Tyrolean Lunch for Two (by Ski!)
Skinny skis on the chair lift in Seiser Alm, Italy.
Last month Lumi Experience’s Marketing Manager, Lauren Honican, traveled to Seefeld, Austria and Seiser Alm, Italy with her partner Myles to experience our self-guided trip in both destinations. She took a few moments to reflect on their travels below…
Spending time in these two world-renowned ski destinations really hit home how awesome transportation is in Europe. Our travels by plane, bike, train, taxi, bus, ski, gondola, and even chairlift were super smooth. I was amazed to discover how easy it is to travel (even with four pairs of skis—everyone does it!) between three different States / Provinces, and three different countries.
In Seefeld and Seiser Alm, it was all about the skiing infrastructure. Just like in Munich and other big European cities, where everyone is on bikes—in Seefeld and Seiser Alm, everyone is on skis! My favorite part about this: there are tons of restaurants that are only accessible by ski.
Trail sign pointing to one of our favorite trail-side huts in Seefeld, Austria.
Seefeld, once a farming village, has been a popular holiday destination since the early 20th century. In a plateau surrounded by mountains, it’s connected to the Austrian city Innsbruck by a short train ride. As the host of several elite cross-country ski events – two Winter Olympics, three World Championships, and a number of World Cups – it has all the ski infrastructure, even a ski jump, which you can see from the hotel’s dining room. Neighboring villages like Leutasch are easy to reach by bus and add to the already extensive trail options, creating a 245 km trail network in all. It makes sense why Seefeld is such a popular training destination for elite skiers!
View of the Leutasch Valley, neighbor to Seefeld, Austria.
Back to the trail-side restaurants! The skiing in Leutasch is a skate skiers dream: trails criss-cross through farm fields in a valley with mountains all around. There are options for lunch along the trail. Do you want cozy with traditional dishes like Hauswurst (Tyrolean sausages) or vegan / vegetarian fare made with ingredients from the Leutasch valley in a newly built Larch-wood dining room? You can’t go wrong.
A cozy trail-side hut in Seefeld, Austria.
There are even more trail-side restaurants to explore along the Seefeld trails. You can ski from one to the other on one of our favorite ski loops. Sample the Kaiserschmarrn (shredded pancakes) at one, ski amazing trails, and then try the innkeeper’s famous apple strudel at another. Guten appetit!
Views from a trail-side restaurant in Seefeld, Austria.
To reach Seiser Alm, we cruised up 5,600’ in a gondola to a plateau that stretches out to Dolomite spires extending from the horizon. Renown for both its alpine and cross-country skiing, Seiser Alm (Alm meaning seasonal mountain pasture in German) is the largest high-elevation plateau in Europe. A short walk from the gondola station is the modern, sleek Lumi hotel with ski trails all around.
Views from above Seiser Alm, Italy.
We clipped into our skinny skis and set out to find our late-afternoon lunch spot, Lumi’s favorite restaurant in Seiser Alm. The chef has been running the restaurant since 2000, and his family has owned the 10 hectares around the hut for 400 years. His eight Simmentals graze the pastures around the hut in the summer, but in the winter it’s an alpine ski slope. This makes the hut an adventure to reach for cross-country skiers… (hence the first photo on the chairlift…) It’s definitely worth it!
A table for two at our favorite restaurant in Seiser Alm, Italy.
We started with a rose spritz made with rose petals from their two-hectare farm in the valley below. The next course, hay soup, filled our bellies and warmed us right up. Served in a delicious bread bowl, the soup is not actually made with hay, but from a variety of flowers and herbs that the cows also graze on in the summertime. They’re harvested from the pastures around the hut and then dried to make this special winter dish.
The chef is well-known for his cheesemaking. We got to taste seven different cheeses that he makes with milk from the Simmentals in the summertime and then ages in the newly renovated basement of the restaurant. He’s keeping alive a long-time family tradition: one of the cheese recipes comes from his grandmother.
Mountain view from the patio of our favorite restaurant in Seiser Alm, Italy.
We finished the meal just in time to ski back to our hotel at sunset, when the Dolomite spires glow as dusk sets on the plateau. Buona notte!
Sunset views on the Seiser Alm plateau.
Dusk falling on the cross-country ski trails that start at Compatsch in Seiser Alm, Italy.
Do you also dream of a cross-country ski vacation with your partner or friends in the Austrian & Italian Dolomites? The dates for our self-guided version of the trip are flexible for your winter schedule.
Prefer to adventure with your friends and make new ones? Check out our group trip to Seefeld & Seiser Alm for the best of cross-country skiing in the Dolomites, with plenty of trail-side restaurants and fun people.
Bonus! We're offering $300 savings per person on all Lumi Experiences 2024 trips booked before 3/31.
Happy trails from a happy traveler,
Lauren Honican
info@lumiexperiences.com