Page 568 - Lonely Planet Europe’s Best Trips (Travel Guide)

TRIP HIGHLIGHT DETOUR:
a Silvretta High STUBAITAL
Alpine Road
Silhouetted by the Sil- Start: 9 Innsbruck (p565)
vretta range and crowned Slip out of sandals and into skis at year-round skiing
by the 3312m arrow of Piz magnet, Stubai Glacier. A one-day summer ski pass
Buin, the Montafon Valley (www.stubaier-gletscher.com) costs €43/21.50 per adult/
remains one of the most child and covers 26 lifts accessing 62km of slopes. Ski
serene and unspoilt in the or snowboard and boot rental costs around €30/15
Austrian Alps. per adult/child. Summer skiing is between 2900m
The 23km-long Sil- and 3300m and is dependent on weather conditions.
vretta High Alpine Road Lower down in the Stubai Valley, the
(www.silvretta-bielerhoehe. Wildewasserweg waterfall trail wends for 9.2km
at; car/motorcycle €15/12; (one way) to Sulzenau Glacier. En route, it passes
hearly Jun-late Oct) twists the spectacular Grawa falls; there’s a cafe with a
and turns beneath peaks panoramic viewing deck at its base.
rising to well over 2500m The Stubai Glacier is just 38km south of
before climbing over the Innsbruck. Take the A13 south to the toll gates (per
2036m Bielerhöhe Pass via car including passengers €3); keep right to take the
34 tight switchbacks. At B183 southwest along the valley.
AUSTRIA 39 GROSSGLOcKNER ROAD
the top of the pass, the Sil-
vretta Stausee (2030m),
an aquamarine reservoir, 19th-century cotton mill Germany, to the left,
mirrors the surrounding is the unlikely home of the Switzerland.
peaks on bright mornings. world’s largest collection A cable car (www.
of Rolls-Royces at the pfaenderbahn.at; Steinbruch-
The Drive » It’s 100km to Rolls-Royce Museum (www. gasse 4; one-way adult/child
Rappenlochschlucht. Continue rolls-royce-museum.at; Gütle 11a; €7.10/5.70, return €12.20/9.80;
on the B188 and join the A14 adult/child €9/4.50; h10am- h8am-7pm Dec-Oct) glides
at aromatic Bludenz. Continue
northwest to Dornbirn, from 6pm daily Jul & Aug, 10am-6pm up the Pfänder. At the
where Rappenlochschlucht is Tue-Sun Feb-Jun & Sep-Nov). top, a 30-minute circular
4km southeast on Gütlestrasse. The Drive » Return to trail brings you close to
Dornbirn and head north on the deer, wild boar, ibex and
whistling marmots at the
b Rappenloch- B190 for 16km to Bregenz. year-round Alpine Game
schlucht Park Pfänder (www.pfaender.
The Rappenlochschlucht c Bregenz at; Pfänder; hsunrise-sunset).
(Rappenloch Gorge; www. Bregenz sits on the shores Some 5km south of cen-
rappenlochschlucht.at) of Lake Constance (in Ger- tral Bregenz is the nature
was gouged out by the man, Bodensee), Europe’s reserve Rheindelta (www.
thundering Dornbirner third-largest lake. The rheindelta.org). Its mossy
Ache. From the car park, views here are extraor- marshes, reeds and wood-
there’s a 375m trail to the dinary: before you the lands attract more than
Staufensee, a turquoise mirror-like lake; behind 300 bird species, including
lake ringed by forest. you, 1064m-high mountain curlews, grey herons and
At the bottom of the the Pfänder, to the right, rare black-tailed godwits.
Rappenlochschlucht, a 54 p567

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