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Heading to Austria for a few days break:
Austria offers a perfect canvas for a short holiday; the mountains are big and open and flat and the valleys are green and the lakes are clear. Renting a villa or a traditional cabin here transforms a holiday into something so much more restorative. It’s a temporary home, the clock ticks a little slower and the morning coffee comes with a view of alpine meadows.
The Austrian accommodation scene is very affordable and satisfying to everybody and yet still has the same alpine feel to it. On the other hand, there are chalets or Hütten and mountain cabins on the other end of the spectrum. The rustic timber lodge will be a lot of fun to visit for those travelling on a budget. They are simple, cosy and functional with pine furniture, a crackling wood-burning stove and a small kitchen that can be made for a simple breakfast. There’s something so satisfying about wooden floorboards creaking and the smell of aged timber after a day in the fresh air.
On the other hand, Austria has mastered the art of alpine luxury. The high-end villas in Tyrol or the Kitzbühel Alps are beautiful to spend a day in and the likes of them are luxurious. You can envision floor-to-ceiling glass walls that bring the mountains into the living room, private infinity pools that reflect the snowy peaks and personal saunas made from local larch wood. These luxury properties marry modern design and natural materials so they’re an incredibly sophisticated refuge to lie in a luxurious robe and watch the stars come out over the valley.
When you decide to put on your boots for a few days, the options are quite diverse. With its connected lakes and dramatic limestone cliffs, Salzkammergut is a beautiful place to be. You can find a lakeside villa for jumping into the crystal-clear water as you jump out of your own private jetty. Or the Zillertal valley in Tyrol has that classic, postcard-perfect Austrian experience where the cabins cling to steep hillsides and distant cowbells drift on the morning breeze.
The sweet and quiet moments of reflection are so few and far between in these incredible remote places that these few days are one of the most beautiful aspects of life. When sitting on a wooden deck in the afternoon, as the sun goes from a beautiful gold to a deep, bruised purple across the rock faces, you feel a deep sense of peace. The silence in the deep valleys is absolute, broken only by the sound of the wind rumbling through the pines or the rush of a distant stream. This makes you stop, clear your mind and just be present in the moment.
But the brilliance of an Austrian holiday is that you are never really isolated. A short drive or a brisk walk down the mountain roads takes you through a wonderful and busy town. Zell am See or St. Wolfgang are, for example, such a brilliant contrast to the stillness of the mountains. Suddenly, you are surrounded by the chatter of people, the clatter of horse-drawn carriages and the delicious smells of fresh pastries that come out of the old bakery doors. What a welcome sensory jolt to your mind when you step down the hill!
In these different settings you can taste the rich diversity of Austrian culture and cuisine. There is a lot of comfort in mountain food (Käsespätzle, for example) that is unpretentious and warm, designed for a day of adventure. In a very rustic hillside tavern you might take a bowl of Käsespätzle (small soft egg noodles smothered in melted mountain cheese and topped with crispy fried onions) and then, once you go to the bigger towns, the culinary scene shifts to something more refined but equally traditional. It is nice to sit at a big, wood-panelled café and eat a piece of Sachertorte or a little apple strudel with a perfectly brewed Melange coffee. Every region takes great pride in its local ingredients—fresh lake trout, wild mushrooms picked up from the forest floor.
But the heart of Austria is its people. It’s a great mix of people in the short stay that you encounter who can really make the experience memorable. There are the proud, sun-weathered hiking guides who know each and every path like the back of their hand and the very warm villa hosts who give you homemade elderflower cordial and the best views around.
But my favourite encounter was with an elderly man named Hans, an exuberantly funny local who ran a tiny woodcarving shop just outside a small village in Styria. Hans wore traditional lederhosen that looked older than the hills themselves, complete with a wonderfully battered felt hat with a huge feather hanging from the top. He spoke English with a thick melodic accent, with a kind of mischievous, dry sense of humour. When I asked him if a particular carved mountain goat was difficult to make, he looked at me deadpan and said, “No, it is very easy. Just take a block of wood and cut away everything that doesn’t look like a goat.” He roared, his laughter loud enough to fill the dusty workshop, before insisting we share a small glass of his homemade pine schnapps. The warmth and human connection that you have in hand, long after the holiday is over, sticks with you.
As the days come to a close you realise how much life and relaxation can be packed into a short escape. You’ve spent a few days in a simple log cabin or a luxurious villa where you have been budget-hunting, and Austria leaves an indelible mark. You come home with crisp mountain air in your lungs and a few stray bits of strudel in your jacket pocket and a new appreciation for the simple pleasure of watching the world go by from a quiet veranda.
Have a great vacation in Austria from the EUCottages travel team
