Kufstein

We go to the mountains three times every winter. At the start of the season, for Christmas or New Year’s Eve and for Valentine’s Day. This year we missed our third date with the mountain because of work. Many meetings, business trips and deadlines later we spontaneously decided to spend the last weekend of March in the mountains. There is still snow to ski but it is warm enough for me, the non-skier.

He wanted to ski and I wanted a city visit. I didn’t want to travel too far and we always passed by Kufstein on the highway and admired the fortress so Kufstein was perfect for us. Skiwelt Wilder Kaiser is only 15 minutes away by car and Kufstein is a beautiful city to visit.

We left around 9 on Friday morning and arrived in Kufstein at 12 at noon. There was surprisingly no traffic jams. Our room would be ready at 14 o’clock so we went for lunch in the city.

The hotel is in the city center directly on the river Inn. Every room’s theme is a different city, we stayed in Venice. There is a nice cafe along the river, a great steak restaurant and the famous gin bar that earned the Guinness World Record for most types of gin. I think I picked the right hotel. 😃

We spent the afternoon visiting the fortress. It was the first time visiting a landmark which was not full with tourists. The view over the city and the river is spectacular.

I went on a long walk along the river on Saturday, stopping at Die Bohne Tirols afterwards for coffee and cake. There are surprisingly many stores and malls in Kufstein so I did some shopping too.

We booked a table at the hotel’s steak house for dinner and it is a good thing we did because it was full. We ordered our welcome drink from the gin bar, a gin tonic. We wanted to share 500g filet for two but couldn’t agree on having it medium or medium rare so we got 2 x 250g. In retrospect I should have went along with medium rare. Tapas with house fries, corn cob and veggies was included so it was good that we only had to cross to get back to the hotel because we were stuffed.

I considered going to the mountain on Sunday but there is no direct bus for me to get back whenever I want to so I decided to stay in the city. I went on another long walk on the river. This area is bicyclists’ heaven with a nice lane going along both sides of the river. I actually wanted to rent a bike but all the stores are closed on Sunday. I took a coffee and cake break at my favorite new cafe.

We spent our last evening in Kufstein in the hotel’s cafe-restaurant located directly at the river and enjoyed the nice sunny weather while sipping on Aperol Spritz.