Summer Holiday in Austria -Kaprun and Zell am See

My husband , two older  teenagers and myself  flew to Munich airport and hired a car and drove to Kaprun in Austria, near to Zell am See for a 10 day holiday, in the Alps.  We had wonderful sunny weather and so for the first day, after visiting the tourist information office in Kaprun,  we  went to a lovely swimming lake at Niedersill between Mittersill and Piesendorf.  Here the grassy banks run down into the lake, and there are trees for shade and a sweet little cafe where we had a snack. In the centre of the lake is a fountain which pumped water up about 50 metres. The lake was delightful and the scenery was fantastic. I think this was much more fun than a beach swim, being able to swim and mountain watch at the same time was wonderful. 

The  lake  at  Niedersill

The following day we brought a 6 day a swim and lift  pass, which covers the area of Zell am See and Kaprun which enabled free ravel on the cable cars in the area and also swimming lakes and can be used on buses as well.  We went up into to the Tauern mountains, on the Kitzsteinhorn. Looking down from the ski lift we saw our first Marmot. Later on the nature trails we learnt  that baby Marmots are called monkeys and adult females "Cats" and adult males "Bears". Also that they are hunted for the medicinal value in the creation of ointments.




We have been swimming at Optimum Kaprun baths which is lovely but apparently going to partially close when the new Tauern Spa Kaprun opens between Zell am See and Kaprun in November this year (2010). Later in the holiday we hired cycles,   and went close past the location of the new spa, and it is in a stunning location in the valley bottom surrounded by mountains.

In the evenings we have entertained ourselves by going to a European Ice Hockey match in Zell Am See, watching Salzburg Red Bull play  a team from Switzerland. The score was 4 to 2, and it was a very exciting and fast moving game - but we gave up trying to work out all the complex rules involved. That same evening a  Wednesday we went into Zell am See centre where there is a festival on the streets every week and we watched large good natured crowds milling around listen to various musicians / bands playing a range of different music, throughout the town centre. It was all very lively and uplifting.

On Thursday  after another walk in the mountains,  at night we went to the Porche Congress conference centre in Zell am See to watch an Austrian Folk evening which included songs, dances, cow bells and the typical Austrian horn. We all ended up being dragged on stage to dance or yodel!!  It was highly entertaining and good value at 36 Euros for 4 of us. They served drinks at your table during the evening and it lasted about 1.5 hours.

Another day we hired bicycles from Kaprun for 52 Euros for 4 of us  and took them up the Maisikogel, lift, we had to pay another 2 euros for the transport of each bike, on top of the 6 day  lift passes we had.  We then cycled down the cycle route into Kaprun which was really fun. As I am not an experienced cyclist this was an easy route and enabled us to have a peaceful cycle stopping half way to a packed lunch, even though there were two mountain restaurants we could have stopped at.

Kaprun Austria holiday Apartment where we stayed

This is the view from the Austria holiday apartmentt garden where we where we stayed, we could clearly see the Kitzsteinhorn glacier.

Overall we had a great time and there is lots to see and in and around the area  for all  ages, our teenage children even said they would like to come back!!