Austria 2026

After finishing the river cruise deliberately a day earlier than the itinerary in Budapest, we commenced 8 hours of multiple train trips via Vienna to finally reach Innsbruck, Austria.  Being a few days before Christmas meant the trains were very full, so baggage storage onboard each train was both rare and precious but somehow we got lucky.

The final part of the days journey involved a taxi taking us the last 30 minutes to reach a small town called Fulpmes for the next 7 days.

A long day of train travel to reach Fulpmes and family

The time had come to experience a very rare and wonderful gathering of our entire family to enjoy Christmas together, located in a smaller village with traditional style houses plus the Austrian Alps and multiple large ski fields all around it.

Some of the homes in Fulpmes with the mountain backdrop

There were 15 of us in all, our 3 children and their partners and 7 grandchildren ranging from 9 to 3 yrs old.  For 7 days we would be staying in a very quirky, fun home spread over 2 levels called Doug’s Mountain Getaway, with everything in it that children would love to play with.

Some members of the family arriving at
Doug's Mountain Getaway

Won’t spend too much time on this and will only share a few family related photos, but it was equally special as they had all committed not just to be together but to also do it in conjunction with our big wedding anniversary.

3 of the 7 days at Doug’s was spent way up on the ski slopes with all the grandkids having skiing lessons for the first time, and all of them except the 3 year old, progressing from learner slopes, to blue and then a red run.  We’re not skiing aficionados, but their parents were very proud.

The view that met us after reaching the top of the ski field closest to Fulpmes... the alps

Below us were various towns very
similar to where we were staying

Our 3 kids and son in-law also enjoyed their own skiing or snow boarding whilst their kids were being looked after by instructors and for us, it was yet another unique experience to watch them all going down the slopes together and really enjoying themselves.

Our 3 children waiting to snowboard down a run

Christmas eve was notable when snow started falling when dinner was being cooked on the BBQ and it was a very different experience and cold.

Was very different BBQing when the snow started falling

The snow was still present on Christmas day making for a white Christmas and some fabulous views across the town and some family members enjoyed being photographed outside.

View outside the window on Christmas day morning

Our son-in-law has Danish heritage
hence the bare feet

Apart from a full on, self catered Christmas day for 15, we visited the local glacier using the free town buses taking tourists and residents alike throughout the Fulpmes area to and from the ski fields.

The family all together

Having reached the glacier, everyone piled into 2 gondolas for a long ride up to the top of the mountain, before climbing more stairs and struggling a bit for breath, to a look out across the spectacular alps scenery at 3,210 metres altitude.

Part of the glacier's ice located on the ski field itself

Gondola ride to the top of the alps

Photo time at 3,210 metres

The views across the alps were simply... spectacular!

At this location we were not very far away from the alps we visited at the beginning of this trip in the Dolomites.  The Austrian and Dolomite Alps are all part of the same range.

It wasn't all about the skiing which the ski fans did over 3 days, so we went visiting Innsbruck by taking the tram for a very scenic trip back into the city.

The tram taking us back into Innsbruck and touted
as one of the most scenic tram rides in the world

Just one view from the tram and yes... not too shabby at all!

Innsbruck is known as 'The Capital of the Alps' and has a blend of urban and alpine mix in the way people live.  It also has a medieval old town with typically well decorated buildings and naturally... more Christmas markets.

Looking down the main street of Innsbruck

One of the few Christmas markets

Some of the older buildings in Innsbruck

One of the primary landmarks in the old town is the Goldenes Dachl or Golden Roof, a balcony built in the 1500's for Emperor Maximilian and his wife to watch going ons.  It has 2,657 fire-gilded copper tiles on its roof, hence 'copper roof'.

The 500 year old Golden Roof balcony

Nine members of the family, except Rob and myself decided to have a go at a 8 km toboggan run on a snow covered but narrow road whilst returning from the glacier, with numerous tight bends.  Each of the parents had one of their own kids sitting in front of them and a 9 yr old went by herself.

2 up on a toboggan

They did the 8 km run twice and most of them fell off at least once whilst trying to control and steer the toboggans using only their feet and negotiating the tight slippery bends.  

The run was quite steep with numerous sharp bends

Didn't quite make it

After the skiing and toboggan activity, there were many sore and bruised bodies when we all departed Fulpmes using the scenic tram, back to Innsbruck.

Now getting 15 people, including 7 lively grandkids and baggage onto a train and into the one carriage heading to Salzburg smoothly was a bit of a challenge.  We managed, but not sure all the people already on board in that carriage were so relaxed about the flurry of activity that enveloped them.

In Salzburg, we all had different accomodation booked, so we split up before meeting again at the Augustinerbräu Salzburg… a VERY large beer hall with 3-4 big dining halls and serving food and beer.  It was also incredibly noisy, especially considering most people had been drinking.

One section of one of the beer halls in Augustinerbräu

The big challenge was to try to find a long table to seat 15 people and again, as a result of our son in-laws negotiating skills, he secured a large table for all of us to enjoy some good beer and food.

Next day was another team effort when we met to take a funicular ride up to the Fortress Hohensalzburg, the fortress is famous founded in 1077 and later expanded between 1495 & 1519. We had a good look around this historic and very prominent building.

The Fortress Hohensalzburg

The funicular

Walking the walls of the fortress

View over part of Salzburg

Salzburg is the birthplace and home of Mozart and also famous for the 'Sound of Music', so you can probably imagine there were many opportunities if so inclined to buy all sorts of tours or souvenirs of both and no... we didn't.

One of the Mozart premises

On our final full day, the family scattered to do their own things, so we walked throughout the city on both sides of the river visiting the likes of Salzburg Cathedral with its extremely impressive internal structure and decorative everything, especially the ceilings.

The inside of Salzburg Cathedral...

...and a small section of its highly decorative ceiling

The Christmas markets whilst operating were being unpacked and shutting down, so there were less people to bump into.  We also walked past both the birthplace and then home of Mozart which were popular but quite unimpressive.

Just part of one of the Christmas markets in Salzburg

Crossing the Salzach River

On the opposite side of the river is Mirabell Palace built in 1606 and it was free to enter limited areas.  We found our way to the Marble Hall made of all marble, before then walking through the very extensive, geometrically arranged gardens.

The Marble Hall of Mirabell Palace

In the gardens were multiple fountains and due to the temperatures being below freezing, the water in the fountains had frozen.

Just one of the fountains in the
gardens of the Mirabell Palace

View from the gardens as we walked back in Salzburg

After a full day of walking, our family came back together again for essentially our last night, and had a final dinner in a lovely but small Mexican restaurant.  

The owner happened to be standing outside when we started arriving and having asked if he had any tables available, he asked, “ for how many people?”.

Simple reply of “15” had him spluttering back to us, “can you say that again please!”.  Now it was his turn to make it happen and he did and we had a wonderful last meal together and a lot of fun with the owner having now almost filled his restaurant.

Everyone together for the final time in Salzburg

But the time had simply come for us all to split and continue our individual journeys to other parts of Europe, so with many farewells and hugs, the family scattered with many memories to remember and share with others.

We are simply so very grateful to have had this time with them all together!

CLICK HERE for more photos of Austria 2025

So now we were back alone and it was time to continue this long and 'complex' trip, so there is still more to come have no fear.