Tandem Paragliding Suggestions?

Diane, I went Tandem Paragliding in the Berner Oberland just above Mürren a few years ago, and it was fantastic!!! I'd have to check my notes for the price, but the flight was about 20-minutes, with landing in Stechelberg. At that time, flights were also being offered from the Schilthorn from 10K feet, but of course those were longer and more expensive. Paragliding was also available from Interlaken as I recall. I don't have any information on locations in Austria. Happy travels!

Hi Diane, I'm one of the regional officials of the US Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association up in Oregon. There's a lot of flying in Europe, including all of the areas you're talking about visiting. I was in Switzerland last December and saw a tandem paragliding operation in Interlaken. It was a Christmas tour with my mom, so I didn't bring my wing. :-) One of the places you might want to fly in Germany is at Tegelberg, the mountain that sits above Schwangau and the castle of Neuschwanstein, famed of Mad King Ludwig. I'm hoping to visit there and fly that site this summer. There's a cable car to the top, a restaurant with an observation deck, and a couple of very nice looking launches. Since there are so many options, what might work best is to drop me a note with more details about where and when you'll be, and I can ping a few of the pilots I know in Europe and here, and ask them for their advice. If you're seriously interested in some flying, you might hook up with some local pilots for a few days...you might end up with a place to stay and several flights, in return for driving the car down from the top a few times. We always are happy to find drivers. :-) There's some tow-launched flying in Texas too, in case that interests you. If you want more info, visit the USHPA website at www.ushpa.aero and click on the "Learn to Fly" button. Cheers! Mark G. Forbes USHPA regional director and treasurer
Corvallis, Oregon

Wow Mark! How exciting to get a reply from you-thank you so much for taking your time to do so! Unfortunately, we've just recently decided we're going back to Europe-and that tandem paragliding is one thing we're DEFINITELY going to do. We're not even sure yet of "when". I'm thinking Oct. of 2013-but we're still not positive with that date. If not, it will probably be April of 2014-but we don't want to wait that long:) We'd like to start the vacation with the tandem paragliding. That way, if the weather doesn't cooperate, we can reschedule later in the trip. But we really haven't mapped anything out yetSO much research yet to do! I'm also seeing which country may be the least expensive to fly into-haven't looked into that either. That may be the deciding factor of where we decide to paraglide. What I'm going to do is keep your information on file. When we get a few more details, I'll write you again for some advice (or please feel free to send anything now you think I might want to know!!) Again, thanks so much for your response. I'm pretty blown away by it, actually! Please feel free to keep in touch.
Diane

I have been researching paragliding too! Looks like such a thrill! We are going to Germany, so that is the area that I have researched. Google Paraworth Tandem Paragliding. This company had great reviews on tripadvisor. This is the Tegelberg Gondala. I think that I read that they have other places near Munich area too.
Good Luck and Safe Travels!

Hi Tami, Thanks for the tip---I'll definitely check out Paraworth Tandem Paragliding! We plan to visit Germany also so starting off there is certainly another option. So far, I've found "Skyclub Austria" in my researching. Sometimes you can't see prices as the sites are in another language. I've written to the Austria Chamber of Commerce and am waiting for their response on suggestions; however, not sure if they can understand my English-written letter:) And TripAdvisor is the best, isn't it? Last year my husband and I visited New England and TripAdvisor never steered us wrong. Happy travels to you also!
Diane

My daughters (20+) decided they wanted to tandem paraglide in Tegelburg last month. The guides were excellent. We got to the starting point and they spent some time explaining everything and then watched some others take off until their turns. Unfortunately just as it was time for the first one to go (standing right at the edge to go) the winds changed and the guides immediately stopped to monitor the situation. They waited close to an hour for the situation to change but the weather got worse and eventually the girls were cancelled. Very disappointing for them, but I was very pleased with the company overall, how they continually monitored the weather and the staff was great. The staff were very patient waiting out the weather for some time instead of giving up immediately. I'd definitely recommend the location for your trip and a beautiful area to paraglide as well.