Trip to the Pfänder / Bregenz

PART 1

OOO The Pfänder? OOO

The Pfänder is the local mountain of Bregenz and 1064 meters high. From the top you have a great view of Lake Constance.
At days you have a good view, you will see:
- Allgäu and Lech Valley Alps in the east
- The Bregenzerwald
- The summit of the Arlberg region and the Silvretta
- The Swiss mountains
- The foothills of the Black Forest to the west

Below is the Lake of Constance, bordered by the Rhine Valley and the Upper Swabian hills.

OOO The Pfänderbahn? OOO

A cable car with two panoramic gondolas, each for max. 80 people.

*** Where ? ***
The valley station is located in Bregenz (Austria).

*** Timetable ***
The Pfänderbahn is daily operating from 08:00 to 19:00 h.
Schedule trips take place on the hour and half hour
Between trips to the quarter-hour if there are at least 10 passengers,
If required there are every 6 minutes a transport of 80 people.
A ride on the pledges takes 6 minutes!

Company holidays:
5th to 30 November 2012 (annual revision)

*** Prices ***
Adults pay for a roundtrip ride 11.20 EUR.

+++ Our experience / Our opinion +++

We arrived by bicycle to the valley, because it is located very centrally in Bregenz (you can also come on foot, because it is near the harbor, not far from the station).

There are bike racks, which we liked.

There are also lockers at the station. That's great, because then we could store our bags and bicycle helmets there and did not need to carry all this stuff with us.

There are very clean, well maintained toilets.

And for those who walk up and / or go down, there is even a shoe wash.

On the day of our visit, the train was not very busy, there was no queues, but also no in between trips.

The price is acceptable. There is also a cheaper ticket, but only valid from 17:00 h. In the summer you can safely use it as well. If we had waited up to 17:00 h, the spring sun would have probably gone already.

Normally we are not those tourists who book up and down travel. At least one track we walk. So up by food and down by train. The current state of health of my partner did this but unfortunately not. One reason to come back, because I would like to explore the area by foot.

I should perhaps start first with the low level walk from the mountain station Hintermoos (1 1/4 hours) or via the Fluh (1 3/4 hours) to the valley.
I personally find it really attractive the 3-Eintausender-hike: Pfänder (1064), Hochberg (1069) and Hirschberg (1095), for which one should allow approximately 5 hours.
Solid, all-terrain hiking shoes are recommended and tickets are available for about 3 EUR at the ticket office.



PART 2

We also had a stop in a restaurant...

OOO Restaurant Pfänderspitze OOO

*** Opening times ***

Open all year long depending on to weather and season.

In contrast, the Berghaus Pfänder is only open during the summer season (May - September) and the Gasthaus Pfänderdohle only during the winter season (September - May).


+++ Our experience / Our opinion +++

Unfortunately, we arrived in the afternoon due to the weather.

At the time of our visit the weather was really really nice and we had a great views.

We stayed at the restaurant Gasthaus Pfänderspitze
Because of the nice weather we were sitting outside.

At the kiosk you can get food and drinks. The drinks were well tempered. Many other guests also ordered food. At the next table they had Apple pie and I thought it was expensive with 4.50 EUR (only strudel without coffee!). However, we saw that, of course, everything must be brought up here and also cost extra.
Not only sweet things are available. Also ham sandwiches, sausages with potato salad and there's much more.
Honestly ... the range surprised me. At a kiosk, I was so not expecting much.

Also available on newsstands are postcards. Stamps are sold as well! The cards are provided on the back even with a stamp of Pfänder hut. The prices of the cards are normal, there is apparently no "peak charge". 50 cents for a card is okay.

Overall: Recommended!