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Watch my vlog of this trip on Youtube here
Winter London has been a bit miserable recently. Everyone seems to have shifted into hibernation, trudging to and from work, and gladly sinking into the couch to watch telly each evening, in place of human interaction.
Life has become a bit of an endless routine of work for the sake of work of late. Naturally, the perfect solution was a long weekend break to somewhere beautiful to reignite my senses and get back in touch with nature. So I set of for Austria, Tyrol region to be specific, to visit Daniel and to be somewhere worthy of the cold temperatures.
Tickets to Innsbruck from London Gatwick were a very reasonable £60 return, flying with Easyjet. The trip in total cost me just over £300 for 4 days, but granted I did have free accommodation.
Setting off at 4.30am from London, I was in Austria by 10am. I had a few hours to myself in Innsbruck before my train, so I dropped my bag off at storage in the station and set off to delight in the picturesque streets of Innsbruck's old town. Surrounded by buildings of such beautiful hues, amazing Antique shops (where I almost spent €350 on a 16th century map...), reasonably priced souvenirs shops and coffee houses, I lost myself meandering from one street to the next, marvelling at the city's perfection. Climbing to the top of the city tower, I was rewarded with 360° panoramic views of Innsbruck's snow covered rooftops, flanked by towering mountains - reminding me that I was only a short gondola ride away from the nearest ski resorts.
After a small hiccup and my phone nearly dying, I made it to my first train from Innsbruck to Jenbach, then changed onto the Zillertalbahn (a train that resembles a snow plow) to Mayrhofen. From there it was a quick bus journey to Tux valley. I stayed in a wee village called Juns - a 7 minute bus ride from Lanersbach and also the Hintertux Glacier.
The valley is only about 15km (as the crow flies) from the top of Italy. Juns is about 1350m above sea level, so temperatures varied from -6 to -13°C. It got as cold as -21°c at the top of the glacier (though that was 3250m high), so a decent jacket and shoes were required!!
Here's what I got up to while I was there:
Skiing:
I hadn't been since I was 13, so was basically a complete beginner and a bit of a chicken, but had a great time regardless. We went skiing at Eggalm, Daniel works for Ski school Tux 3000, which are one of the best private schools around. A ski pass to use through the valley is €53 for the day, but this also got me all the way to the top of the glacier in no less than 3 separate gondala trips, which was a worthwhile experience in and of itself. I hired skis, helmet and boots from Intersport Nenner in Lanersbach.
Glacier walking tour (In the glacier ice palace):
Who would have thought you could do a tour INSIDE a glacier at 3250m high!! This was an amazing experience, walking through a maze of caves under 20m of thick glacial ice (that weighs up to 900kg per cubic meter!)
When weather permits you can also do a boat tour, kayaking, photo tours and even ice swimming and stand up paddle-boarding. One thing I will say is it's quite difficult to breathe at that altitude due to lower oxygen quantity, so you need to be physically able. It was next level cold with a wind chill of -25°c - but I'm generally more partial to warm weather, inside the glacier remains 0°c year round, which is quite cool.
The views from atop the glacier are absolutely next level! Overlooking the snowcapped peaks of the surrounding valleys. The glacier is the only place in Austria where you can ski 365 days a year.
Snow hiking:
We decided to head up to the mountain hut Höllensteinhütte ("hell stone hut") for dinner, taking the narrow tracks through the woods. Hiking from Juns to the hut took us about an hour, it was incredibly peaceful, and particularly special accompanied with a beautiful sunset. Proper snow hiking through deep snow can be done with snow shoes, which I had a go with another day, but lacked some coordination for (funny video on my Youtube channel).
Sledding:
From the mountain hut, for a reasonable €5 we hired a sledge to make our way 4km down the well lit road to Lanersbach. This can only be done at certain hours to make it safe for riders, hikers and cars.
Apres ski:
Essentially a daily post-ski party! The music at the huts is totally infectious, you can't help but dance along. Geri (one of Daniel's colleagues) is DJ at Hexenkessel in Vorderlanersbach. The party goes from 2-8pm each day which means plenty of recovery time before hitting the slopes the next day.
Bob sledding / saucer sleds:
The sports shop had plastic saucer sleds for €13, so we grabbed a couple and headed to a hill near Juns. I felt like a small child again, but it was so much fun! Sledding in the deep snow meant even a face plant didn't hurt at all.
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