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Tourist attractions

The Tyrolean Zillertal - Hiking, Skiing & Sightseeing
The Zillertal Valley is the widest of the side-valleys branching off from the main one, through which the Inn River runs (the "Inntal"). The entire valley is part of the district of Schwaz and divides the Kitzbuheler Alpen (east) and the Tuxer Alpen (west). A narrow part of the valley divides it into two halves; one funny features of the Zillertal is that, despite of its approaching of the central Alps, the base of the valley does not change its altitude very much: the northern part is 520 metres above sea level, the southern part 620 metres.
Archaeological findings from the Stone Age provide evidence that there were people living at least temporarily in the Zillertal for a very long time. However, permanent settlements can be tracked back only to the late Bronze Age between 1200 and 800 BC. There were also settlements found from the Iron Age, dating back to around 500 BC.
Furthermore, there are many names of places that probably pre-date the arrival of the Romans. Nonetheless, it was the Romans who finally connected the Zillertal with the civilised world. The people of the valley were "romanised" and the Zillertal might have played an important political role: The West of Tyrol belonged to the Roman province of Raetia, whereas the Eastern part was in the province of Noricum. It is conceivable that the Zillertal marked the border.

Kitzbuhel
The place once started as a small Tyrolian mountain village and is now Austria′s most expensive skiing resort. Kitzbuhel attracts the snow-loving crowds and sparks their obsession for the white stuff.
The town is said to offer the best après-ski facilities and events in Austria.
During the summer time, the attentive visitor might also recognise the beginnings of the town: Kitzbuhel was once a village that grow into a town due to silver mining, similar to Hall or Schwaz, but on smaller scale. The medieval houses in the style of mountain cabins mingle with pastel-colour burgher houses and blend into the Tyrolian landscape perfectly well. Summer  is the time when the nearby mountains offer great hiking routes (in particular the Wilder Kaiser region).

Lake Achensee & Surroundings
The Lake Achensee is a lake in Tyrol, north of Jenbach. The Achensee is one of the few Tyrolean lakes and a particularly large one. Thus, it is very popular among tourists and domestic visitors.
As mentioned above, the lake is the biggest of the province and 133 metres deep. Its water is exceptionally pure and almost meets the requirements of tap water. Being a proper alpine lake, the Achensee rarely gets any warmer than 20 degrees. To make things worse, its position in a valley creates thermal motion that gives rise to a constant breeze. Therefore, the lake is hugely popular among windsurfers. One of the reasons why the Achensee is so popular for swimming and water sports is its vicinity to Tyrolean hubs like Innsbruck.
The history of the Achensee is closely linked with the monastery of St. Georgenberg. The lake was given to the monastery by the county of Schlitters in 1120 and remained with it until 1919. Apart from tourism, the Achensee and a creek originating from it are used by a power plant. Tourism on the lake started - like in most areas of Tyrol - in the 19th century. In 1887, a steam boat named "St Joseph" was released to the lake. A few years later, in 1889, a narrow gauge railway opened and a second steam boat, "St Benedikt" started to entertain tourists. Others followed, until in 1911, the "Stadt Innsbruck" ("City of Innsbruck") joined the growing fleet as the first diesel boat of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. Over the course of the next decades, the "Stadt Innsbruck" earned itself something like a legendary status and was in almost constant use until the 1990ies.

Stubaital, Tyrol: Skiing Ressort & Hiking Paradise
The Stubaital is a valley in Tyrol (Tirol) and internationally famous for its skiing opportunities - most importantly in and around Neustift im Stubaital, one of Austria′s busiest skiing towns. The Stubaital occupies a central location in the Stubaier Alpen, a mountain range, and like most valleys, it has a river in the middle, the river Ruetz. The Stubaital is approximately 30 kilometres long and runs in a south-western direction, branching off from the Inntal (the main valley of Tyrol) at the town of Schonberg.
The main community in the Stubaital is not Neustift, but Fulpmes - itself a rather popular skiing and hiking resort. In total, the Stubaital is divided up between five communities: Schonberg Mieders, Telfs, Fulpmes and Neustift. The settlement structure of the Stubaital depends on where you are: Following the course of the valley from its beginning down to Fulpmes, villages can be found at the flanks of the mountains on both sides of the river. Beyond Fulpmes, these flanks spread out at the base of the valley, where the rest of the villages are located.
At Neustift, a side-valley branches off, the so-called Pinnistal. Further down the Stubaital  branches out in two "wings", the Unterbergtal and the Oberbergtal. At the end of the Unterbergtal, you will find the Stubaier Gletscher, a glacier particularly popular among skiers.

Bodensee, Vorarlberg: The Austrian Part of Lake Constance
The Bodensee or Lake Constance is a lake in the very west of Austria, reaching from the province of Vorarlberg north-westwards. The Bodensee / Lake Constance is shared between Austria, Germany and Switzerland. In fact, the Austrian share is the smallest: Of the 273 kilometres of shoreline, only 28 kilometres are Austrian; 173 kilometres are German and 72 are Swiss. The legal division of the Bodensee is unclear; international lawyers consider the lake to be the only region in Europe where no borders have ever been defined.
The lake is divided into three sections, called Obersee, Untersee and Seerhein. The river Rhine passes the Bodensee and is said to "take a bath" in it. In fact, the Rhine water looks a lot cleaner down-stream the Bodensee/Lake Constance. Taken all three sections together, the lake is the third-largest lake in Central Europe (after the Geneva Lake and Lake Balaton), in terms of volume even the second-largest. The deepest parts of Lake Constance are 250 metres deep - however, most of the lake is much more shallow.

Bregenzerwald Forest:  A Wooden Gem in Vorarlberg
The Bregenzerwald Forest occupies a region in the western province of Vorarlberg and is well known for its natural and cultural importance. It reaches from the river Bregenzer Ache to the Bodensee or Lake Constance and is considered to be among the most scenic forests of the Austrian Alps - given that an impressive 46 percent of Austria′s total surface is covered with forests, this means quite something.
In terms of tourism infrastructure, the forest is by far not as remote as you imagine upon hearing "Alpine forest". In fact, the Bregenzerwald makes an easily accessible destination that proved to be popular both with domestic and foreign visitors. Many of the mountains in the region can be accessed with lifts - useful for skiing tourists in the winter and hikers during the summer season.
In order to support tourism even further, the local tourism council issues the "Bregenzerwald Card" - it allows its holder to use public transportation within the Bregenzerwald free of charge; entrance fees for some minor attractions are included, too. Visitors that stay for three nights or longer get the Bregenzerwald Card for free.

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