Family-friendly holidays in Austria
Our family came to Austria on holiday last summer, so we had to plan two family-friendly holidays. We have worked in tourism for over 30 years, so we had a pretty good idea of what we should include. In order to make it memorable for not only the kids but also the parents.
One family has teenagers, and the other has pre-teens. We needed to plan their week for them, and to start with; I was a bit worried there might not be enough to do. However, it quickly became apparent that they wouldn’t have time to fit everything in. Which we didn’t in the end, but it’s ok as they are returning this summer.
Profile of 1st family – 2 sporty teenagers who have loads of energy and get bored easily.
They stayed in St Johann in Tirol, ideally situated to get around the region with bus and train connections. We wrote a list of what they all liked and then had that as our central point to start working on what they should do. They are all pretty active; therefore, we focused on getting them moving. We included one walk, three bike rides, a visit to the Bike Park in Leogang, bouldering, kayaking and stand-up paddle boarding.
Gentle walk to start off
The first morning after they arrived, they wandered around the town and got their bearings. Then we picked up a packed lunch from the supermarket and headed off to the Gmailkappelle. It takes 2.5-3 hours and has some uphill that will increase the heart rate, but it has some great views once you are there. Even the teenagers were impressed.
https://www.kitzbueheler-alpen.com/en/stjo/tours/gmailkapelle.html
Ebike Hire
We hired ebikes for four days as they often ride mountain bikes at home. We got them ebikes as they hadn’t tried them before, which meant they could go further without the worry of them running out of steam in a place they didn’t know. Plus, it is mountainous where we live, so ebikes help a lot!
Day 1 on the ebike:
Römerweg (Roman Road) to Kitzbühel gives you magnificent views of the Wilder Kaiser mountains. Then up to Kitzbühel, where you have a view over to the Hahnenkamm race route, which is a famous downhill ski race in winter. As they were both mad keen on skiing, we locked the ebikes up and took the cable car to the top to see the race’s start hut. We walked down the first part of the course to see how steep it was and marvelled at how mad they must be to set off on two planks and go straight down. Obviously, teenagers didn’t feel that it was that steep. But I can confirm that as a skier, there is no way in my right mind I would attempt it.
We ate our picnic overlooking the valley high above Kitzbühel and enjoyed the view. While they went for a wander around the top of the mountain.
After the trip up the mountain, we headed to the Schwarzsee, which is the small lake just outside Kitzbühel. It was a hot day, so they went for a swim, and we snoozed in the bathing area. There are slides and a jetty to swim out to, which the kids did, but a snooze was too tempting for us. Being teenagers, they were hungry again. So we demolished coffee and cake before setting off back to St Johann via the Gieringer Weiher, which is a bathing spot. Still, it seems to have a lot of big pike in there, so I wasn’t tempted even though it’s a pretty spot. It was a full day out, and they came back tired from walking, swimming and cycling. Job done!
Day 2 on the ebike
Off to Leogang Bike Park. We caught the train from St Johann to Leogang and then a 10 mins bike ride to the Bike Park. This is not for the faint-hearted; it is a world-class mountain bike park. If mountain biking is your teenager’s dream, then this is paradise.
https://bikepark.saalfelden-leogang.com/Lines-and-Trails.
They rented body armour, which is a must on trails like these. They were so excited after the day here but also realised their capabilities on their bikes pretty quickly. Thereafter there was lots of discussion about how they could get better before tackling the bike park again next year.
Day 3 on the ebike
Pillersee round trip – this was with the whole family on ebikes. This day turned out to be the highlight of the holiday. The route is circular, so you can join it wherever you stay in the area. Pack the camera as there is loads of different scenery and leave plenty of time to spend on the Pillersee (the lake). Pack a picnic, or there are a few spots to stop and eat.
When you get to the lake, try some stand-up paddle boarding, archery or arrow battle (think paintballing with bows and arrows). Stand-up paddle boarding looks easy but isn’t, so if you want to try it, make sure your stomach muscles are strong. It’s a surprising workout. The teenagers loved it and took to it like a duck to water or to a SUP board! The adults? Well, let’s say there was a lot of laughing, even more wobbling, some swearing and more sitting on the board and not so much of the standing part.
For the route – https://ebike-europe.com/routes/kalkstein-tour-for-all-the-family/
For the family friendly lake activities – https://www.supnfun.at/
Day 4 on the ebike:
The final day on the bikes was along the Bergdoktor Tour route. (This is a much-loved TV series in Germany) and means the Mountain Doctor. You can do a walking, cycling and driving tour, visiting the series sets. However, if you have no idea what it’s all about, it is also an enjoyable bike tour.
https://ebike-europe.com/routes/bergdoktor-mountain-doctor-tour/.
This tour takes you from St Johan along the foot of the Wilder Kaiser mountains through the villages of Going, Ellmau and Scheffau to Söll and returning a similar way. You can either look at some of the sets used on the TV series or stop off at the Going swimming lake, which must be one of the most stunning bathing areas in the Alps.
There is also an opportunity to head up the mountain in Ellmau to “Ellmis Magic World” or Söll to the Hexenwasser “Witches Water”. Our teenagers saw the Going swimming lake on the way there and decided that was what they wanted to do on the way back. So, we spent a relaxing afternoon snoozing in the shade. At the same time, they tired themselves out swimming and joining in a very energetic beach volleyball game with other teenagers from all over Europe.
Rest of the Week
On the other days, they requested to go back to Pillersee and have another go at SUP and tried arrow battle plus, they took out a pedalo for good measure. We also went to Familienland, a small amusement park in St Jakob.
https://www.freizeitpark.tirol/de/freizeitpark-familienland/
In the middle of the week, splitting the ebike days they spent at the outdoor pool in St Johann. However as that didn’t quite tire them out enough, they decided that bouldering would be a great way to finish off the day. https://boulderhalle-stjohann.at/ where they met other teenagers, made a couple of friends and went off for pizza together that evening.
There was a live band at Yang & Klang in the centre of town one evening, which they secretly enjoyed. There was even some smiling and shuffling around, trying not to have too much fun, of course, as they are teenagers.
Overall, their opinion of their holiday was – “cool”. And as they are coming back this summer, we must have done something right. Family-friendly holiday for teenagers – job done!
Family No. 2
Profile – two pre-teen boys who are pretty sporty and love nature and bugs.
Our other family group that came last summer were with pre-teens, and as we had the teenagers earlier in the summer, we were well prepared. They also stayed in St Johann and as they are boys, give them water and some stones, and they are happy building dams and playing about all day, getting wet and muddy. But again, we had a plan.
Ebike day out
We rented ebikes for them for a day, again, so we could go further. They both ride bikes at home but not for long distances; however, with the ebikes, it meant we could all go as a family on a 42km tour.
We did the Pillersee or Kalkstein tour as we did with the teens. Our stop at the lake is where they went on a pedalo and loved that, getting wet and looking for bugs and fish in the lake. The bike tour pretty much tired them out for the day, but they still managed a pizza the size of their upper bodies for dinner.
Walking day
As they love messing about in the water, we took them for a picnic to the Griesbachklamm and spent the whole day walking, pickup stones looking for bugs and getting wet.
https://www.kitzbueheler-alpen.com/en/stjo/so/hiking/griessbachklamm.html
Rollercoasters, Tree Top Course, Water and more Water
Another great place for water, views, tree top course and a roller coaster took us to Timok’s Wild World at Fieberbrunn.
https://www.fieberbrunn.com/en/summer/timoks-wild-world
We spent the whole day here on the ropes course, water games, climbing park, wobbly jelly (think ground-level trampoline) and an Alpine roller coaster. Loads of stuff to keep them amused all day, running around from one spot to the next. All in a safe environment meant we could let them run around and get on with it. While we kept a lazy eye on them so they didn’t get too enthusiastic and hurt themselves or each other.
Carting
Carting was on the menu, too, and this was a great one for the younger kids. I was sceptical that it might be too dangerous, but it was brilliant fun for them both. Once you have completed the track, there is equal excitement about getting pulled back to the top behind a vehicle, so you can do it all again if you want.
https://www.alpengasthof-waidring.tirol/en/summer-holiday-pillerseetal/mountaincart-waidring
Dinosaurs
Boys and dinosaurs are a great combination. And no holiday in Austria would be complete for pre-teens without dinosaurs, so head to Triassic Park in Waidring.
https://www.triassicpark.at/en/summer-triassic-park.html
The viewing platform was a great way of scaring the life out of me, with them finding it incredibly funny. I had only ever heard of Palaeontology from “Ross in Friends”, but this place brought it to life for the kids and us. It’s a fascinating place to visit but also fun, with a beach (yep, a real beach at altitude), dinosaurs, and a low ropes course.
Another Walking Day
A day of walking to try to tire them out was spent walking to the Eifersbacher Waterfall on the outskirts of St Johann. https://www.kitzbueheler-alpen.com/en/stjo/so/hiking/eifersbacher-waterfall.html
It’s a 3-hour walk depending on speed and fitness, lots of bugs and birds to see along the way, so it kept them interested. All you need are a decent pair of shoes, preferably walking boots, some snacks, and drinks, and off you go. Remember to take a waterproof just in case.
Their opinion of their holiday – “absolutely amazing, can we come back next summer?”
Austrian Family-Friendly holidays
Austria is a great choice for a family who loves adventure. You will get plenty of fresh air, running around, sports, scenery, amazing views, and family-friendly restaurants and bars. This means you can spend lots of quality time together while enjoying the outdoors and have plenty to talk about at the end of each day.
These two-holiday types have only scratched the surface of what is available in the area, so we’d had better get our thinking caps on again for this summer.
1 Comment
Nice post. Thank you for posting something like this.