Field Journal

A Destination Guide
Written by Megan Brownrigg // Photography by Ben Read
Produced in partnership with Visit Austria

Achensee, etched by glaciers during the last ice age, has a green-blue colour that holds your gaze. Turquoise and emerald tangle themselves around the lake as water meets mountain and forest. Nestled between the Karwendel and Rofan Mountains, Achensee is serene: a place where, historically, Austria’s emperors came to escape the city. But Tirol’s largest lake is also amped with activities that take place on its surface – as well as the surrounding mountain paths and connecting rock faces.

An inland ocean cradled by mountains, Achensee, known as the Sea of Tirol, is a place that eases the debate between coastal lovers and loyalists of earthen valleys. The lake’s bright teal waters and sandy beaches offer everyone a stage – from windsurfers to wild swimmers and sun worshippers. Its surrounding peaks, including the Rofan Mountains, beckon rock climbers, mountain bikers, and hikers in summer, before laying a white carpet for skiers in winter. This pocket of Austria is hailed for its family-friendly portfolio of activities, which never get so tame as to trick you out of being in the wild.

COMMUNITIES TO ESCAPE TO: ACHENSEE’S DWELLINGS

Picturesquely plonked between the Karwendel Mountains and the Rofan Alps, Achensee holds five villages in its realms.

WIESING
This village, 360 vertical metres below the lake, is a great base from which to start hiking or cycling the Rofan Mountains. It’s a designated ‘e-bike village’ – several places to stay here offer packages including the use of two wheels. And if you want a scream in winter, we’re here to tell you that there’s a toboggan run.

Where to Eat: Hit up Cafe Stressless to eat gelato whilst flanked with green plants and a tropical mindset. Or, if you’re camping here, head to the Restaurant Inntal-Stadl for a full refuel in an antique setting with wooden decor.

MAURACH
The rest of Achensee’s villages, including this one, sit at the foot of the Rofan Mountains. On the southern shore of Lake Achensee, Maurach perches high on a sunny plateau and is home to the Rofan Seilbahn cable car: a launch point for all kinds of hiking or cross-country skiing mischief. For a quick fly around, there’s the AIRROFAN Skyglider zip line, or for a quirky commute to Pertisau, take the ‘Road of Songs’ – a 2km trail dotted with stations playing folk music.

Where to Eat: If you’re looking for huge portions and tasty passata, Arthur’s Pizzeria is a regular pilgrimage destination for hikers around Maurach. For captivating views, a traditional Austrian atmosphere, and a fresh daily menu, the postcard-russet Erfurter Hütte is your place. In Felderer Stadl, you can play ‘spot the head’ thanks to the kooky decor; plus the food is great.

ACHENKIRCH
At the northern end of the lake, this village offers a reminder that modern life can still follow a leisurely pace. Traditionally home to a farming community, Achenkirch harks back to its roots in the Sixenhof Museum of local history, whilst keeping up with the times by offering outdoor activities including horse riding, sailing, surfing, and Nordic walking. Dabble in tennis, or chip a few at the nine-hole golf course at Posthotel Alpengolf.

Where to Eat: Martin’s Bistro is famed for its fish sticks, fresh catches, and carpaccio in a secret tea-garden setting. Instead of long wooden benches, think tables set under elegant white umbrellas laced between freshwater ponds. But, for a cosy setting and hearty portions on a rainy day, head to See Eck.

PERTISAU
The region’s oldest tourist resort is located on the lake’s western shore at the foot of the Karwendel Nature Park. The village is famous for its underground ‘black gold’ (the healing shale oil used in skincare products), as well as its landing pier, which draws curious boat cruisers. If your handicap’s nagging at you, there’s also an attractive golf course.

Where to Eat: When in Pertisau, save yourselves for Essbar. From the yellowfin tuna, sushi, and steak dishes to the experimental desserts starring inventions such as nougat curd dumplings and mascarpone lasagne, it’s a spot to dress up for and reward your bellies after a long day on the mountains or water.

STEINBERG AM ROFAN
High in the valley, Steinberg Am Rofan is one of those places where it’s hard to imagine anyone ever being stressed. Steinberg’s poking church spires sit amongst winding paths that look pencil-sketched, and whitewashed buildings contrast with green grass in this storybook setting. Beside a small spring there is also a network of caves with inscriptions that have never been decrypted.

In 2021, Steinberg proved it wasn’t just a pretty face when it became a member of Tirol’s Mountaineering Villages, which follow a code of maintaining traditional values at the same time as environmental awareness and sustainable tourism. Just 300 inhabitants get to boast of this haven as their home.

Where to Eat: The joy in Steinberg is that you don’t have much choice, and so the community regularly gathers in the charming Dorfhaus Steinberg to eat. The excellent cakes are often commented on, but most people are distracted by the views. The panoramic windows look out onto scenery so vibrant that cynical onlookers need to pinch themselves to confirm it’s not a screensaver. The Gasthaus Waldhäusl Huber also offers great food in the garden, as well as rooms promising a solid night’s sleep thanks to the attentive owners (and the knockout mountain air).

THE LAKE ITSELF: WATERSPORTS

Swimming and Diving: At 9.4km in length, there’s plenty of room for aquatic adventures on Achensee. Its crystal clarity tempts swimmers who like to cool their veins in its fresh 20°C water. If you’re a chaser of colder temperatures, head to the lake’s northside at Achenkirch. Here, mountain streams feed straight into the lake, giving that initial gasp of surrender an extra edge.

Some days the water at Achensee has visibility that shoots 10m deep, making it a stunning pocket for recreational diving. The eastern part of the lake is the best place to submerge yourself; Hechenberg offers an advanced dive site, Schwarzenau is suitable for beginners, and the Diving Club at Innsbruck offers some fantastic parkours below the surface. Underground gems to look out for at Achensee include a statue of the Madonna and a sunken VW Beetle.

Sailing: Host to many international regattas, Lake Achensee is an unexpected but sweet sailing spot in the Alps. Mornings here tend to bring a light southerly wind, whilst the afternoon welcomes strong northerly gusts, making the lake a playground for both beginners and advanced sailors. If you’re just learning, you won’t need to look far for an instructor, as every village in the region has a sailing school.

For a neat adrenaline hit, kitesurfing, windsurfing, and wingfoiling are all available to try at Achensee. Due to the winds, the brave should head out after lunch. SUP, kayaking, and canoeing are available for those who want to take it all more slowly. And for a nostalgic stretch out on the water with a Polaroid, there are pedalos.

Leisure: Atoll Achensee, on the lake’s shores, offers a state-of-the-art leisure complex with its infinity pool, spa, water playground for the kids, and lakeside gym. This place’s sauna game is particularly impressive: there’s a Finnish infusion sauna, a coloured light sauna, an herbal sauna, infrared cabin, and steam bath. Atoll’s private beach access also means that there’s always plenty of room for beach volleyball, tennis, and football.

Canyoning: They say you should never forget to look up, and Achensee’s water sports certainly aren’t limited to lake level. Its tributary streams and gorges offer a world of abseiling, scrambling and cold water plunges to be enjoyed, with a reassuring and encouraging guide by your side. Beginners should check out the pools at Gramai, whilst experienced canyoners can look to Pitzbach for their thrills, and Seeache and Taschbach are great places to get the kids hooked.

THE ROFAN MOUNTAINS: HIKING & CLIMBING

Hiking trails around Achensee allow you to slowly, sweetly, and sweatily – the holy trinity – explore sections of the Karwendel Alpine Park as well as the Rofan Mountains.

The Rofans are located in the western part of the Brandenberg Alps, the southern border of which is Achensee itself. Some of the range’s leading peaks and ridges include the Klobenjoch, the Hochiss (Rofan’s highest point at 2,299m), the Seekarlspitze and the Rofanspitze, as well as the connecting Dalfazer Wände, Dalfazer Joch, and the Rotspitze. Further south, you’ll find the Sagzahn, Sonnwendjoch, and Haidachstellwand. The word Rofan, according to its Latin roots, means ‘mountain with muds’. These peaks are for digging your toes into the dirt, your fingernails into rock faces, and really feeling where and who you are.

Eagle Walk: This long-distance trail covers 413km in 33 stages across Tirol. Two stunning sections sit in the Achensee region. The views don’t come easy – hikers will gain around 1,500m of elevation on some stages. But there’s nothing like watching a blanket of alpenrose meadows unfold from above or peering over crags from a summit’s perspective and seeing mountain streams scribble themselves into Achensee. With a keen eye on these sections, you can spot knots of wildflowers including edelweiss, orchids, and cotton grass – as well as wildlife including marmots, chamois, and red deer.

The Rofan Circuit: This four-day circular hike cherry picks the region’s most striking viewpoints. At almost 40km, it squeezes in the Sonnwendjoch, Rofanspitze, and Hochiss peaks, with Achensee’s waters slipping in and out of view. The middle days of the hike are demanding, but there’s an option to switch up the route without compromising on the scenery.

Trans-Alpine Crossing: This route offers a rare opportunity to traverse the wilds of three countries with relative ease. Beginning in Germany at Tegernsee lake, this seven-day route passes alongside Lake Achensee and across the Zillertal Valley to Sterzing in South Tirol, Italy. It might sound hardcore, but the well-formed trail makes crossing the Alps on foot very achievable, even without loads of gear or experience. It can also be shortened in places using train, boat, or bus links.

5 Peaks Via Ferrata: The Rofans have hosted mountaineering greats such as Mathias ‘Hias’ Rebitsch – who first climbed the eastern face of Rofanspitze with his colleague Sepp Spiegl – and Peter Habeler. But there are routes for every ability – and knowledgeable guides to offer support. This via ferrata is a 2km route leading you through Achensee’s five surrounding peaks. You’re looking at an average altitude of 2,000m, with each via ferrata varying between 180–450m, and a duration of 3–5 hours for the shorter route or 6-8 hours for the normal route.

If all that’s a bit full on, the 150m Buchau via ferrata takes about an hour and casually leads past the Dalfaz waterfall before ending on the hiking trail to the Dalfaz Alm hut.

Meanwhile, rock climbers have over 100 routes to choose from on Achensee’s crags, graded from 2 to 8. There are plenty of challenging multi-pitch routes on the Issplatten, as well as climbs on the Klobenjoch.

The Achensee Run: Easily one of Austria’s most scenic running events, this race has an international pull every September and, at 23.2km in length, is a dash longer than a half-marathon. Participants have the option to enter solo or in a relay team of two, and the race incorporates 14km of relatively flat asphalt before 9.2km of gritty and exhilarating trail running.

ON TWO WHEELS: BIKING

Whether you’re a staunch roadie or a mountain goat on wheels, Achensee boasts 250km of cycling routes for all abilities. The lake itself has a tarmac path winding all the way around its shores, making for a gentle e-bike circular, whilst the surrounding summits are happy to lend their slopes and scree to anyone who wants to fly for moments at a time.

A good place to start planning any route is the Bike Trail Tirol. It’s the longest connected mountain-bike trail in the Alps at 1,000km in length, with a naughty elevation gain of 27,000m! A couple of its stages rest in the palm of Achensee.

Stage 7 from Scharnitz to Achensee is a sexy 61.5km that puts you nose to nose with nature and tests your technicals.
Stage 8 from Achensee to Kaiserhaus carries you over the peak of Kӧgljoch in the Rofan range before swinging you down into the Brandenberg Valley.
Stage 16 from Zell in the Ziller Valley to Achensee is the easiest route in the Bike Trail Tirol, and is a fantastic way to enjoy a cycling experience in the storybook valley.

WINTER ACTIVITIES

As the first flakes fall, wildflower meadows shapeshift into snowscapes, and the mountain slopes become a skier’s playground. With four ski areas and over 30 cable cars and lifts, it’s easy to tap into your adventure of choice.

The network of villages around the lake makes for intimate ski resorts that nurture children or beginners for their first season on skis. But the Rofan wilderness also offers bewitching cross-country trails for Nordic skiers – 200km of world-class routes wind through wintry landscapes. It is often deemed the home of professional cross-country skiing instruction. Gustav Leithner, founder of the Schischule Pertisau, established the first official standards for teaching cross-country skiing here, and they’re still used for qualifying professional instructors today. Pertisau has a designated trail for practising your striding technique on skinny skis, whilst the region’s mix of gentle lakeside hills and steeper climbs in Karwendel caters to skiers of all abilities and disciplines. There’s also a dog-friendly trail.

For those who favour serenity over speed, Achensee’s hikes transform but don’t disappear during winter. Snowshoeing walks are becoming increasingly popular in the region. Slipping silently through valleys, at this time of year walkers are in with a chance of spotting ibexes and golden eagles, as well as the hardy chamois.