This year's trip is a hiking holiday in the west Tirol region of Austria. On this page I share all my research and after the trip I will update with reviews and lessons learned.

Which Alps?

The Alps are a very large mountain range that reside in France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Austria and Lichtenstein.

At first we were planning to go to the French Alps because family members had spent a week there last summer and enjoyed a fabulous active holiday and had a great time. The resort they stayed in was called Les 2 Alpes and I was enticed by all the active pursuits available, but everything had a extra cost and with the current Euro exchange rates, the costs were mounting up as I made lists of things I wanted to do while there.

As I am also studying German, I tried looking for something similar in the German Alps without much luck. These sport resorts are ski resorts in winter and Germany didn't seem to have big summer programs.

Next I tried Austria and found exactly what I was looking for. The resort we selected in actually a trio of villages high in the Alps connected by a network of cablecars and chair lifts called Serfaus, Fiss and Ladis. This resort is just a bit west of Innsbruck and close to the borders with Italy and Switzerland and Germany.

On compelling reason for staying at this resort is the inclusive Super Sommer Card that every staying guest is given for free. This card allows you to ride all 7 cablecars and chairlifts for free, entitiles you to take up to 6 weekly guided hikes for free, free use of the hiking bus that goes between the 3 villages, and all the children's activities and attractions.

We explored every possible airport in the vicinity and the only option that worked for us was to fly into Munich and rent a car to drive the 3 hours to Serfaus. We wanted to fly direct and we also needed to fly to England before going home again. Innsbruck has flights to England in Winter, but nothing in the summer. Friedrichshafen on the Bodensee has flights, but nothing at the right time of day and not every day of the week. We managed to get a round trip ticket with United from Washington DC direct to Munich with the return leg from London to Washington. We then booked a one-way ticket on another airline from Munich to London.

We did look into other options such as flying into Zurich, but everything required complicated arrangements or layovers where luggage could be mislaid.

The only negative (having to rent a car) has since turned into a positive. Without the car we wouldn't be able to do the day trips I have listed on the bottom of this page. We will see much more as a result.

Staying there

There are hundreds of hotels, guest houses and pensions to choose from in these three villages. We had the following requirements:

• Half board (Breakfast and dinner included) with vegetarian options
• double room with balcony and shower
• Non smoking room or better yet, entire hotel
• TV, telephone

I narrowed the list down to 5 that all happened to be located in Serfaus. I emailed each to ask about availability and to confirm catering for vegetarians. The replies left me with 3 choices and we choose Hotel Barbara because it met all of our requirements plus there is food available to pack for a light lunch while hiking which means we really get full board if we want.

If you want to see all the available hotels, go here.

Update: Hotel Barbara exceeded our expectations. We loved Serfaus so much that we are already trying to figure out when we can go back and who we can take with us, and there will be no hotel search this time. I can't imagine how any place could improve on this hotel. Our room was beautiful, comfortable and had views of alps. The food was 4 star, plentiful and delicious. The amenities were wonderful as well from the Sauna and steam room to the sunny garden and daily cake and coffee.

Attractions and Activities

For a full list of all the things there are to see and do, go here. Below is a sampling of things we would be interested in doing while we are there. When I return, I will update this page to review each.

Update: I have commented below about the attractions we actually did in green.

• Ride the Fisser Flitzer toboggan - Fabulous. We rode 3 times each and still didn't tire of it. The 3-attraction ticket saves you money. Instead of 6 euros a go, it works out to 5 euros each. Hint: You have to get a number ticket and wait to see your number on a board. One afternoon the wait was 2 hours, but if you go when the open in the morning, there are no lines.
• Ride the Fisser Flieger - Cool. We are glad we rode the Flieger, but it wasn't as much fun as the Flitzer. I will do it again next time though.
• Ride the Skyswing - Tame. I rode this once. There was no wait and I actually rode alone. It was fun, but the main thrill is the anticipation before the first drop. If it was free, I would ride more. If I have to pay, I will save my money for the other two rides.
• Take one or more of the free guided mountain hikes - Fabulous. We took two guided hikes. The first was well labeled as to difficulty level. The second which included an Alpine Dairy tour, turned out to be very strenuous and I elected to only do the dairy tour. My husband did the whole thing and felt it was the hardest hike he's ever done. This one had no rating. In future, I will always look for ratings.
• Do one or more of the Mountain bike routes (bike rental option) Fabulous. Graham did a strenuous bike ride while I chose to go hiking. He loved it, but it would have been too hard for me. However, Bacher bike rental told us they run tours every day for every level. Next time we will book one of these to do together..
• Take a Segway tour - You have to try it!. We chickened out and decided to book the lesson and practice time (20 minutes total) before committing to a 2 hour tour. It was loads of fun and next time we will definitely do a tour.
• Take a rafting tour - Didn't do it. We were so busy doing the activities in Serfaus and Fiss, that we didn't even investigate this.
• Experience the Nature High Rope Park Didn't do it. We were so busy doing the activities in Serfaus and Fiss, that we didn't feel we had time for this, but I still want to try it.
• Do several of the self-guided hikes - Incredible. The entire region is crisscrossed with numbered, way-marked trails. I did two by myself and one with Graham. There are endless possibilities. Next time we plan to buy the more detailed trail book for 5.50 euros. We didn't know it was available until mid-week.
• Take the Naturthemenweg Fisser Gonde circular route and see the tree house - Graham liked it. He did this trail with the guide on our first day. He didn't see the treehouse, but liked the trail.
• Experience the Bergsommernacht - Incredible. For a mere 5 euros you get a fabulous night of entertainment with singers, dancers, acrobats, a laser show and fireworks. An option we might try next time is to take a guided hike down the mountain after the show with lanterns. We saw this tour from the cable car when we were riding down and it looked like fun.

Day Trips

On the way to Serfaus from Munich, we plan to make a stop in Ehrwald Austria and travel up to the top of Germany's highest Alp - the Zugspitze. A round trip ticket to the top with entrance to the museum and the "experience exhibit" is 33 Euros each. The cablecar ride up takes 10 minutes but the elevation change is 1750 m during the ride. It should be exhilerating.

It was cloudy. We rode up, toured the history museum and had lunch, but we had zero visibility. It was expensive and we probably would not do it again unless it was sunny.

During our stay in Serfaus, we plan to take a Day trip to Lindau Germany.

Didn't do it. We were so busy doing the activities in Serfaus and Fiss, that we didn't want to waste a day.

I would also love to visit Zammer Lochputz which is nearby in Landeck and only costs 3.50 Euros. It has suspension bridges, mysterious caves and waterfalls. The visit including the multi-media show takes 1.5 hours.

Other Essentials

Read the log of someone else who has already been there. Makes me wish I was there now.

Read my blog. I kept a log while in Serfaus and have posted it online. You can read my day-by-day account of our trip.