Finally, it’s summer, and finally, we can start thinking about travelling again! Luckily, living in Switzerland, we have plenty of opportunities for exciting trips not too far from home. But if you love adventure, enjoy the great outdoors and value quality, I can recommend crossing the border and visiting the beautiful Arlberg mountains in Tyrol (St. Anton am Arlberg is only 2,5 hour by car or a direct train by RailJet from Zurich).
The mountain villages of the Arlberg – St. Anton, St. Christoph, Stuben and Lech offer a lot of adventure activities for families. And! There are some fantastic biking routes with varying levels of difficulty and distance. In Austria, there is no minimum age restriction for riding electric bikes (as long as children bike with grownups). So, don`t miss the chance to e-bike together as a family and make unforgettable memories! For that, you don’t even need to own bikes, there are plenty of shops where you can rent them for the whole family, also for the kids.
Last year we were lucky to discover a special e-bike for our 7yo at Intersport Arlberg. Ben E Bike – weight with pedals: 11,1 kg which makes it the most lightweight electric bike for children in the world (Link). Since then we have discovered one of life’s great pleasures. E-biking is exciting and joyful in a way that you don’t get from a regular bike. With Intersport Arlberg, we were able to rent different e-bikes and test them all in action last year. This summer we decided to buy out our favourites: Ben E Bike Twentyfour-Six e-power the super light 24/26 inch and 2x Cube Reaction, But we are still renting the trailer Thule.
Intersport Arlberg (Link) has won the Victor Sports Award in the category “Best Sports Retailer of the Year 2019” and owns 12 shops in St. Anton am Arlberg and Lech. It is set with the best equipment for any sports activities and has a very friendly and experienced staff that will always give you professional advice on choosing the most suitable bike and gear. It exclusively represents many rare brands such as Ben E Bike.
Mountain biking on the Arlberg is a special experience, even with little kids. With our chihuahua and the 3yo sitting in the trailer, we don`t do the difficult off-road trails but we enjoy riding more miles and setting harder goals. Our favourite routes are in the valley Verwall (on pictures below) and along the river Rosanna with nice opportunities for some extra fun on the way, like stops at playgrounds and water ponds. If you want to tackle tougher terrain, you can take the route to the Nessleralm playground above Pettneu or to Rendlalm above St. Anton am Arlberg (see on the list below). Both are a bit steep but still suitable for trailers.
Here is the list of the local hot spots for families and kids on the Arlberg. Vrroom, vrroom!
Open-air swimming pools:
- Arlberg Wellcome
- Lech Forest Swimming Pool
- Klösterle – Almwasserpark
Outdoor playgrounds and adventure parks:
- St. Anton – Nature and water playground at Sennhütte
- St. Anton – PG in the Dorfpark (Village Park)
- St. Anton – PG at Lake Verwallsee
- St. Anton – PG at Museum St. Anton
- St. Anton – water palyground at Specherteich Arlensattel
- St. Anton – PG at the top terminals of the Rendlbahn, Galzigbahn and Gampenbahn lifts
- St. Anton – Eldorado bike areal in Verwall Valley
- St. Anton – High and Low Ropes Course in Verwall Valley
- Pettneu – PG at Wellnesspark Arlberg Stanzertal
- Pettneu / St. Jakob – PG at the grove Giasi
- Pettneu – PG on Nessleralm
- Flirsch – PG next to the football pitch
- Schnann – PG below the church
- Strengen – PG next to Egger Pond
- Strengen – PG next to the football pitch
- Klösterle – Baerenland, a big interactive playground on top of the Sonnenkopf mountain
- Lech – Familienspielpark Buxbaum at the football field
- Lech – Nature and water playground at Rud-Alpe
*Ad / Cooperation with Intersport Arlberg / Image rights ©Family First & Elena Habicher.
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