As you might have noticed, we have not been to SouthEastAsia this summer. Because of the ongoing global pandemic, we cancelled our existing bookings and changed travel plans towards a road trip crossing the alps from our hometown Ulm towards Venice, Italy.

Our first stop on our road trip was Sölden, (gifted by our families) we spent 4 days 3 nights in the valley Patrick used to learn skiing from the age of 3 years old on and had winter holiday for over 17 years. In 2017 we already visited Sölden for 5 days to do hiking and explored the beauty of the hidden paths, if you walk away from the ski resort. This year’s stay in Sölden was meant to be the beginning of intense 8 days hiking in Austrian Alps and South Tyrol Dolomites.

Activities

Hiking

Hiking – If you leave the ski resort, enter the valleys or the mountains on the opposite side of Sölden ski resort. You will find a huge variety of trails with nature that will keep you speechless.

We will present you 3 hikes, which we have done during this and the last stay. We use the professional version of the iPhone App (Bergfex – Anzeige: selbstbezahlte Werbung):

Tour 1 was a wonderful hike which starts with a nice walk at Lochle Alm (which you reach with an official hiker bus) in the beautiful „Windach Tal“. After about 500 Meter, you cross the Windach and start the hike to the „Weisskarsee“. Through a beautiful forest you get to the plateau beneath the „Brunnenkogel“. From there on the more interesting part of the hike starts, over a scree field, you reach the „Weisskarsee“. On your way back the trails tends to get steep during the descent, stay conscious and safe. Our physicalflashpacking estimated difficulty level: Medium

Tour 2 starts at Grüner’s Alpengasthof with a walk through Sölden in direction of Giggijoch cable car. After a short ride to the top, the hike starts with a medium steep descent towards Hochsölden. From Hochsölden you have to hike in direction out of the valley towards „Perler See“. The „Perler See“ is a small alpin lake where you can have a lunch break all alone. After the lunch break and an approx. 800m descent, you can return to Sölden and Außerwald with an approx. 2,5h hike. Our physicalflashpacking estimated difficulty level: Easy to Medium.

Tour 3: You leave the intermittent station of Gaislachkogelbahn and head towards the Rettenbachtal, at Rettenbachalm you start a steep hike up till Rotkogelhütte, leaving this nice alpine hut untouched and head through the small valley towards Schwarzsee. The way back to Giggijochbahn is not steep und easy to do, it crosses the ski resort. Our physicalflashpacking estimated difficulty level: Overall: Easy, but the hike from Rettenbachalm to Rotkogelhütte definitely: Medium.

Other Activities:

Besides Hiking there are different other activities, which can be done @Sölden. During summer, Sölden is famous for the Bikerepublic, a mountainbike terrain throug-out the skiing area. In Längenfeld you can find the Aquadome, a large thermal bath. On the Oetz, the name giving river of the Ötztal, you can do lots of water sports, like rafting, kayaking.

Accommodation

Grüner’s Alpengasthof (https://gruener-soelden.com/) – During Patrick’s skiing trips to Sölden, he used to visit Grüner’s mainly for dinner, but always was fascinated by the hospitality of the house. Since returning to Sölden, we really like the warmth of all the staff and especially Matthias Grüner and his brother Peter Grüner. In summer one of the highlights is definitely the swimming pond in a beautiful garden and the breakfast, with a huge variety of local goods and fresh, healthy food. The rooms are spacious and the new rooms are really modern.

Food

Grüner’s Wirtshaus (https://gruener-soelden.com/grueners-wirtshaus/) is a typical Tyrolian „Gasthaus“, with lots of local dishes but also plenty of barbecue dishes. Since years one of the highlights is definitely the calf „Cordon Bleu“, which is simply amazing.

Jati – Restaurant & Craft Beer (https://www.jati.at/) – decent burger, bowls and snacks. A good assorted stock of different craft beers and drinks. We tried the burgers and the bowls – we were really satisfied.

Summary

We hope we can convince you, that Sölden is not only a winter holiday location, but also is attractive during summer season.

So long,

P.