Labalm

We spent four nights at Labalm, which were the absolute highlight of our vacation in Austria and southern Germany. Most of the other guests there only spent the night and hiked or drove on the next morning or dropped by for lunch during hiking or biking, or for diner and a beer. For these sorts of stays Labalm is perfect but we can definitely also recommend staying an extra night or two to explore the fantastic surrounding area. It is by no means a luxury hotel but a small simple family run “gasthof“ with very few rooms, shared toilet and bathroom (and a little too short beds if you’re a tall guy) – but set in the middle of the most beautiful alpine nature with hiking trails of all sorts starting right by the front door. Though the town of Kirchberg is only 25 min. by car there are absolutely no crowds of tourists and you have the trails almost to yourself - contrary to the much busier (and less attractive) trails around Kirchberg and Kitsbühel near by. The kitchen serves very well-made traditional Austrian dishes. Especially the breakfast was much better than what we had expected at the rate we paid, and much much better than at the more than twice as expensive hotel we spent our next nights at on our trip. The bread was standard but the selection of ham, cheese, marmalade, honey, eggs, not to mention the homemade youghurt(!) and the stewed berries to go with it was just delicious. Another asset of the place was the hosts Harald and Hanni. They were not completely fluent in English but we managed just fine, and they really succeeded in making our stay perfect guiding us to the best trails, making us lunch packs and just generally making us feel at home. On our first day hiking we ended up returning later than planned, and they actually called us to check up on if we were ok. So go for the great trails and surrounding nature, the peace and quite only stirred by cow bells and rippling mountain streams, the heart-warming food and the welcoming hosts. Its especially perfect for hikers and bikers, and those of the other guests that brought children also looked happy. If you need a large room with private bathroom, TV and WIFI stay in Kirchberg or Kitsbühel instead and take a daytrip to Labalm combining a day or a half of hiking with a lunch with a view.