The Tyrol, Austria — Bella Via Travels
Austria
The Tyrol
The heart of the Alps
The Tyrol is the Austria of the alpine imagination — a landscape of high peaks, flower-filled meadows, traditional farmhouses and a mountain culture that has been shaped by centuries of isolation and self-sufficiency.
Innsbruck is the capital — a city of extraordinary beauty, set in a bowl of mountains with the Nordkette rising directly above the old town. The Goldenes Dachl, the Hofburg and the Hofkirche are all within walking distance of each other, and the cable car to the Nordkette takes you from the city centre to 2,256 metres in twenty minutes.
The Otztal is the most dramatic of the Tyrolean valleys — a deep gorge running south from the Inn valley to the Otztaler Alps, with the Rettenbach and Tiefenbach glaciers at its head. Otzi the Iceman, found in the ice of the Similaun glacier in 1991, is now in the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano — but the landscape that preserved him for five thousand years is still there.
The Zillertal is the most musical of the Tyrolean valleys — a landscape of alpine meadows, traditional farmhouses and a folk music culture that has been producing extraordinary performances since the Rainer family toured Europe in the 1820s. Bella Via designs Tyrolean itineraries that combine the mountains with the culture and the extraordinary food of the region.
“Innsbruck at dusk, with the Nordkette lit by the last sun and the old town below — it is one of the great alpine city views in Europe.”
What to Expect
The Bella Via Experience in The Tyrol
Innsbruck
A city of extraordinary beauty in a bowl of mountains — the Goldenes Dachl, the Hofburg and a cable car to the Nordkette from the city centre.
The Otztal
A deep gorge running to the Otztaler Alps — glaciers, high-altitude walking and the landscape that preserved Otzi the Iceman for five thousand years.
The Zillertal
The most musical of the Tyrolean valleys — alpine meadows, traditional farmhouses and a folk music culture of extraordinary vitality.
Tyrolean Cuisine
Kaiserschmarrn, Tiroler Grostl, Speckknodel and Apfelstrudel — a mountain cuisine of extraordinary richness, built on the produce of the alpine farms.
Pertisau
A small village on the Achensee — the largest lake in the Tyrol — tucked between steep forested mountains on the water's edge. Quieter and less visited than the Salzkammergut lakes, with rowing boats for hire, walking trails above the treeline and a stillness that is increasingly rare in the Austrian Alps.
Seefeld
A high plateau village above Innsbruck at 1,200 metres, with a medieval pilgrimage church at its centre and one of the finest cross-country skiing landscapes in the Alps in winter. In summer the plateau opens into meadow walking country, with the Inn valley and the Karwendel mountains visible in every direction. Bella Via uses Seefeld as a base for guests who want the mountains without the crowds.
The Tyrol rewards those who arrive with time and leave with a deeper understanding of what alpine culture actually is. We will help you find the journey that does it justice.