Tag Archives: Austria

March 7, 2012 · 19:37

First day at the ITB Berlin

Today was the first day of the ITB 2012 and it was a great experience. I had no appontments today, therefore I was free to have a look at the huge fair and discover my personal favorites.

It is rather exhausting walking through the different halls, as the area is just big and very crowded. But it is inspiring to see, how much effort tourist companies and incoming agencies all over the world have put up, to stand out of the crowd.

After lunch I visited some seminars at the webtravel lounge. It is unbelievable how little input some so called social media experts give. I believe I can call myself a social media expert myself, as it seems hard to learn something new.

But the last seminar I attended was great, and this one definitely gave me some valuable input and insights. It was by Adam Medros. Vice President Global Product, at Tripadvisor. He gave some great insights into Tripadvisor and this speech was really inspiring.

After a long day I finally visited the Austrian Tourist Office Networking Café, where I ended a long day with a nice glass of Austrian beer.

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March 2, 2012 · 18:42

5 Architectural Highlights to see in Innsbruck

Bergisel Schanze (Architect: Zaha Hadid), Inns...

Innsbruck is famous for its medieval pedestrian area in the City Centre, which surrounds the “Goldene Dachl” – you will not find to many tourists, that leave Innsbruck without a picture in front of this landmark taken. But there is also a different Innsbruck – places where you can see modern architecture, created by some of the most famous Architects in the world. I would like to point out the five most important buildings to see – most of them do not only offer great architecture, but also unique sights to the mountains and the city.

1. Berg Isel Ski Jump

The Berg Isel is well known as it hosted the opening ceremony of two Olympic Winter Games – above it sits the huge Berg Isel Ski Jump. This was completely rebuild in 2001/2002. It was planned by Star Architect Zaha Hadid. The Jump can be seen from a lot of places in the City and you will see, that it has lights that change colors on, during the night. On top of the Ski Jump there is a panoramic restaurant and a viewing platform – they allow great views towards Innsbruck and the mountains behind it on one side, and to the Vipptal (direction towards Brenner) on the other side.

2. Town Hall

Architect Dominic Perrault planned the new town hall, which was built between 1996 and 2002. This town hall is more than just a community building – it features shopping arcades, restaurants, a hotel and offices. Its roofs are partly made of glass, therefore it opens itself to the City. There are especially great views from the two restaurants on top of two Glass towers – the Lichtblick (restaurant) and the 360° (a bar)

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February 25, 2012 · 18:39

Monthly Blog Status update

When I started this blog (only a month ago), it was because of the travel company that I am currently setting up with a partner. But a lot of things have happened and other opportunities have arisen. I set up a PR Agency this month, mainly to give my different freelancing endeavors a legal background here in Austria – they developed very well, therefore this needed to be done.

I am currently also starting a second project, which might be interesting for my further development – Its way to early to talk about it, but I am pretty excited about it.

The last days I have been very busy and exciting – I hope I can develop my projects as planned.

I want to use this chance to give some blogger shootouts to postings that I especially liked in the last month:

Reaffirming my faith in humanity, one pedal at a time @ Bucket List publications

Asiago plateau, Italy @ Odetocapitalism.com

adventures in wine and tasting, o chateau,  Paris @ The Lazy Travellers

 

There were a lot of other great posts – and I am looking forward to read in a lot of Blogs next month, too.

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February 23, 2012 · 17:13

Going to England – where to get the best rates on your flights

This week there was a guest blog article on this blog. It was themed around “picture perfect places to visit in Cornwall”. This blog normally concentrates on stories about visiting Central Europe, as this is the region I live in and have great knowledge of. But I believe that many visitors from overseas also want to see other regions of Europe and I want to show some places that are worth visiting outside my region, too.

I chose Cornwall as first example, as it is quite easy and affordable to get to England from my region and vice versa. Today I would like to give some advice on how to combine England with Central Europe.

Getting to England from Western Central Europe is quite easy. There are dozens of airlines which connect to London and other major English cities. I want to point out some of the connections I use, for my visits to England.

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February 22, 2012 · 19:47

Reality Check – Sonnenkopf

great view from one of the restaurants

“The Sonnenkopf is Arlbergs hidden powder paradise. Lech am Arlberg and St. Anton may be a lot more prestigious, but this smaller resort deserves some recognition, too!” This is what I told a lot of people over and over again, and for that reason I included the Sonnenkopf into my ski-resort list (link at end of text). But I believe to advise people about places you have to know them – and even if you know them, you have to put them to test over and over again. This is what I did today.

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February 21, 2012 · 17:10

Lech from above – amazing video

Beautiful video of Lech am Arlberg from above – enjoy!

Lech from above – click me!

I was thinking this video as I just recently wrote a guest post at World Adventure Travel about “Heli-Skiing in Austria for Newbies” and the Arlberg is the place to go for Heli-Skiing.

In the next weeks and months I will try to show you more of these amazing videos, whenever they fit my articles. Unfortunately WordPress.com does not allow iframes – therefore you have to follow the link 😦

Are there any computer geeks out there, who can tell me how to make iframes work at this place?

Have to go again – its the last day of Carnival and we are invited to some friends place.

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February 14, 2012 · 07:36

Traveling through Austria by Train

Today I would love to introduce you to a very convenient way to travel Austria – by railway. A lot of the major cities, in Austria are connected that way.

ÖBB tracksI just recently wrote a guest article at Voyage Articles – Three Cities to visit in Austria. There I wrote a short review about the three major Cities, tourists visit in Austria. The nice thing about Vienna, Salzburg and Innsbruck is, that they are very well connected – not only by car, but also by train. They are all part of the Westbahn-Trasse, which connects Bregenz (Vorarlberg) to Vienna – this route is one of the backbones of the Austrian railway system. This way you can go from Vienna to Salzburg in approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes. Innsbruck – Salzburg are another 2 hours and to go to Vorarlberg you will need another 2 hours. But it is well worth the way, as the railway tracks between Innsbruck and Vorarlberg run over high bridges and through narrow alpine valleys.

A lot of trains are on international routes – there are a lot of trains from Vienna to Zurich (via Feldkirch, Innsbruck, Salzburg); there are trains from Munich to Rome (via Innsbruck) and from Munich to Vienna (via Salzburg) – others run from Bregenz to Budapest (via Innsbruck, Salzburg, Vienna).

There is a second major route – the Südbahn. It takes you from Vienna to Carinthia (via Graz) and connects to Venice.

Visiting Europe by train is a very good alternative, as it is convenient, safe and gives you a lot of opportunities to see rural Europe. I love to travel by train, as it gives me time to read, to meet people or to work (I prefer it to flying – check out this article) There are international train tickets for Tourists who want to use the railway system in different countries – you can find information for international visitors at Eurails Homepage – European Travelers can use the Interrail System.

Deutsch: Panoramablick vom Kapuzinerberg auf d...

Image via Wikipedia

Other important links:

ÖBB (Austrian railways) Route planner: click here

Westbahn (private operator from Vienna to Salzburg): click here

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February 13, 2012 · 11:16

Valentines Day Special – the perfect romantic Hot-Spot!

the "Blütenschloss"

The Blütenschloss

Hotel Gams in Bezau, Vorarlberg is the romantic hotspot for some special days with your partner. This hotel was built around the idea to give couples a perfect time out from the daily hassles. I have a lot of friends, who visited it once with their girlfriend (or wife) and now they have to go back there over and over again, as their partner believes this to be the perfect present.

I visited Hotel Gams two years ago with my then girlfriend (now wife) and we had some excellent days. After receiving a welcome drink, we were shown our romantic suite – it had a lot of space, a feature fire place, and it was spacious. The spa area of the hotel was my favorite place – it is buried into the ground and offers everything I could ask for. Hotel Gams also offers delicious food (15 points, 2 hauben in Gault Millau) with an excellent choice of Austrian and international top-wines. The building itself consists of the original Hotel Gams, build in a very traditional way, and a modern extension, in which the Suites are located (called Blütenschloss). Over all the hotel offers, what it promises – a perfect place for couples, who want to find a break out from busy daily life and enjoy some very special days.

If you are still looking for a very special Valentine present or you want to surprise your partner with something very special, you should definitely have a look at this romantic place.

Homepage Hotel Gams – click here!

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February 9, 2012 · 13:23

HISTORYcal.Feldkirch & great ideas

Today I discovered a great city guide of my hometown for english speaking people. It is called HISTORYcal.Feldkirch and shows 22 places in Feldkirchs medieval Center which are all also connected to legends.

I believe this is a great way to discover Feldkirch and I will check this out myself soon.

Here you can find this very informative brochure – HYSTORYcal.Feldkirch

I found out about this great tool for visitors, as I was looking for information about “Yes, you can WCs” – this is an initiative by 10 restaurants in the centre, which allow visitors of Feldkirch to use their restrooms, without having to order something. I believe this is a great idea, as we all know how terrible it is, to visit a city and then you just cannot find a public restroom. Especially families have problems with that. I hope that all 10 restaurants stay with this idea and am sure that this is a great thing to do, not only from a human but also a marketing perspective. Because after all your sightseeing, you will also look for a place to have lunch or dinner, or just a drink – and then you might remember the restaurant, that provided you in times of trouble.

Another idea developed by Feldkirch City Marketing together with shops and restaurants is “Feldkirch überdacht”. We all know the situation – its morning, weather looks great and you visit a city for sightseeing or shopping. Suddenly weather changes and its raining cats and dogs. In Feldkirch they found a solution to keep their guests dry – in all shops and restaurants you can get an orange umbrella – free of charge. As soon as the sun comes out again, you can drop it in any of the participating shops (or you just leave it in your hotel or appartment, they will return it”).

I really love small ideas like this, who give people an added value for free.

Can you think of ideas like that in your region? I would be happy to hear about them!

To get some impressions from Feldkirch, you can also read this blog entry “It´s cold outside…”, which shows some pictures of Feldkirch I took some days ago.

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February 7, 2012 · 08:07

House Attack by Erwin Wurm

great find

a must see in Vienna – the MQ (Museums Quartier) – next to the Museum Moderner Kunst (modern art museum) you will also find the Sammlung Leopold, which contains one of the biggest Schiele collections and a lot of other fine museums

+ it´s very cool to sit in front of the museums and watch people

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