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When you think of an active Alpine holiday—complete with mountain meadow hikes, world-class dining, and ample skiing—you may immediately think of Tyrol, home to the famous winter sports destination of Innsbruck. But veer just to the left, and you’ll come across a place where modern art and design ethos, culinary tradition, and deep connection to nature form a tight bond: Vorarlberg. It may be one of Austria’s smallest states (second only to Vienna), but the country’s westernmost Alpine region packs an impressive punch.
This year, a host of new accommodations are arriving on the scene, including this mobile standalone glass-and-wood lodge in Brandnertal, the very first of its kind; this family-friendly hotel in Montafon, the only five-star Leading Hotels of the World property in a German-speaking country; and this Alpine eco-lodge in Lech made entirely of larch, spruce, and stone pine. For lovers of slick, stylish design, there’s never been a better time to visit.
Bordering Germany, Switzerland, and Lichtenstein, Vorarlberg has traditionally been closer to the Germanic mindset than to the Austro-Hungarian one. Geographically isolated from the rest of Austria by the Arlberg mountain range, it was a place where a distinct culture developed: one where a culture of craftsmanship and self-sufficiency could flourish. “The people of Vorarlberg are industrious,” says Helga Rädler, a local cultural guide. “They used to put their rest benches to the back of the house so that no one could see them when they were taking a break.”
Fear not, though: traveling throughout Vorarlberg is as relaxing as rumbling through mountainside meadows can get. Like its neighbors, Vorarlberg has plenty of traditional Alpine appeal. Wooden houses are typically clad with shingles—a 19th-century innovation that allows structures to withstand changing weather by expanding in the rain and contracting in the sun—while flowering fields are filled with roaming cows, overshadowed by some of Europe’s tallest peaks. And amid all this, you’ll also spot plenty of world-class contemporary architecture, a rich culture of regional gastronomy, and a range of conceptual art that extends all the way up to the clouds.
Vorarlberg’s unusual architectural traditions can trace their roots back to Michael Beer, a 17th-century artisan who wanted his village, Au, to be known for woodworking. According to Andreas Rudigier, director of the Vorarlberg Museum in the region’s capital of Bregenz, skilled builders started traveling from Vorarlberg to neighboring countries in the 17th and 18th centuries to practice their craft, then brought all that knowledge back home. Liberal construction laws also allowed bold new forms of architecture to be erected here. The architectural aesthetic was propelled even further forward in the 1970s, when a new crop of local architects who called themselves “construction artists” set out to create design that is in constant conversation with the surrounding landscapes.
Using locally-sourced glass and timber, these structures are united by an emphasis on clean lines and futuristic shapes, while coexisting with old farmhouses and cows grazing on verdant pastures so particular to this corner of the world. In Krumbach, a 1,000-strong village outside of Bregenz, the renovation of a bus stop ended up turning into a global affair when leading architects from countries like Japan and Chile teamed up with local craft groups to design seven imaginative new stops for public use. Pritzker Prize-winning architect Wang Shu from China built the wooden Glatzegg stop in the shape of a camera obscura, while Belgian trio De Vylder, Vinck, and Taillieu dreamt up the metal Unterkrumback Süd, molded at a sharp angle reminiscent of nearby snow-laden mountains. “We simply wanted to make more out of our bus shelters,” says Krumbach’s globetrotting mayor Arnold Hirschbühl, who was the brains behind the idea.
In the nearby village of Hittisau—a hiker hotspot in the summer—a museum launched in 2000 celebrates the cultural achievements of women. The award-winning Hittisau Women’s Museum (the only one of its kind in Austria) sits atop a village fire brigade in a building made of local silver fir with a floor-to-ceiling glass front. Here, exhibits on the history of marriage commingle with rooms “for birth and senses”; a walk-in clay sculpture that serves as a prototype for the ideal space within which to deliver a baby.
Just like their ancestors who moved in and out of Vorarlberg while honing their craft, the people of the region are constantly on the move today, guided by the centuries-old agricultural tradition of “three-step Alpine transhumance.” Inscribed into Austria’s UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, it’s a practice used by local farmers to this day that involves migrating with their cattle through a trio of stages. During the winter, cows spend time in barns eating air-dried local hay. In the spring and fall, farmers move their cows in and out of Vorsäß, lower mountain pastures nearby (the celebratory Alpabtrieb event in the Fall invites travelers to partake in this tradition too). Summer months are spent in higher-altitude Alpes, where cows load up on herbs and grass, churning out silo-free milk that the region’s 70 or so creameries use to hand produce 200 tons of Alpkäse, the exquisite Vorarlberg cheese which takes on the meadow’s aromatic flavor.
This practice of tracing ingredients to the nearest meadow extends to the region’s many high gastronomy restaurants, from the lakefront Pier 69 in Bregenz serving leeks with Vorarlberg veal tongue, to the experimentation kitchen inside Gasthof Hirschen hotel in nearby Schwarzenberg, where chef Jonathan Burger uses fermentation methods like koji and ingredients from Hirschen’s own garden and working dairy farm up the slopes to serve crowd-favorites, like marinated grilled artichokes with fermented yogurt and Käsknöpfle, a traditional egg dish with cheese and roasted onions.
Although Hirschen is known for its healthy obsession with food, it’s also a cultural institution all of its own. Inside the 18th-century heritage guesthouse, no two rooms are the same, and works by Hirschen resident artists such as Hanna Burkart, a multimedia creator, hang on the walls. “While young people tend to leave for the big cities, most of them return, driving the urban-minded spirit and the quality of architecture, design, and hospitality in the region,” says owner Peter Fetz, Hirschen’s tenth-generation hotelier.
South of Schwarzenberg lies Arlberg, the birthplace of Alpine skiing, which over the years has grown to become Austria’s largest connected ski area. In Arlberg, a network of hikes passes by nearly two hundred miles of ski slopes, over a hundred lifts, and jagged mountain peaks at every turn. The Lechweg trail connects two ski resort villages, Warth and Lech, through a river canyon track that takes hikers past grazing cattle, thickets of wild blueberries, and high-altitude farmhouses, active in the summer and abandoned for the rest of the year. The talk of the town this year is Schualhus, the refurbished alpine dairy at the gourmet hotel Rote Wand in Lech, where Austria’s hottest chef, 28-year-old Julien Stieger now serves ultra-local ingredients like char from a nearby lake at Chef’s Table, a multi-course dining experience guests travel for from around the world.
At 4,738 feet, Lech is also known for Skyspace Lech, one of over eighty signature “Skyspaces” around the world by the renowned artist James Turrell. An unassuming structure blending into an earthen hill, the oval-shaped room with an opening toward the sky is accessed through a tunnel that carefully aligns to deliver center-stage views of Biberkopf peak, the Alpine giant on the border of Austria and Germany. Stepping inside the austere room is akin to turning your phone on “do not disturb” mode. As the lights shift between deep blue, bright red, and soothing green, it fosters both a sense of awe and a feeling of union with nature—everything you could want from a break in Vorarlberg.
What to do
Book a culinary hike through KäseStrasse, an association of Vorarlberg cheesemakers, farmers, restaurants, and museums that helps travelers embark on the Alpine cheese routes through the region. In Montafon, Vorarlberg’s southernmost tip, don’t miss Biohof Mathies. At this stone sheep farm, two enthusiasts have been working on bringing a rare breed back from near extinction (you can even adopt a sheep or purchase custom-made sheep wool products). Hotel Sandhof in Lech offers al fresco dinners for guests and village residents coming together at the “village table” every summer.
How to get there
A six-hour train ride takes you from Vienna to Bregenz, Vorarlberg’s capital city. You can also fly into Zurich, the nearest airport, and take a two-hour train into Bregenz. Once inside the region, take a local bus or train via a well-connected public transport system with frequent service. Vorarlberg Guest Card gives you access to cable cars, public transport, museums, and swimming pools throughout the region, available for pick up at local tourism offices.
Where to stay
Post Bezau 40 minutes south of Bregenz is a medical spa hotel by Susanne Kaufmann with several beauty, detox, and yoga treatments. At Ifen Hotel in Kleinwalsertal near Lech, chef Sascha Kemmerer serves dishes with oxtail and suckling veal from nearby farms at the Michelin-starred Kilian Stuba. At sustainability-focused Goldener Berg with a 600-year-old history, a stunning view of the Rüfikopf peak opens up from the boho-style rooms at 2,300 feet where mountain living includes programs like Alpine bathing, alkaline fasting, and silent retreats.