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Three days and nights in Tirol (Innsbruck, Zillertal) in mid-October

Posted by (La Center, WA) on

I would love some advice from experienced travelers about where to stay for three nights in the Austrian Tirol area in mid-October. My wife and I will be about halfway through our first trip to Europe. We will be coming from a stay in Rothenburg on der Tauber and eventually headed for two nights in the Val Gardena/Alpe di Siusi area, but have three nights in between those destinations.

We will have a car. We lean toward spending all three nights in one place as a base, but that's not a deal breaker. We also prefer a smaller guesthouse type experience to anything larger or more resort-like. We would like to spend at least one day hiking (we are both fit enough for strenuous routes), make a stop or two at a mountain hut for lunch and/or beer, maybe drive the Zillertal High Road, see Ehrenburg Castle in Reutte, and visit any other recommended spots. We realize we are near the end of the season for many of the lifts and huts in the Zillertal area especially, and weather could affect our plans, but it seems there is still plenty to do there and that's where we are currently leaning. We have looked at Reutte, Innsbruck, Hall, Alpbach, Zillertal and other towns in the area as possible places to call a base for three nights. The driving distances are short enough that we could cover quite a bit of ground from most of those places.

Any thoughts out there on where we should think about staying and places or activities to include in our plans?

Any ideas much appreciated by two rookies to international travel!

Posted by
1746 posts

Writing these lines from Igls, that is a mountain village but close enough to Innsbruck to be in town in 15 minutes driving. Looks to me a convenient location. Not sure mid-October is a good time for hiking.

Posted by
631 posts

Zillertal has plenty of places to stay, have you gone through this site?

https://www.zillertal.at/en/tips/summer/hiking.html

I've visited the area in October and the weather was better than they'd had during some summer weeks. But mornings may start misty and it will go dark earlier than summer (which will affect operating times of lifts).

Important thing to note, assuming your car is german registered, Austrian autobahns are toll roads but in most cases this is paid for by buying a windscreen sticker (Vignette) for a period of time. German hire cars will not have this. For your plans it is possible to avoid autobahns but since a 10 day sticker would suffice it may be worth investing €8,90 ! https://www.asfinag.at/toll/toll-sticker/

The sticker does not cover the Innsbruck-Brenner autobahn to the Italian border which still has toll booths - and the Itailan side has it's own tolls to pay. This would be the fastest route - and the most awful! Convoys of trucks interspersed by high speed German and Italian cars in a narrow valley. Since Val Gardena are quite close and you seem to enjoy a good road, go the eastern route. This will take longer but is a nice drive. Head east from Zell in Ziller on road 165 to Mittersill and then take the Felbertauern road (108) south http://www.felbertauernstrasse.at/en/ this also has a toll through the summit tunnel but you'd be saving the cost of the Brennerautobahn. For this route Google Maps actually suggests the road via the Staller Pass but this can be challenging in poor weather, the alternative is obvious, just head for the outskirts of Lienz and head west on route 100. Whichever you take, you reach Val Gardena from St Lorenzen just west of Bruneck, signposted Corvara.

Posted by
1746 posts

I remember the Staller Pass road being so narrow that the traffic has to be regulated - half an hour northbound, half an hour southbound. The road is also closed by night - and of course as soon as the first snow falls, the pass gets closed to the next summer.

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