“Powdery snow, sunshine, and the Zugspitze mountain–these three words describe my first Winter Wonderland holiday experience in Austria!”

Last week, my little family went for our first holiday for 2017  in Austria. We thought that it’s a great chance to escape for a while and have a family getaway since here in Bavaria ,we have 2 weeks for the Christmas break and we are really itching to go on a short trip. It’s my first winter wonderland experience and what an experience it was! I was so excited to welcome the new year and to go on this trip to finally see the Alps and seeing it for the first time was really overwhelming. Arriving in Ehrwald,the biggest village, where we start our adventure gave us a chance to see the quaint life and culture in this small Tyrolian village in the Wetterstein mountain chain in the area of the Tiroler Zugspitz Arena.

The Alps has an unforgettable beauty, and now I knew why my husband spent most of his childhood holidays here. It has for sure a different charm during Summer, Spring and Fall, but seeing the Alps in Winter is so breath-taking!

The highlights of our trip was our trip going up to the Ehrwalder Almbahn where my 2 year- old daughter & I rode the cable car up to the mountains and had magnificent views up in the ski resort. We stroll along the villages of Ehrwald ,Lermoos and Biberwier and watch the Austrian life goes by. There has been lots of playtime in the snow, sight-seeing,tasting the local food. We had the adventurous hiking trail as we explored the nearby villages. Trekking & hiking in the winter wonderland here in Tiroler Zugspitze Arena brought a new height to my Wandertag where I saw glittering lakes and glowing springs. With a toddler on tow, we are limited on some activities since she is too young  but we managed to enjoy each day! The sight of horses, donkeys and goats,even Alpacas is something that we never expected to see but it was there. We’ve met wonderful people, and created lots of memories.

Our trip from Ingolstadt to Ehrwald up to Biberwier offers a lot of majestic views and I thought that the trip was even short, maybe because I was too engrossed admiring the views. As as soon as we reached our Pension House in Biberwier, the sight of this Winter Wonderland gets into my system further more. I inhaled the crisp winter air and feasted my eyes on all the foreign things around me, the landscape,which shows natural beauty of nature. The people, the scenery, the flow of life in the village, and the coziness of the place made our trip worthwhile. We had a smooth 3.5 hours train travel and my daughter was the best jet setter travel buddy. She behaved so well in the train, she played, took her nap and enjoyed the train views as well.  It was a sunny Tuesday afternoon when we arrived and I was even more glad that we have a nice weather to welcome us in Austria.The weather suddenly changed on the following day and  did not expect the heavy snowfall which made us cancel our planned trip to go up the peak of the Zugspitze. It was snowing heavily that it become hard for us to push the stroller in the knee-deep snow and winds and it’s not a great day to enjoy the views up there.

Even if you don’t plan to ski or do winter sports, a trip to this place offers so much. Nature has so much wonder that this place is heaven for a nature lover like me. The local Tourism Center has a daily program of activities for all visitors to enjoy.The Alps is simply  breathtaking ,with all the trees covered in snow  on its bottom, and the valleys covered in whiteness is something that I did not expect to see. The shadow cast of the sun is so magical that I could stare at it for hours. One of the unforgettable experience I had is watching the sunset here. The sun slowly goes down and cast a magical brownish shade against the pine trees. I watched it with glee.

The views from our room are totally priceless. I am so glad that we have stayed in Gästehaus Panorama where we have a panoramic view  every single day! The mountains are calling us, the nearby Marienberg ski resort, and the winter wonderland valley sights brought us beautiful mornings each day. We literally woke up, ate, lounge, and sleep with this view! It’s all like a dream.Watching the snow fall each night is so magical, like a chapter of a book that you don’t want to put down.

I never imagined that winter could be this beautiful. On a sunny day, the snow glistened like diamonds against the bright sun. Now I know why you need to wear your shades especially when you are up in the mountain where everything is just covered in snow.The pine trees are standing so pretty with its thick snow covering its leaves, just like what I imagined it to be. Travelling with a toddler in a cold, freezing, winter wonderland here in Zugspitze Arena is possible and a trip that I would recommend to any family.

Also, what a coincidence that today was my first (1 YEAR)  year anniversary with WordPress. It’s been a year when I registered and created this Blog and thought that this post is just timely to celebrate a year of fruitful writing my Expat life and sharing with you here. For my followers,thank you all for being with me here and reading my posts!

Stay tuned for more posts of our holiday in Austria!