Austria’s mountains are even more stunning when there’s no snow

Thanks to a painful memory of standing on top of a mountain with who I thought was a ski instructor but who turned out to be a Swiss chalet chambermaid (a story for another time) I’m not much of a fan of snow. I don’t hate it but prefer it clinging obstinately to far-off peaks, sparkling in the spring/summer sun and sending pure, clear ice-water down to the stream bubbling past my hiking/cycling trail.

The Alps, soaring in summer.

As a snowflake in the face of snowflakes, it was good news to be invited to visit Austria’s Saafelden Leogang region to see what’s on offer outside the December to April ski season – especially given that Australians visited the country in record numbers in 2023 – surpassing 2019 pre-pandemic levels with 153,000 arrivals (up 1.2 per cent) and 415,000 overnight stays (up 3 per cent).

Saalfelden Leogang, south of stunning Salzburg and within striking distance of both that and Munich, is beautifully set up to take advantage of this with many kilometres of mountain biking trails, valley-bottom cycle paths for the more sedate pedaller, and oodles of hiking tracks for all levels. Mountain climbing is a popular pastime, too, but if you want me, I’ll be at one of the area’s award-winning Gault Millau restaurants and local food trails.

Saalfelden Leogang is a geographical portmanteau that brings together the towns of Saafelden and Leogang (and the dozen or more smaller villages between them) under one tourism umbrella in the Pinzgau region. Just over an hour’s drive from Salzburg, the two towns sit in a broad agricultural valley ringed by the mountains of the eastern Alps.

One such is the 1914-metre high Asitz Mountain, which is criss-crossed by top-notch hiking trails and biking runs with views of the surrounding crown of Alpine crags that are almost too big and too beautiful to take in. We reach the summit from Leogang, taking a gondola ride which floats us above world-renowned and aptly named Epic Bikepark, which each year hosts a round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Series.

Racing on the mountain bike world circuit.Credit: Stefan Voitl

Below us, we can see young riders taking their first steps on learner slopes while more advanced riders, having taken the lifts up with their bikes, hurtle alarmingly back down switchback tracks on what is said to be one of the fastest arenas in global mountain biking.

At the top from the Asitzbahn Bergstation, we head to a simple wooden archway that denotes the start of the Spielewanderweg, a short, easy hike that loops around the summit, taking in the Naturkino (Cinema of Nature), the five TONspur Islands and passing the still waters of a small reservoir with reflections that make for many an Instagrammable moment.

The Naturkino is simply a group of wooden seats, set cinema-style down the slope of a hillside, that looks out to stunning views of the surrounding mountains (weather permitting). Dotted along this two-hour round trip are five wooden A-frame platforms featuring giant, elegantly curved seats – the TONspuren – with built-in speakers quietly playing music from recent local concerts – a great place to stop and relax and take in the shockingly pulchritudinous views while listening to classical music or gentle jazz.

Below, on the broad plateau eastwards towards Saafelden, local farmers grow saffron and graze frighteningly spotless dairy cows on flat green fields that contrast strongly with the craggy peaks around them. E-bike tours (self-guided or otherwise) on well-kept roads and dedicated cycle pathways are popular. A highlight of our food-focused cycle tour is the discovery of a Gemusehutte, or vegetable shack. In a modern version of the old-fashioned honour-system farmstand at the end of the driveway, there is a small wooden hut filled with what looks like a bank vault of glass-fronted safety deposit boxes. These, however, are filled with flowers, vegetables, cuts of meat, eggs, and salad stuff. Just select a number, wave a credit card and the appropriate box pops open. Who knew?

Fine dining at the Naturhotel in Leogang.

Food here ranges from simple European cheese-and-meat picnic fare to the idiosyncratic gourmet delights of Dahoam, an award-winning restaurant in Leogang’s Hotel Riederalm, and the quirky Hutessen, a popular, communal-style of eating in which guests slap various cuts of meat against the dome of a triangular brazier to cook. Hutessen translates as “eat your hat”; and derives its name from the witch’s hat shape of the brazier.

THE DETAILS

FLY
Various airlines fly from Australia to Salzburg, Munich (the closest major airports to Saafelden Leogang) or Vienna, including Qantas, Singapore, Lufthansa, Emirates, Qatar and Etihad. Turkish Airlines has new flights from Melbourne to Istanbul, with connecting flights to Salzburg. See turkishairlines.com

STAY
We stayed at the Naturhotel Forsthofgut, a five-star wellness resort and spa at the foot of the Asitz Mountain in Leogang. Bookings can only be made directly with the hotel, see forsthofgut.at

EAT
There are various restaurants around the area serving local cuisine but Dahoam in Hotel Riederalm (just a short walk from Naturhotel Forsthofgut) is a must. Chef Andreas Herbst’s multi-course gourmet dinners are presented in sophisticated surroundings and showcase local ingredients, produce and wines in a whimsical journey that wouldn’t feel out of place in Alice’s Wonderland. The restaurant is only open Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, and children under 13 are not allowed. See restaurant-dahoam.com
We also sampled the Hutessen (cook-yourself beef dishes) at Priesteregg Eco Resort’s Huwi’s Alm restaurant. See priesteregg.at

BIKE HIRE
There are various places to hire bikes and e-bikes in the region, see bikepark.saalfelden-leogang.com/en – it’s a popular spring/summer pastime so it’s best to book ahead. We hired bikes at the Asitzbahn station, see sportmitterer.at

The writer was a guest of the Austrian National Tourist Office. See austria.info/en