod the familiar path from home to Gatwick on then hopped on BA to Salzburg. On arrival in SZG we thought we had enough time to get through immigration and get the bus to the Train Station. Wrong! We made a big mistake. On arrival we were ushered to towards one of the new scanning machines just inside the door where we queued to have our finger prints and photos taken. This took us ages but, suitably photographed and finger printed, we then had to line up again for the immigration police. This queue was even slower! It seems that going to the entry machine was optional and many of our fellow passengers by-passed them and were being laboriously scanned at the Arrivals desk. This was extremely tedious. Kids also need to be given the face and finger treatment and a wretched child in front of us kept sticking out his tongue at the nasty selfie machine just as it was taking his photo. Very amusing - Not! Grumpy old man muttered and fumed and then moved to the back of the adjacent line. We escaped but had to get a Taxi to the Station to avoid missing our train. This whole EU Schengen business is Bureaucracy gone mad. We are scanned when we arrive and scanned again when we leave, what's the point of the Passport?
With the help of our speedy Taxi driver we caught our train and were soon heading for Bad Hofgastein and then the 558 Bus to our little place. We arrived a week earlier than normal to overlap with some friends and as we sped through Town we could see that things were busier then we are used to. The first week in March is pretty much still High Season.
Ski Report
Where skiers meet - the junction of H1 and H2
Going Up
I picked up my ski's and boots, safely stored as usual at Sport Fleiss. It's a bit of a luxury but with an arthritic knee cap it best to avoid carrying too much to and from the Apartment. Keeping my equipment there means I can take the exceedingly pleasant 10 minute 'warm up' walk across the fields to the lift station unencumbered and avoid the busy 552 bus.
Happily, the Piste conditions were excellent. I am pretty selective on when I ski these days. The snow and the visibility both have to be good. Fortunately both were within specification for a good number of days on this visit. I had some excellent runs in the morning in both Bad Hofgastein and Dorfgastein. My mantra these days is to start early, finish early and stay high. I only skied down to the Valley once, the snow was too heavy under the death arches. Of course, I usually found time for a coffee and perhaps a strudel at the Haitzingalm.
My ski fun ended at the Middle Station, often with a lunch at the Baerstein Alm, our favourite, where I would meet up with TW who can access on foot.
Hirsch und Maus, we call it Cat and Mouse, is a recent addition to the Schlossalm. We used to go pretty regularly to the previous Kleine Scharte Restaurant at the top of the old cable car. The Cat and Mouse is very functional, nice terraces with splendid views. It will be useful for us in both Summer and winter and I know we will get used to it. The menu is not traditional but it is already a very popular venue. On one Saturday, when no-one could sit outside, it was absolutely bursting with humanity, it seemed a bit like an Airport Terminal with lots of delayed flights. We beat a hasty retreat!
Birthday Treat
It was an out of valley experience for TW's Birthday. A scenic drive to Dienten! It takes about 30 minutes in total by car from Bad Hofgastein. We picked up one of the shared e-cars for the day. The car share has worked well for us so far. We book it on-line on an App on the phone. We walk across the park to the Therme, where the vehicle lives, unlock it with the App and head off. Remembering, of course, to remove the charging cable first. When we return we lock it and set it charging. We get a bill on the day for the car usage and a monthly bill for any power charging. For our trip Dienten the charge cost was 16.27 Euros and the usage 48.10 Euros for about seven hours.
Dienten is a lovely little community, and just before you reach the village, its church stands proudly on a hill. A little earlier on the road there’s a winding path that leads up to the Grunegg Alm. We usually park by the roadside and walk from there — it takes around 30 to 45 minutes, depending on how often we stop and how slowly we wander. The path doubles as a toboggan run, so I imagine it gets a bit lively in peak season, but today it was sunny, quiet, and not too slippery. The first half is on tarmac before it turns more natural. There’s also a cable car that goes up, though we haven’t tried it yet.
The Grunegg Alm itself is a wonderful spot — traditional food, warm atmosphere, and a superb setting. A perfect reward at the top.
We normally go to Austria in December but this year we broke with tradition and headed out on November 17th. There was a significant milestone to celebrate as it was exactly 20 years to the day since we bought our little place in Austria. We arrived too late for an anniversary dinner but we made up for that by having a nice lunch the following day at the Annen Cafe. A great walk up and an even better walk down with a friendly welcome and good meal in between. Blutwurst Gröstl with Sauerkraut is my favourite and TW has a liking for their Bauernsalat.
TW heading for lunch
A walkers lunch - Blutwurst Gröstl with Sauerkraut
Journeys end - the Annen Cafe
Every journey, that includes the walk down, should have a goal and we scored at Cafe Zeit where we indulged in a Nussschnecke. It literally translates as Nut snail. It is a gastropod shaped cinnamon bun. We shared one with our coffee. It's a really delicious treat but extremely large, it's best to split it, trust me.
With the lift not opening until the 28th November there was plenty of time for walking in the Gastein valley. We were blessed by good weather and, fortunately, none of the days where fog hangs around all day in the valley. Many of the Cafes and Restaurants do not open until skiing gets well under way so our choices were limited. However the establishments that were open made us welcome. Cafe Zeit was our regular coffee stop and the walk up to Annen Cafe became our routine exercise.
With the opening of the ski lifts on the 28th November we are able to buy our lift tickets and take a ride up the hill and check out a new restaurant, Hirsch und Maus, that was being fitted out ready for it's 19th December opening.
Skiing operation commenced on the 29th and I was able to enjoy some good runs with TBIL on H3 and H4. We had reasonably good snow but without any crowds.
First sighting of the new restaurant - Hirsch und Maus
TW and TBIL
A look back at Anger....
One of our regular treats is to jump on the bus up to Angertal and take a walk in snow up the Anger Valley. It is a lovely tree lined route up to an old hut. On our return we walk around the training slope and up to Herzweiss for lunch. TW highly rates the Goulash soup and if we are lucky we might get a season opening schnapps? Danke!😋
Another multi-visit extravaganza to Bad Hofgastein in 2024. Two weeks in May, seven weeks in July and August, a week in October and then seventeen days in December. We had a plan to give the flat a bit of a refurb whilst enjoying the valley. This resulted in repeated visits to Lutz in Zell am See and Bischopshofen.
One of the issues arising from getting new stuff is disposing of the old. We can't just take it to the local dump. When we wanted to get shot of our sofa we had to book a team from the Council. Two chaps turned up and we thought they were going to throw it over our balcony, we are on the 4th floor! Happily the boys took it down the lift after pulling it apart. Great to see the back of it. I did manage to retain my favourite item, the Farmers Cupboard.
Doing DIY does come with risks. TW decided to help me disassemble an old bench in July. Unhappily, a very heavy piece of wood fell directly, and painfully, on her big toe. As you can imagine, this put quite a dampner on our Summer. Various visits to Hospital, local Doctor and Physios resulted as she healed from her nasty fracture. The nail had to be removed to help the toe mend itself. We were fortunate to have the shared e-car to get us around.
One of TW's favourites in the Annen Cafe which sits above Bad Hofgastein on the eastern side and is a regular walk in a normal year but an easy drive in 2024.
My favourite activity in Gastein is riding my e-bike up to the various mountain alms. On the Schlossalm I have a selection of favourites. The Baersteinalm, Fundneralm, Haitzingalm and Aeroplanstadl come to mind. The RatstotzenAlm is a good lungbuster, much easier now I have an e-bike. The Feldinghutte up at the Gadauner Hochalm is a favourite venue for chocolate cake whether on the bike or on foot. In Dorfgastein my favourites are the GrabnerAlm and the Steiner Hochalm. On the other side of the valley the Praau Hochalm at 1800m is a wonderful spot. I had my GoPro with me on this years visit. It was in a pouch on my handlebar until the bumpy track intervened and, unknown to me, we parted company. I was dead lucky as, after a phone call to the hut, I discovered that an Austrian couple walking with a dog had found my treasured camera on the way down. I arranged to meet them in the valley at the Farm an hour or two later. What a relief and what luck! The huts have their differences but all are hospitable and every one is a treat. The Schattbach Alm is in lovely scenic location and is definitely on my list as are the WiednerAlm and the BiberAlm above the Railway Station. A new addition for me this year is the Riedl Alm on the route up to BiberAlm. I will definitely be back there. Oh, and I also enjoy the Kogeralm. I didn't get there this year but it serves good food and gives an out of valley experience!
Looking forward to a beer at the RatstotzenAlm
On the way to the Steiner Hochalm
Footsore - TW and her toe
A new corner
Oma's Chocolate Cake at the Felding Hutte
Crossing the pylon run to the Schattbach Alm
Party time at the end of July
We had a big part to attend in July as TC reached 70. An opening celebration at Blu, a walk in the mountains with stops at the Haitzingalm and Baersteinalm followed by a big evening event at the Gamskar were only parts of the plan. All great fun although TW woke up in the morning after the Blu event with a sore throat. She stayed home after that and missed the remainder of the festivities which was wise as she tested positive for Covid! Debilitating post-viral fatigue added to a broken toe was not great. She had bought a special Dirndl to wear to the Party, hopefully we will find another opportunity for her to wear it.
The e-cars in BadHofgastein are fairly new innovation. After downloading a couple of Apps and registering you can take a nice electric car for a spin. We used this facility a lot. With TW unable to walk any distance we could go on day trips and to a few favourite restaurants. We also jumped in the car to get to the numerous medical appointments the injury necessitated. It is a good system but the only drawaback we found was that when we picked up a car that was not fully charged we were responsible for not only the battery time we had used ourselves but the shortfall in charge as well. Happily they are changing the charging model to overcome this.
There is a new lift in Grossarl and they have built a lovely Restaurant and Terrace Area at the top. Its called Volke 7 (Cloud 7). Our equivalent is Cloud 9. There was not much skiing open in December in Grossarl but we had a good ski. I just had a 3 hours pass which was enough to do a few runs and have a hearty lunch at one of my favourite huts, the Grabner Alm.
The Hirschenhutte getting ready for opening day
One of our favourite walks in Winter takes us along the Anger Valley. We get the bus up to Angertal and then take an idyllic wander along the river. On this sunny day the trees had their winter coats on and there were very few people so it was very quiet. We had lunch at Herzweiss. It used to be called the Felding Hutte, not sure why they changed the name but the welcome was just a good as ever.
Idyllic scene in the Angertal Valley
TW walking in the Angertal
Snow Family in the Kur Park
Haitzingalm and my new ski's
My old Kneissl skis are too heavy, they are beautiful to ski on but I can hardly carry them to the Bus Stop. I invested in another pair, this time I went for second-hand Rossignol Hero Limited. They were much lighter and seem a bit easier on my knees and hip. I did not buy a season pass this year. I just bought ad hoc 4 hour passes. Had some nice ski days, mainly on the Schlossalm.
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