Feldkirch, Brand and Reutte Austria

Since leaving Ebenalp, Switzerland on Thursday, we've visited The Heidiland (the place that inspired Johanna Spyri to write the Heidi novels. [The name of the town we visited is Maienfeld.]). Liechtenstein, Feldkirch, Brand, and Reutte, Austria; Neuschwanstein in Germany, and a southern portion of the "Romantic Road".

I'll get to the others in the next post, but Feldkirch, Brand and Reutte Austria are really our favorite places so far.

In general, we prefer Austria to Switzerland. We'll end the trip in Switzerland so we might change our minds, but Austria is more relaxed; blue collar (though just as clean and scenic); the people are more friendly (on the roads and on the street); and it is much much cheaper. For example, the Swiss campground with the $1.04 showers and early-running cement mixers cost over $80 for the two nights we stayed there, and dinner in the restaurant was $70 even though the boy ordered nothing while still on a hunger strike.

In Feldkirch, Austria, it cost $55 for two nights, the showers are free and so is a very nice water park attached to the campground (pictures below). Dinner at the park (though only pizza and drinks were ordered) was only about $25.




This brings me to the other great thing about Austria--it is incredibly family friendly. In Feldkirch town, they made space for a small playground in the Old Town area next to the river and a 600-year-old water tower. Also--and this is key--a locked bike is the exception and not the rule. We saw tween-aged kids running around town with their friends, then drop their bikes in front of an ice cream shop, and run in without locking their bikes. At the market platz, we must have seen 20 or more newer, unguarded bikes to the side, behind the kiosks. For a child whose bike was recently stolen off our porch (my son), and parents who are still angry about it, this made a big impression.

In Brand, there are miniature goats along the road that lead children to a small free petting zoo when chased. In the small zoo, there are donkeys; llamas; chickens; ducks; pigs; and peacocks (and their free discarded feathers standing beside the cage). For children who are not impressed by the cable car, the glacier fed river valley, or the nauseating car ride in and around mountains of Brand, this is a big deal.

Another example of Austria's kid-friendly nature was found on a mountain road wayside on the way to Reutte where--for reasons not apparent--they were bar-be-queuing, giving out balloons and crowns, and encouraging kids to jump in the free moon bounce.

Below are some pictures of the Alt Stadt (Old Town) area of Feldkirch, and the lake in front of our campground in Reutte.

© 2012 Nicole Wirth
Author of:  Letters to Salthill