Things to do

We also chose the Pinzgauerhof because of the included Joker Card, as we knew that this would save us a lot of money on travel and sightseeing. It was valid for the duration of our stay and we mainly used it on the hikers’ buses and cable cars in the valley. We managed to cover a lot of ground in our week – here’s some info on what we did:

- Reiterkogel gondola – We went up this twice. The first time was just after we had arrived in Hinterglemm and we just ended up walking to the Reiteralm and back. The second time we went in the opposite direction and descended to the valley floor at Wallegg, via the Rosswald Hutte and the Sonnhof (which has a lovely sun terrace).
- Zwölferkogel gondola – The views down the valley from the top station are amazing. We went up twice, once just for the view and once to do the short circular walk at the top followed by walking down to the mid-station via the Breitfuss Alm. Be careful when changing to the next gondola at the mid-station – I managed to leave my walking pole in one of the cabins but luckily one of the lift attendants rescued it for me.
- Kohlmais gondola – We didn’t really like the format of this gondola, the cabins are grouped in batches, rather than at intervals, which meant they were always really crowded, plus if felt like they waited for ages at the mid-station. It’s worth it though as the views from the top are spectacular. We went up once just for the view, and then another time we walked down to the mid-station via the Panorama Alm.
- Schattberg X-Press – The first time we went up it was boiling hot but we still managed to walk up to the Westgipfel Hutte via the panorama trail. We were so hot by the time we got there! The second time was later in the week and it was blowing a gale so wasn’t very pleasant, so we didn’t stay up there for long. Some of the other guests in our hotel walked from here to the top of the Schmittenhohe at Zell am See via the Pinzgauer-Spaziergang but we were definitely not fit enough to do that!
- Noddy Train – This takes you from just past the final hikers’ bus stop to the Devil’s Water park at the end of the valley and saves quite a bit of a walk. They only run once an hour – and are timed to leave not long after the buses arrive. If you plan on using the Noddy Train, make sure you are one of the first people off the bus and walk as quickly as you can to the train terminal, otherwise you might not get a seat. There are lots of activities at the end of the valley, but we chose just to do a circular walk to the very end, via the Saalalm, which was lovely and probably one of the nicest walks that we did.
- Homestead and Ski Museum – not the best museum we’ve ever been too but a good rainy day option. The labelling is mainly in German though they did have some info in English.
- Glemmride Mountain Bike Festival – this was running on the weekend we arrived which meant that the valley as full of bikes and riders. We didn’t mind this as we thought it added a lot of atmosphere and we particularly enjoyed watching the bands that performed in the square near our hotel on the Saturday night (although it did make it rather hard to get to sleep afterwards as the partying carried on all night).
- We made good use of the buses up and down the valley all week. As we were there in mid-season, the buses were not running to a full timetable and sometimes there was only one bus an hour, so we were glad that we had already downloaded a copy of the timetable.
- One morning we woke up to thunder and heavy rain and decided to visit Zell am See as we knew there were quite a lot of shops and restaurants there to keep us occupied. We caught the hikers bus and paid an extra 11 euros each for the non-valley part of the journey. By the time we arrived at Zell, the weather had cleared up enough to allow us to do a boat trip on the lake, which was lovely. We then decided to get the Schmittenhohebahn cable car to the top of the Schmittenhohe and then take the Promenade path down to the Sonnkogel chairlift. It was a bit cloudier by this point but there were lots of people on the path so we started walking at a leisurely pace. When we got to the Sonnkogel it was even cloudier so we decided to take the chair lift straight down and get something to eat at the Sonnalm. We had only been there for a couple of minutes when all the other customers suddenly grabbed their bags and ran. One of the staff then came and told us that the cable car back to the valley floor was about to close as a storm was coming. We started to get ready to leave, only to be told that it was too late and the cable car had left without us. Then the storm hit and we were surrounded by torrential rain, thunder and lightning! Luckily, after all the initial panic, the storm passed quickly and we were able to get back to Zell ok, but I was really glad that we were indoors when it hit.
- Zur Dorfschmeide - Wednesday is the chalet staff’s day off so you have the opportunity to try out one of the local restaurants. We wanted to go to a typical local restaurant so our rep suggested Zur Dorfschmeide which is just round the corner from the hotel. The food was excellent and very well priced so we would recommend it.
- We like walking, but prefer easy flat routes either on the valley floor or reachable by cable car. There didn’t seem to be as many of this type of route in the valley as in other alpine resorts that we’ve visited. We particularly enjoyed the river path that runs the whole length of the valley. It would have been good if more of the cable cars had been open though.

Inghams Excursion Prices as at July 2015

- Liechtenstein Gorge – 26 euros plus 5.50 euros for gorge entrance
- Saalalm Stroll – 3 euros
- Quiz Night – 2 euros
- Berchtesgaden – 32 euros plus 16 euros for Salt Mine and 16 euros for Eagles Nest
- Salzburg – 35 euros plus 10 euros for guided tour
- Grossglockner – 29 euros
- Krimml Waterfalls – 23 euros plus 3 euros entrance donation
- Skittles evening – 15 euros

Accommodation - Chalet Hotel Pinzgauerhof

After previously having had a great holiday in another Inghams Chalet, the Sapiniere in Chamonix, we were keen to see if another Inghams Chalet would be as good. We have often found that Chalet hotel reviews are very mixed, and we think that this may be down to a misunderstanding of the concept. If you haven’t been to one before then we would definitely recommend that you read the relevant pages of the brochure before booking. We were expecting comfortable accommodation with good food and wine and that’s what we got. We were in room 204, which was a good size and had access to a large shared balcony. The room décor was tired, especially the curtains but we liked the fact that we had a small hallway area as this cut down on internal noise. The bathroom was very small and it was a bit awkward getting in and out of the shower, plus the sink was in the bedroom, but none of this detracted from our holiday enjoyment at all. The staff were all very friendly and helpful and the food and wine was all great. I think we must have had an especially greedy group of guests though as the afternoon cake ran out very quickly each day! We had no problems using the wi-fi in the bar area and there were plenty of bars in the town offering free wi-fi to customers as well. We liked the fact that the location was very central, but the brochure pictures are slightly misleading as they imply that the hotel is in a less busy area than it actually is. All in all we had a great time at the Pinzgauerhof and would recommend it to anyone who would like a relaxed holiday in a lovely valley.