Bad Gastein - Sportgastein — Attraction in Bad Gastein

In summer, it's the kind of place where, perhaps, the creative director of a global top ad agency would see the ideal backdrop for their premium milk, chocolate or wellness tourism ad. (And then those herbal scents all around... can't wait for digital odor transmission to become real.) In winter, it's a magical place just like in a winter fairytale, with literally everything covered with deep, glittering powder snow. You hear the soft gurgling of hundreds of glistening streams of crystal-clear thermal water while a plane silently draws its trail over the sparkling blue radiant sky. Breathe in....

Went on a day trip to Sportgastein to hike the National Park. It has many cottages where you can have some traditional Austrian food for a very reasonable price. There is plenty of hikes that you can do. I hiked up to Hagener Hütte. The area is absolutely stunning and breathtaking. Beware that it is an ALM, meaning you can find cows, goats and even horses moving freely.

To get there I took the bus to Sportgastein. You have to pay a fee (MAUT) using the road. The last bus back leaves at 17.30h but you can also call a taxi or go by car. There is plenty of...

If you like off piste, it's the best ski area in the Gastein valley. After a snow fall you can still find untouched slopes 50 meters from the pistes well into the afternoon. Lower down you can ski the trees, higher up there are wide open spaces.

Even when there's a lot of people in the system it somehow doesn't feel crowded, probably because the pistes are so wide and well groomed and so many people ski off piste.

The only possible downside is that if there isn't fresh snow the system is rather small and doesn't offer a huge variety.

Highly...