From Tyrol to Styria: refreshing late-summer delights in Austria
In Tyrol, tranquillity and traditions come together to create a unique travel experience
The sound of a mountain stream, the rustling of the trees, the cowbells of grazing herds: they call it a ‘quietcation’, and it is a holiday trend that focuses on wellbeing beyond spas and wellness centres, allowing you to truly switch off and immerse yourself in landscapes where nature once again sets the pace. Whilst Trentino-South Tyrol is leading the way, the Austrian Tyrol offers various interpretations of this way of travelling. In the Lechtal, for example, the so-called ‘Auszeitdörfer’, or ‘villages of respite’, steer clear of large tourist complexes and focus on footpaths winding through meadows and woods, streams that invite you to try the Kneipp method, and inns serving regional cuisine. In the Villgratental valley, in East Tyrol, it is the traditional timber architecture of the mountain huts and the alpine pastures that characterise an alpine landscape that has remained authentic – or almost so. A ‘quietcation’ in Tyrol also means indulging in Shinrin Yoku, or forest bathing – a sensory experience centred on listening to the natural surroundings. Activities in contact with nature and moments of total relaxation are also the hallmark of the Kufsteinerland, a tourist area in Tyrol that links the town of Kufstein with eight picturesque villages along the River Inn. Here, holidaymakers can enjoy walking in the Kaisertal, a valley accessible only via a flight of around 300 steps, and taking the historic single-seater Kaiserlift chairlift, which takes you to the swimming lakes of Thiersee, Hechtsee or Stimmersee, and to the Blaue Quelle in Erl, a spring that flows at a constant temperature of 8 °C. Rural culture, finally, offers visitors its most spectacular expression in the transhumance, which between September and October sees the return from the mountain pastures of herds adorned with flowers and cowbells, and celebrates this with a series of events beginning on 12 September and continuing throughout the month in various Tyrolean towns.
