AUSTRIA – A WINTER WONDERLAND FOR FAMILIES

Voralberg, the westernmost Austrian province, is a small region sandwiched between Germany and Switzerland not yet ravaged by commercial tourism. The scenery is dramatically diverse and from the vast plain of Lake Constance the landscapes lead to Mediterranean type gardens in the Rheintal valley, along the shores of Lake Constance and into the lower regions of the Bregenzerwald. Mass tourism is unknown in this beautiful, undiscovered part of Austria.

Family-friendliness is a hallmark of holidays in Vorarlberg and twenty-eight hotels and restaurants together with the resorts of Au, Schoppernau, Brand, Lech-Zürs, Schruns/Tschagguns and the Kleinwalsertal valley make up the ‘Family Club’ offering programmes, packages and features that cater specifically for families with children. The first and foremost goal of Family Club members is that families with children feel at home, when the children are happy, the parents are satisfied. For this reason Vorarlberg has been putting great emphasis on family-friendly holiday offers and the accommodation establishments offer: cot, children's or extra bed - laundry and drying facilities or laundry service - games room with games, toys and children's books - childproof wall plugs - playground and play lawn with sports and games equipment away from road traffic - optional programmes for at least 2 half days in the week - daytime children's supervision. Children up to the age of six stay free in most places and children up to the age of fourteen receive discounts. In addition, ten Flori Family Hotels and Restaurants specialise in looking after children and offer a complete holiday service for families.

Vorarlberg is the ideal place to spend a family winter holiday and their forty-four ski schools are notable for their high quality and openness to innovation. The ski schools run the ‘Pistenflitzer’ learn-to-ski campaign, which focuses on fun-driven snow equipment and the carving technique. The campaign guarantees that children aged five and upwards will be able to negotiate a nursery slope safely within three days, provided they have the requisite skiing equipment and attend all ski classes. The ski schools use entertaining teaching methods and energy-saving teaching aids such as conveyor belts and cutout figure stops to make this quantum leap in skiing instruction possible. They go so far as to offer a guarantee of success and children who have not learnt to turn corners safely on the practice slopes within three days can extend the course free of charge and receive further instruction at no extra cost.

Our stay was in Au and Shoppernau in the Bregenzerwald region, an area well known for its hospitality to families and where they offer excellent winter family packages. The Kinderschnee Package (Children's Snow) is specially designed for families and operates during the second week in January and the middle two weeks in March. During these weeks children aged between 3 and 6 ski free of charge and can also attend a free 4-day ski course with English speaking tutors providing at least one accompanying adult has booked seven night's accommodation. Other activities will include:

A visit to a farm to learn more about farming in the Bregenzerwald (Famous for its cheese making).
Storytelling and reading if fairy tales (Note that this will be in German).
Evening family walk with lamps and lanterns.
Horse sleigh rides.

My son and I were skiing at the Diedamskopf Ski Resort in Schoppernau, the facilities were wonderful and children were very well looked after by friendly, English speaking ski-school instructors. I particularly like the way instructors make sure that the children have lots of fun whilst they are being taught, sure there were lots of falls but not a tear in sight! The specially designed children’s training areas are safe and well supervised, the kids are grouped according to their ability. An entire area is marked out for the kids, complete with kiddy lifts, obstacle courses, jumps, mogul runs, slides, fairy tale characters and lots of room to play and have fun.

The facilities at the Diedamskopf base station are excellent with a bar, restaurant, ski school and for those needing to hire equipment a sports shop with a full range of clothing and equipment for all ages. Experts are on hand in the shop to advise and make sure you get the correct equipment and ensure that skis are well fitted and adjusted. The pistes are well maintained and monitored, each run is colour coded to indicate the levels of skill required. Visitors staying in Au and Schoppernau are given a Winter Card which allows them to use the ski buses and the cross-country ski trails free of charge. There are also many winter walking routes on the mountain with wonderful scenic views. Snowshoes can be hired from the sports shop, although the higher routes are best done with a guide.

Whether you are skiing or just visiting the area the gondola chairlift to the summit station of the Diedamskopf, the highest mountain station in the Bregenzerwald’s Kasestrasse (2060m), is breathtaking. There’s an excellent, family friendly restaurant at the intermediate station (Wedelstube) and a panoramic mountain restaurant with a wide sun terrace at the summit station (2020m). On the upper floor of the summit restaurant has to be the most panoramic children’s adventure play area anywhere – a creche at 2020m! Families can ride up to the station in the gondola and leave kids between the ages of 3 and 8 in the hands of highly trained staff where they will be entertained and well looked after whilst parents enjoy the view or ski down the mountain. This service is free for children staying in Au and Schoppernau with the Winter Card and if you leave the kids there all day you just pay for their lunch. There’s also a parent/child area for babies and children under three, who can play there under parental supervision.

Vorarlberg is one of the most family friendly places I have visited, they really do make every effort to cater for families. The accommodation and facilities are excellent and one gets the feeling that families and children are genuinely welcome here. Children need fresh air and adults need room to breathe, and Vorarlberg has the ideal recipe for parents in dire need of a holiday by giving them more time to themselves without having to worry about the kids. They are out in the fresh air and well looked-after, plus they will have a special memory to take back home with them and a skill that will stand them in good stead for the rest of their lives, they will have learnt to ski!

ACCOMMODATION

There are many excellent family friendly hotels in the area and details of the Flori Family Hotels and members of the Family Club can be found on the Vorarlberg website.
www.vorarlberg-tourism.at

We stayed at the Hotel Krone in Au, which has excellent family rooms and leisure facilities including a swimming pool. However, the pool is deep (1.6m) so young children should be supervised at all times.
www.krone-au.at

TOURIST INFORMATION

www.austria-tourism.at
www.vorarlberg-tourism.at
www.bregenzrwald.at
www.au-schoppernau.at
www.diedamskopf.at

TIPS

A nice place to visit on a rainy day is the cheese factory in Schoppernau. The best time is around 10am when you can see the milk being treated and piped into the cheese moulds. The factory shop has an excellent choice of lovely cheeses to sample and buy.
BERGKASEREI SCHOPPERNAU
www.bergkaeserie.cc

Try snow hiking with a guide from the ski school. A guide will lead you down from the summit of the Diedamskopf mountain or along one of the many designated walking routes and the views are absolutely breathtaking.
DIEDAMSKOPF
www.diedamskopf.at

email: info@gowithkids.com