European Trip - Day 16

We left the camp site in the morning, and went for some shopping at Lidl. We then carried on for quite a long way west, past Innsbruck and into the Upper Inn Valley.

This is an area we've been to before, having gone on a Ramblers Holiday to Ladis in 2013. This time we went to the Aktiv Camping site in the village of Prutz, which is at the bottom of the valley, next to the River Inn. Reception was closed but there was a sign saying new arrivals could just choose a pitch, so we did so.

Later we went to check in, it works out at 58 euros per night including EHU, showers and tourist tax.

The Summer Card that comes with the camp site gives you free travel on local buses, so we walked into the village to check the bus timetable. By this time it was getting quite cloudy and windy.

We decided not to have a barbecue because of the weather so for dinner we had tuna salad with new potatoes and pickled red cabbage. This turned out to be a good idea because we had big thunder and lightning storms in the evening.

European Trip - Day 15

Today we went to the Schlegeiss reservoir, which is in the most spectacular of the three valleys to the south of Mayrhofen. For flexibility we decided to drive there in the campervan rather than take the bus.

From past experience we suspected it would be a toll road, but as we approached we saw some "no campervans" signs so we weren't 100% sure we'd be able to get there.

However when we reached the toll gate it turned out they just meant no camping. It did cost us 25 euros to get through though.

Once we got to the reservoir we parked in one of the large car parks there, it's a very popular place.

We did the most popular walk here, which is to go steeply up to the Olperhutte mountain hut, then visit the spectacularly sited suspension bridge.

The path goes basically straight up from the reservoir level at 1800 metres to the hut at 2400 metres. In the heat it was pretty tough.

The path was busy, and lots of people were congregating at the hut when we got there.

After sitting to have our lunch we made our way over to the bridge. This is suspended high over a stream with views down to the reservoir, and seems to be the main reason why so many people come here. You had to wait in a queue for your turn for an "Instagram moment".

After this, rather than simply walk back down the same way, we did a circular walk round into the next valley and then down. This path was much more peaceful.

Oscar enjoyed a roll in a patch of snow to cool down.

For the descent it initially looked like it might be quite pleasant, but further on it became an awkward rocky path that seemed to go on for ages.

We got down eventually though, and went for a short walk to the side of the reservoir before having a drink at a mountain hut.

The walk was 11 km with 790 metres of ascent.

We drove back to the camp site, and later had a barbecue of marinated pork, courgette, tomatoes and new potatoes.

European Trip - Day 14

We decided to go to one of the other valleys today, the upper Ziller Valley dammed by the Zillergrundl dam. This is the river that gives its name to the area, the Zillertal Alps.

We caught a service bus there from the bus stop just outside the site, next to some goats.

It cost 17 euros each which we thought was quite expensive, but it did take nearly an hour to get there.

Once there we walked along the side of the reservoir, firstly by going through a tunnel.

Then by a path that wasn't very flat, it had a lot of steep ascents and descents.

We met some donkeys on the way.

At the far end is a mountain hut called Little Tibet, with lots of Tibetan themed flags etc.

After sitting for our lunch there, we walked back to the dam. Rather than simply catching the bus from there, we decided to walk down below the dam to meet it at the next mountain hut. This entailed an extra descent of about 400 metres.

The total walk was 12 km with 190 metres of ascent and 600 metres of descent.

Back at the site it was still very hot, so we went to use the camp site swimming pool. It wasn't heated but it was very refreshing once you got in.

For dinner we had a barbecue of marinated chicken, courgette, pepper, sweet potato and new potatoes.

European Trip - Day 13

We walked directly from the camp site today, first having a look round Mayrhofen itself. It looks like quite a nice little town, if a little touristy.

We went to tourist information to see if we could find information about walks in the area. Other than the skiing area which you get to by cable car, it seems the main features are 3 separate valleys to the south, all with reservoirs in them.

We decided to walk to the nearest one, the Stillup reservoir.

To start with it was quite tedious, on the fairly busy road through forests with no views, for quite a few miles. Fortunately as we got nearer the reservoir it opened up and became a lot nicer walking.

While walking up the road we had been passed by Hiker Buses, these were obviously a better idea than walking up the boring bit of the road. We decided to investigate whether we could take one back down at the end of the day, which would allow us to spend more time in the hills.

We arrived at the reservoir, where there was a busy car park and a mountain hut/restaurant. We stopped by the waters edge to have our lunch. We also found the bus stop and timetable for the Hiker Bus for our return journey, 6 euros each one way.

We followed the path beside the reservoir to the far end. It was pretty hot and Oscar appreciated a swim to cool down.

Beyond the end was a path called the Waterfall Way, so we went up that for about another 4 km.

We then returned to the bus stop and waited for the 4pm bus, which was much better than walking back down the road.

Our walk was 22 km with 660 metres of ascent.

We had a beer in a bar in Mayrhofen, then walked back along to the camp site. After showering we had an early dinner blue cheese and walnut salad, then left Oscar in the campervan to go and find some live music in town that we'd seen advertised.

This turned out to be a bit too touristy, a band playing cheesy old chart covers.

We stayed for one drink then left to see if anything else was on in town. We didn't find anything so had another drink in a bar and went home.

European Trip - Day 12

We left the Zell Am See site and headed west towards Mayrhofen. On the way we stopped to visit the Krimml waterfalls, the highest waterfall in Austria.

Once we found the campervan car park, we set off for a walk. The waterfall has various stages, with many viewpoints available as you walk up the side, quite steeply at times.

We reached the top where there's a bridge across the river.

We then headed back down. On the way the heavens opened and we were caught in a heavy shower without waterproofs. However it didn't last all that long, and by the time we got back the sun had come back out and mostly dried us out.

We walked about 8 km with 420 metres of ascent.

We left Krimml and drove to Mayrhofen using the most direct route, the Gerlos Pass. What we didn't expect was that there was a 12.50 euro toll for using the road. It's difficult to get Google Maps satnav to avoid toll roads like these since all motorways in Austria are officially toll roads anyway, and we'd paid for a vignette for them.

Anyway, we arrived at our next site, Campingplatz Mayrhofen and checked in. It worked out at 51 euros per night including EHU, showers and tourist taxes. It also has a swimming pool.

It's well positioned, just a 10 minute walk from the town. However we didn't venture in today, it started raining heavily and we had thunder and lightning for a couple of hours.

For dinner we had tuna salad with beetroot, cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce and new potatoes.