Austrian Tirol

Chris, you can't really go wrong in the Tyrol in my experience. I cannot give you specific place names as|I have only ever stayed in Innsbruck which I see you would prefer not to do. The whole area is beautiful - you could pretty well just put a pin in a map. Why not email tourist information in Innsbruck and ask their advice, explaining to them exactly the sort of thing you are looking for. They will almost certainly speak English.

Tirol is a pretty big district. There's plenty of really cute towns to stay in. Look at the big ski areas, they are usually open during the summer and have the gondolas in place to get up the mtns during summer for hiking and sight seeing. East of Innsbruck look at the Kitzbuhel area or St. Johann in Tirol. West of Innsbruck I highly recommend Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis towns or Ischgl. Just outside of the Tirol borders west of Innsbruck is Lech/Zurs area, another nice area. Most of these towns have accomodations ranging from farmstays/hostels to really luxurious 5 star hotels.

I can't say it's centrally located, but it is in the rural countryside about 50 km from Innsbruck. We stayed Gastehaus Bergland in the small village of Finkenberg. Very close to Mayrhofen with lots of places to eat and shop. Gastehaus Bergland is a great B&B on a steep hillside above the village, with views overlooking the valley and mountians beyond. A great find. Here's a link. http://www.gaestehaus-bergland.at/en/start.html You can read about our stay there on my blog at: http://gassawaysadventures.blogspot.com/2010/05/its-not-raining-its-snowing.html

Just a few kilometers east of Innsbruck is the lovely town of Hall in Tirol. We stayed at the Gasthof Badl right on the Inn River. Hall was a wealthy salt town so the old town has some lovely buildings and churches. We have also stayed on the Achensee in the town of Maurach. Beautiful area. The town of Pertisau is a bit larger and is just a few kilometers away. Many nice hotels in the area. We stayed at the Vier Jahreszeiten Hotel. It is a spa hotel with a great restaurant.

In 2009, I spent the night in Hall, thinking that it would be an economical alternative to Innsbruck. I was sorely disappointed. (The cost was good, but I didn't particularly like the town). This (Seefeld) might not be a good alternative, because it's on the rail line to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, out of the Tirol, but when I stayed in Mittenwald later in the week, I took the rail line back towards Innsbruck, to Seefeld, spent an hour, then headed back to Garmisch. Seefeld is the high point on the line from Germany to Austria. It's a real small town, but up in the mountains (if you want the Tirol experience) and very pretty.

We have stayed at two beautiful small towns a few
kilometers out of Innsbruck. One was Matrei at both the Hotel Stoltz and Hotel Park in 2008. The other was Steinach which has several nice hotels. We prefer the Hotel Steinach spending a week there last summer.

Chris, I spent a few days in St. Anton am Arlberg, and LOVED it. It has a reputation of being a somewhat "ritzy" ski resort town that attracts celebrities, but I stayed at an excellent, small, affordable and comfortable pension, so my lodging costs were actually pretty reasonable. The village itself is very pretty and pleasent, and you take the cable car up (leaves from center of town) to head into the moutains. Gateway to endless alpine/hiking opportunities. Spectacular stuff. Link to pension (Pension Juen Richard): http://www.stantonamarlberg.com/en/sommer/unterkuenfte/accommodation-list.html The owners couldn't be nicer/more accomodating, bfast each AM was excellent and my comfortable room had a balcony, gorgeous mtn views and was beyond spotless (as was the entire place). It's on slight hill, up from center of town, so it's super quiet at night (but is just a few min walk into town). And, despite its reputation, many affordable restaurant choices in town, too. From St. Anton, it's very easy to go into St. Jakob and St. Christoph, 2 neigboring, smaller mountain villages. If you end up here, you won't be disappointed. Good luck w/ the travel planning.

Hi Chris, My recommendations were already stated by Dana and Betty. We've stayed at the Gasthof Badl in Hall in Tirol (6 miles from Innsbruck) on 4 seperate trips. Love the place, the people, location, views, well... everything about it. The old town of Hall in Tirol is one of our favorites. www.badl.at We also stayed at the Gaestehaus Bergland in Finkenberg (Zillertal). Wonderful place, simply awesome scenery and views. The best views we've had out of any place we've stayed in Austria, Bavaria or the Dolomites. Mayrhofen is close by as is Zell am Ziller. www.gaestehaus-bergland.at/en/start.html We have photo's at: www.worldisround.com/home/pja1/index.html Paul

I'm dating myself here, but I'll go on anyways. After my soph year in high school, I sent a wonderful six weeks of study/trvel in Seefeld in Tirol. At the time it was a relativley sleeepy litle village of quaint shops and warm Gasthauser. I returned in Fall of 2009 for brief visit. It was much mor ecommericlaized, but still avery attractive village, with many more amenities for visitors.
We even stopped by Haus Geiger which was our home for the six weeks in 1966, still there and as charming as ever, but much more modern.

We stayed in Oetz for several days in 2008. It's located in the Oztal Valley, about 1 hours west of Innsbruck. We explored the entire valley and made a number of hikes in various parts. We loved it. I don't think you can go wrong with any place you choose.

Not far from Innsbruck, Zell Am Ziller and Achensee. Two beautful small towns with quite a few zimmers to stay in overnight. I'd suggest taking a lift and hiking to top of mtns...gorgeous views, bring picnic lunch and chill your wine in one of the many small streams along the way. There was also a place at the top that served fresh goat cheese, bread and wine among other snacks!