Ischgl is a beautiful resort village in the Austrian Tyrol. It is a skier’s dream in winter and a hikers paradise in the summer with impressive mountain peaks and lush green mountains.
Situated in the magnificent Paznaun valley, Ischgl is rated as one of Austria’s top ski resorts, with 239 kilometres of slopes and a 5-month long snow-sure guarantee for both skiers and snowboarders thanks to its altitude and elevation, supported by 1,100 snow cannons.
This charming Tyrolean village is fast becoming a premier ski destination in Europe and even though it has only 1,500 residents, during high season all of its 11,700 guest beds are usually fully booked. The resort offers a wide choice of smart luxury hotels, fine dining restaurants, designer stores, dreamy spas and outdoor swimming pools.It is also well-known for a lively après-ski atmosphere and a vibrant nightlife with plenty of bars and night spots.
We travelled to Ischgl in July for the opening of a new edition of “The culinary St Jacob’s Way”, an event that makes high-end food available to hikers.
Every summer since 2008, a group of award-winning chefs from Europe, create a signature dish inspired by the Alps and Alpine gastronomy. The dishes are then available on the menu of five elected mountain inns in the Paznaun valley villages of Ischgl, Galtür, Kappl and See. This event attracts gourmets and gourmands from all over the world so no wonder star-awarded chefs love taking part with their creations.
This year, the UK representative is Michelin star chef James Knappett, whose dish will be available until September at the Almstüberl hut in Kappl. Also taking part are Michelin star chefs from Germany (Tristan Brandt), France ( Jean-Georges Klein), the Netherlands (Onno Kokmeijer) and Austria (Paul Ivic). The patron of the project is the renown Gault Millau guide ‘Chef of the Century’ from 1994, Eckart Witzigmann.
Hiking towards one of the 5 mountain huts to eat award winning cuisine is a memorable experience as you are surrounded by the Silvretta mountain rage of the Alps. Along the journey, you will come across wonderful mountain vistas, local wildlife such as Alpine marmots and the prettiest Alpine flowers.
For our first hike, we set off from Ischgl and walked towards the Heidelberger Lodge, a mountain hut located in the Silvretta in the Swiss canton of Graubunden. Here, the five chefs presented their dishes, which were meat based except for Paul Ivic vegetarian creation (he is after all, the head chef of Tian, a vegetarian restaurant in Vienna with a Michelin star)
Local hero Martin Sieberer, one of Austria’s most decorated chefs, is the talent responsible for coordinating the chefs and their dishes . Martin is the head chef at the Hotel Trofana Royal and for the opening gala dinner of the event, he prepared an impressive banquet that included artic char, veal, chanterelle ravioli, or granité of champagne and lemon verbena in a frozen oyster.
Not surprisingly, the most demanding connoisseurs are raving about the creations he serves in the gourmet restaurants of the Trofana Royal; “Paznaunerstube” and “Heimatbühne”, and the wonderful wines available at the famous von Der Thannen wine cellar.
Aside from the Trofana Royal there are many other captivating options for a unique culinary experience, such as the Hotel Tirol-restaurant and Restaurant Stüva. Fine dining based on traditional Tyrolean cuisine is served at the Hotel Tirol where you can enjoy the best ingredients of the region. Their menu includes Tyrolean mountain trout, Paznaun Alp Veal or a delicious Paznaun berry shuffle.
Restaurant Stüva made for a different experience, here the menu is contemporary, bold, minimalist. Chef of the year 2019, Benjamin Parth, is the head chef at this stylish, no frills location where the dishes looked as if they were making a creative statement with the intention of exciting the palate, which they did because it was all about the taste.
As for places to stay, the Hotel Trofana Royal is the best option for the ultimate luxury holiday, it is the only 5-star superior hotel in Austria awarded with 5 toques by Gault-Millau. It also has an incredible “Royal SPA” area measuring 2500 m² that is an oasis of relaxation.
Ischgl is a superb destination if you like to spend your summer holidays amid breathtaking scenery and enjoy hiking, cycling and swimming in outdoors pools. All the main summer events take place till September and other holiday activities aside from hiking, include mountain biking, e-biking, bouldering, motorcycling, trail running, fishing or mini-golf.
A perk for holidaymakers in the Paznaun villages of Ischgl, Galtür, Kappl and See is that they receive a Silvretta Card which allows free use of cablecars, chairlifts and buses, swimming pools and water parks, museums and exhibitions.
From the U.K, Innsbruck is the nearest airport to Ischgl, with a 75 minute road transfer. You can also fly to Zurich and take a train to Landeck. From Landeck, it is a 30 minute taxi journey to Ischgl.
During our visit to Ischgl, we stayed at the superior Hotel Fliana , which has many offers in the summer, from 390 euros pp for 2 nights with breakfast.
Find out more information about Ischgl
Amancay Tapia is a freelance journalist and filmmaker. She writes regularly for The Independent, Metro Online or the HuffPost, as well as running her own lifestyle website The Lady of The World.
