Holiday Road Trip in Austria
Skiing in St Anton
Austria has some of the best skiing destinations in Europe. Beautiful mountains and villages, friendly people, huge and nice ski resorts, and the best après ski spots. St Anton is one of my favorites - only 2 hours from Zurich. And what better time to go to the mountains and go skiing than the Christmas holidays?
Christmas in the mountains is more of a family affair and less of an après ski week. But with Riley this year it was perfect. Our hotel hosts from Hotel Montfort were amazing and even left Riley a Christmas present. They made the holiday feel even more warm and special.
They also recommended Merinannies for Riley since he was too young for a kids club. He loved his nanny and we got a chance to ski and enjoy being out on the mountain. They even do evenings so we could get at least one dinner out. Living away from family and not having regular babysitters, I cant tell you enough how much we loved this. It was so refreshing.
Unfortunately for us, the snow just isn't showing up this season but at least the sun did. We skied a couple of days but also just enjoyed coffees and champagnes (ok beer for Jared) in the sun on the mountain and then afternoons at the après ski. Riley enjoyed the town pool and did meet us for lunch by the slope one day where he got his first chance to play in the snow. But mostly he enjoyed the nanny and his new Christmas toys in our little studio apartment.
Salzburg
I am not a Sound of Music fan and that is all I really knew about Salzburg. That and the fact that all my friends say there is not much to do there. But we need to break up our trip from St Anton to Vienna and it was a good stopping point. And with Riley, we wanted to take it slow so we decided to stay for a few days. It was well worth it. Sometimes I find with low expectations comes big surprises.
The town was cute and I loved that you could stroll through small passages to get through the walls of the old town. They also still had the Christmas markets on for a day which led to the atmosphere. Since we had a few days there was no hurrying around. We brunched, we strolled, we shopped. Of course we say the castle. And my favourite was the Augustiner brewery still with its traditional mugs and kegs, food stalls and stammtisch. The locals crowd in right at 3pm opening time so it pays to get there then but it makes for a great afternoon.
Hallstatt
The Austrian lakes are supposed to be beautiful and they are - a bit like the Italian lakes but more alpine. Winter may not be the time to visit but it was a worthwhile lunch stop on our way through. Halstatt is the typical stop and it really is gorgeous.
Bratislava, Slovenia
We have been to Vienna before so this time we were looking for other things to do. Did you know Bratislava (the capital of Slovenia) is only an hour train ride away? So we figured, why not? Not a usual destination you would go out of your way to see. Its small with a quaint little old town 15 minutes walk from the train station and good cafes. A good afternoon.
Vienna
Vienna was our ultimate destination for New Years. And while nothing will ever compare to New Years in Sydney, it was pretty good. The old town is full of gluhwein stalls and concerts in the squares. We started early in the afternoon until late evening. Then we headed in to our hotel room where we had spent extra to have a view for the night with some friends. We order room service, drank champagne and enjoyed the view of fireworks going off across the city.
Austria has some of the best skiing destinations in Europe. Beautiful mountains and villages, friendly people, huge and nice ski resorts, and the best après ski spots. St Anton is one of my favorites - only 2 hours from Zurich. And what better time to go to the mountains and go skiing than the Christmas holidays?
Christmas in the mountains is more of a family affair and less of an après ski week. But with Riley this year it was perfect. Our hotel hosts from Hotel Montfort were amazing and even left Riley a Christmas present. They made the holiday feel even more warm and special.
They also recommended Merinannies for Riley since he was too young for a kids club. He loved his nanny and we got a chance to ski and enjoy being out on the mountain. They even do evenings so we could get at least one dinner out. Living away from family and not having regular babysitters, I cant tell you enough how much we loved this. It was so refreshing.
Unfortunately for us, the snow just isn't showing up this season but at least the sun did. We skied a couple of days but also just enjoyed coffees and champagnes (ok beer for Jared) in the sun on the mountain and then afternoons at the après ski. Riley enjoyed the town pool and did meet us for lunch by the slope one day where he got his first chance to play in the snow. But mostly he enjoyed the nanny and his new Christmas toys in our little studio apartment.
Salzburg
I am not a Sound of Music fan and that is all I really knew about Salzburg. That and the fact that all my friends say there is not much to do there. But we need to break up our trip from St Anton to Vienna and it was a good stopping point. And with Riley, we wanted to take it slow so we decided to stay for a few days. It was well worth it. Sometimes I find with low expectations comes big surprises.
The town was cute and I loved that you could stroll through small passages to get through the walls of the old town. They also still had the Christmas markets on for a day which led to the atmosphere. Since we had a few days there was no hurrying around. We brunched, we strolled, we shopped. Of course we say the castle. And my favourite was the Augustiner brewery still with its traditional mugs and kegs, food stalls and stammtisch. The locals crowd in right at 3pm opening time so it pays to get there then but it makes for a great afternoon.
Hallstatt
The Austrian lakes are supposed to be beautiful and they are - a bit like the Italian lakes but more alpine. Winter may not be the time to visit but it was a worthwhile lunch stop on our way through. Halstatt is the typical stop and it really is gorgeous.
Bratislava, Slovenia
We have been to Vienna before so this time we were looking for other things to do. Did you know Bratislava (the capital of Slovenia) is only an hour train ride away? So we figured, why not? Not a usual destination you would go out of your way to see. Its small with a quaint little old town 15 minutes walk from the train station and good cafes. A good afternoon.
Vienna
Vienna was our ultimate destination for New Years. And while nothing will ever compare to New Years in Sydney, it was pretty good. The old town is full of gluhwein stalls and concerts in the squares. We started early in the afternoon until late evening. Then we headed in to our hotel room where we had spent extra to have a view for the night with some friends. We order room service, drank champagne and enjoyed the view of fireworks going off across the city.
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