Summer family holiday in Kaprun Austria.
Once again we were tempted back to the
Austria-Holiday-Apartment in Kaprun for the third year in succession, which speaks
for itself!
Our two girls are now 6 and 8 years old and
we also brought along a set of grandparents too as we knew they’d love the
area, with the apartment being spacious enough to comfortably accommodate us
all.
We were all really excited at the prospect of
returning as we’d previously had two really good trips and knew that there was
plenty for us all to do, young and not so young.
This year we traveled to
Munich by Easyjet from Manchester the night before and stayed in the Novotel at
Munich airport – very impressed, felt like 5*, and for only €99 for a family
room with breakfast recommended! It was so comfortable we set off too late
and so arrived in Kaprun much later than planned. But the Holiday apartment looked great
again and on the girls made swift use of the garden and outdoor swing.
Dorffest Kaprun
Dorffest Kaprun
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| Dorffest Kaprun |
As the weather forecast was looking promising
for the week we decided to go for a ‘hike & swim’ card again, providing
access to the cable cars on the three mountains:- the Kitzsteinhorn, Schmittenhohe and Maiskogel plus the
indoor swimming pool & lido in Zell am See, which for 6 consecutive days was
approx €190 (2 adults and 1 child with 1 child free). This was ideal for us as
we wanted a mixture mountain and water activity.
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| Map plan of Zell am See - Kaprun lake and mountain areas |
We were fortunate enough to have sunshine for
the majority of our stay but on the one day of rain we were keen to visit the
new Tauern Spa Kaprun which opened in November 2010 – if its good enough for the Olympic downhill
gold medalist Lindsey Vonn and UEFA Champions League team Lyon then its
good enough for us!
For a family of 4 it cost €60 for the whole day (a 3 hour
pass was only marginally less at €52). We made good use of the multiple heated
indoor and outdoor pools, even in the rain! The girls loved the circular fast
‘lazy’ river and small slide and Emma especially liked the salt water pool. The
long water slide was fun, but mostly and scarily in total darkness, older kids
would love it though! Even though it
was very busy, there were enough loungers and parts of the complex to explore.
A neat touch was that the wristband provided on entry served to provide both
locker security and a cashless means of paying for food & drink in the
restaurant. You simply settle the bill on returning the wristband when you
leave. It’s definitely worth a visit.
Schmidolin's Feurtaufe
| Schmidolins Feurtaufe |
Later in the week we awoke in the apartment
to see clear blue sky over the stunning Kitzsteinhorn Peak World 3000 and decided it was to be
the day to make our first ever ascent of the glacier by the three cable cars.
The whole family took the trip and enjoyed the breathtaking views from the viewing
platform at 3029m. It was almost t-shirt weather but we had come appropriately
prepared to go tobogganing at the ice arena
and so we left granny & grandpa enjoying a coffee and taking in the scenery
from the restaurant. The sledging was nothing short of fantastic fun for
everyone, here’s our Youtube clip to prove it.
The young boy in me found it exciting to sit in the cab of a Pisten-Bully
machine, just wished I could have driven it! There was something to do for
everyone up there, so would recommend exploring the Kitzsteinhorn website for
more detail.
We eventually made our way back down the
mountain and after completing our descent back down we visited the memorial to
the 155 people that lost their lives in the funicular tunnel fire disaster of 11.11.2000 how sad. The tunnel is no longer in use and access to the glacier is now via two ski lifts.
Alpine Roller Coaster in Kaprun
Alpine Roller Coaster in Kaprun
| Maisiflitzter in Kaprun |
We also tried out the Maisiflitzer alpine coaster this is a new installation in Kaprun where you sit securely in a two-seater sled and are pulled up the ski slope for 700m which with a few bumps and turns runs back down the ski slope on tracks for 1.3km. It takes about 12 mins from start to finish but you can control how fast you descend. We bought a family ticket for €23 for one run down and thought it was great! Older children might like to do this more than once though so its worth considering a 3 run ticket for €60. An added attraction was the bouncy castle, play park, animals and café at the base station.
When we weren’t up in the mountains we
generally spent the rest of our time at the Zell am See lido, playing in the
pool/water slide and also swimming to the pontoons in the clear fresh waters of
lake Zell. Maybe some day we will visit the pool at Niedersill which has come highly recommended to us, we just can’t seem to tear ourselves away from Zell am
See, probably because we make daily visit to the café’s and ice cream stalls!
The last new thing we did was to take a
pedalo on the lake, which we had for just under an hour for €14. I rather
enjoyed our girls doing some of the work (their choice!) and it was nice to get
a new perspective on the surrounding landscape. Whilst messing about in the
middle of the lake a drama unfolded as the rope at the front was used for
fishing (don’t ask!) and this got caught around the paddle underneath,
rendering the peddles totally useless. After much pulling we managed to free it
just about enough to make our return to shore, phew! Time for another
ice-cream!
Anyway all in all it was another fantastic
holiday, probably the best there yet! The region in my opinion has to be up
there with the best in Europe when the weather is good. It offers so much for
everyone. Thanks again to the Housley's for use of their apartment, we can’t fault
it!
Many thanks
J and E
Update we actually stayed again in the area in the same apartment click on the Link for further family holiday excursion ideas.
Looking for somewhere to stay for 3-9 people? With the benefit of three bedrooms and three bath / shower rooms. For further information please see www.austria-holiday-apartment.com
| View from the Apartment where we stayed of the Kitzsteinhorn |
