nature

Saturday 16th May 2026 – a lovely walk up the Rosengarten Trail from Imst….

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A bit damp overnight and into the morning as we gathered ourselves together to move on a little further through the Alps. This time though the journey was mostly Autobahn and along the valley floor and by the time we had arrived at our campsite for the night in Imst the sun had joined us.

Not to waste the sun we set straight off, through the village to the start of the Rosengarten Trail (not sure why it is called this as we didn’t see any roses) as recommended by the campsite owner….

Well I would say that the word trail is a little bit on the soft side for what actually followed as we instantly started to climb up some rough hewn steps and a long various hanging plank walkways, following the course of Schinderbach Waterfall….

It was a pretty strenuous climb and though she never complains or visibly seems to tire, poor little Tilly’s legs must have felt it – I know mine did….

As we neared the top, spectacular mountain views could be glimpsed down the gorge and over the trees….

Still we pressed on, no choice really as I think it would be a much trickier hike back down the way we had come….

Beyond this first hill there is the opportunity to continue upwards to the small village perched high above Imst but we have had enough and chose to return to the site via the steep but much less perilous footpath away from the gorge.

A challenging but beautiful walk and the views well worth it….

Back on site (Camping Acktiv Imst) the views are non too shabby either….

This is our last day of our incredible journey through Austria and I realise that we have hardly scratched the surface – but I believe it is always good to leave something worth returning for.

Todays stats:

  • Miles driven – 82
  • Miles walked – 6 (vertical!)
  • Fuel – £80.63
  • AdBlue – £14.02
  • O/N – £19.63

Wenesday 13th May 2026 – driving the Grossglockner High Alpine Road Part 2…

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Making the most of this wonderful afternoon up here high in the sky we work our way up and over the Hochter Pass – the highest point of this road being 2504m taking the opportunity to pull in just after the road tunnel at the top and capture the stunning scene in front of us and looking down on the road that we have climbed to get here….

Here the snow is banked up at the side of the road where the snow ploughs have kept the road clear and where they have started to pass through and clear fallen or collapsing snow banks – I have set myself a time limit of 5pm to start to make the return trip to ensure that I don’t get caught up in any freeze and I think the park closes around 6 anyway – since 4pm there has been an increase in the arrival of sports cars (the price goes down slightly at 4pm) and we played tag for awhile with these to soft top metallic Golfs….

A little further on, it wouldn’t be a proper road trip without at least one ‘Room with a View’….

By now we are three quarters of the way along this spectacular drive and it is now 5pm, I make the executive decision to turn around and start to make our way back because if we get caught at closing time at the far end the alternative route home is a massive detour….

Having found a nice wide parking area to turn in, we take a last wander and marvel at the sheer beauty of this snowy landscape and how amazing it is to be admiring all the 3000m + from such close quarters. One of my bucket list items is seeing a frozen waterfall now I know that this is not the trip for such a sight but I was still pretty impressed with these icicles clinging onto the rock face….

Of course there were a few more stops on the way down and just look at that road ahead….

What an amazing experience and day, I’m not sure what Tilly makes of the views or even appreciates them at all but she had plenty of opportunity to walk, have a little play in the snow and of course sniff out a couple of Marmots so a good day all round.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 85
  • Miles walked – 5
  • Entrance ticket – £40.46
  • O/N – £26.11

Wednesday 13th May 2026 – driving the Grossglockner High Alpine Road Part 1….

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As a fine sunny day dawned we suffered a little indecision, I am quite keen to drive the Grossglockner High Alpine Road but after a long driving day yesterday had planned an easy day just wandering locally, however the weather forecast for the next few days is not good with snow likely on the higher ground which will inevitably mean that the Grossglocken road will be closed – so let’s go for it….

We drove the 20 or so miles from Lienz up to Heiligenblut and paid our entrance fee to drive the High Alpine Road to Grossglockner – starting with amazing views down the lush green valley before heading above the snow line…

The driving was challenging with multiple switchbacks constantly either climbing or dipping back down into the valleys but the road itself was good and plenty wide enough for two way traffic so not too daunting and fortunately plenty of lay-bys to pull off and really enjoy the views…

As we crept up higher and higher – reaching 2500m above sea level on several occasions – that is 2 and a half times the height of Snowdon! And still the 3000m + peaks soared above us. It certainly got colder, hovering around 1 or 2 degrees and the views more stunning as the snow deepened, with glimpses of frozen lakes….

At the top of Kaiser Franz Josefs Hohe (2369m) with views across to Grossglockner Peak only just visible – Austria’s highest mountain at 3798m and down onto the mostly frozen Sandersee.

Here we also spotted, well to be fair Tilly sniffed our their presence though she couldn’t see them, a couple of Marmots going about their business – I last saw these in the wild up in the mountains in Canada…

This section of the road ends here and we made our way back down to the main roadway and then continued our trip heading further north and higher still….

To be continued tomorrow….

Monday 4th May 2026 – Cinque Terre (Part 2)…..

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Continuing on from yesterday’s blog, we arrive at Vernazza, one of the smaller villages. It is by now mid afternoon and this small village, again centred around the harbour is very busy, as people continue to arrive – the trains continue well into the evening….

We quickly pass the crowds and head straight down to the harbour, where there is a nice little beach, too busy for us to linger….

A nice walk along the harbour wall, affords great views of this pretty village….

And we do manage to find a way through under a natural archway to a relatively secluded spot of beach (and I mean spot) for us to sit, catch our breath and cool down for a bit….

Going back to late morning, when we ended up at Montarosso, the closest village to Levanto, here we probably spent the most time, as unlike the other villages Montarosso is spread over a larger stretch of coastline with some pretty descent beaches and a combination of time and space meant that the crowds were much more dispersed….

Here we enjoyed a leisurely stroll along the sea front, firstly to Spiaggia di Gigante….

The beach was named after the (mostly) concrete statue of a Giant was sculpted as a feature to the adjoining Villa in 1910, ravaged by the sea and 2 World Wars the Giant was restored in 2021 and creates quite a feature….

Heading back along the promenade, looking down onto Fegina beach….

The far end of Fegina Beach is overlooked by a fortress of some kind (now a restaurant)….

And beyond the much quieter Spiaggia di Monterosso….

A very different experience to the other villages and nowhere near as isolated but a fine beach or two is always good in my experience.

An absolutely amazing day, a long one and both Tilly and I are shattered but enriched!

Thoughts of the day:

  • How amazing that these villages were only linked to civilisation with the building of the railway line in the late 1800’s but much more amazing and laudable is the fact that since then they haven’t been ruined by glassy new builds!

Today’s stats:

  • Miles walked – 8
  • Train – £2.33
  • Cinque Terre entrance – £19.01
  • Food – £6.42
  • O/N – £22

Monday 4th May 2026 – Cinque Terre (Part 1)….

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A much better day than forecast but still a reasonable amount of cloud and breeze around to make today’s outing pleasurable – especially as it was soo busy! An earlyish start as we caught the 9.30 shuttle bus down to the station and caught the train to Levanto again. This time though we only needed to alight at Levanto to pick up entry tickets to Cinque Terre National Park – the tickets included train travel between the villages as well as access to the many footpaths. We hopped back on the train and decided to start at the far end, getting out at our first village – Riomaggiore – the main hub of this beautiful village was very busy leading down to the focal point, the harbour….

From here we followed the coastal path, which was significantly quieter, around to the secluded stony beach….

Here the path ended and on our return we watched for a while as the rather choppy sea made havoc of those trying to embark and disembark the ferry that is an alternative mode of transport (at additional cost to the ticket that we had bought), between the villages….

Trying to keep our distance from the crowds we wandered back along the path enjoying the stunning views of the village and coast….

Battling our way around the small harbour to get alternative views of the village as it makes its way up the hillside, with agricultural terracing visible above the houses….

Very pretty indeed but an absolute nightmare to live I should imagine – this is a Monday in early May – July and August don’t bear thinking about!

At this point I made a bit of a cock up, assuming that all trains stopping at the station, would stop at each of the villages – wrong, so before we knew it we were back at the first village – Monterosso! However for the sake of continuity, the next village heading east to west is Manarola….

This village is perched high up on the cliff top, looking and reaching down to the small harbour….

Here too we found that most people were concentrated around the bars, shops and restaurants lining the main street down and surrounding the harbour and so we made our way to the coastal path and were rewarded with a bit of breathing space and some pretty spectacular views of the village and surrounding coastline….

This was in fact our last village of the day, as by this time it is late afternoon and the trains are jam packed and frankly we have had enough. Fortunately, we had saved the least picturesque village (allegedly), Corniglia to last and contented ourselves with distant coastal views from Manarola…

We shall continue this excursion in tomorrow’s blog, otherwise it is at risk of becoming to media heavy to open….