Culinary winter walk in Austria - in glorious Vorarlberg!

Writer: Helena Bergström

Updated: September 2026 | We have done a culinary winter hike in Austria, more specifically in the Bregenzerwald in Vorarlberg. This was a full day with a fantastically beautiful hike in the Alps and delicious Austrian food.

Culinary winter walk in Austria - discover Bregenzerwald in Vorarlberg

An enjoyable experience they offer in the Bregenzerwald region, in the Austrian federal state of Vorarlberg, is 'culinary winter hiking'. There are a bunch of different hiking trails to choose from, and along the route you can enjoy breakfast, lunch and afternoon coffee. The trail we followed is in Damüls, which you can see on the map below.

Culinary winter walk in Austria

We did the hike called "Culinary Winter Hike - Damüls", in co-operation with Visit Vorarlberg, and got vouchers for the three restaurants along the way. We also got a small brochure with a map, describing the hiking trail and the different stops.

Time for a culinary winter walk in Austria

We started from Hotel Rössle in the village of Au, where we chose to skip breakfast this morning. Instead, we went straight to the local bus, which took us to Damüls.

With hindsight, we know that there are several bus stops in Damüls, and it would have been smart to ask the bus driver for advice to get off at exactly the right place. Our little mistake was easily corrected, however, by hopping on the next bus and travelling two more stations to get to the breakfast restaurant and the start of the hike.

Breakfast at Hotel Alpenstern

The first restaurant on the culinary winter walk was the Hotel Alpenstern, where breakfast was served. This hotel feels wonderfully fresh and luxurious and has an incredible view of the surrounding mountains (see top photo in the article).

The breakfast was also very good. We picked from the buffet and enjoyed, among other things, unusually good scrambled eggs, cold smoked salmon, good cheeses and yoghurt with crispy granola. If we had wanted to, we could also have ordered, for example, an omelette or French toast from the menu.

Walking from breakfast to lunch

After breakfast we were ready to start our winter hike, which would slowly take us towards lunch. We went out at the back of Hotel Alpenstern and ended up directly on the hiking trail "Winterwanderweg". This is a ploughed hiking trail up in the Alps, which allows you to walk with normal winter shoes, without sinking through the snow.

The landscape is incredibly beautiful. All around you are surrounded by white snow and high pointed alpine peaks.

Occasionally you will pass a ski lift or a downhill ski slope.

After a short hike, we arrived at a beautiful spot that seemed like a natural place to take a break. There's a small chapel and cross, a swing, a seating area in the shape of a section of a ski lift and, above all, an absolutely stunning view. We sat down for a break and ended up next to a Swedish man. It was both a nice conversation and a really enjoyable moment in the sun.

We then continued the walk in the direction of the lunch restaurant, and the landscape continued to offer fantastic views.

Lunch at Alpgasthof Jägerstüble

We had lunch at a restaurant called "Alpgasthof Jägerstüble". This place also offered beautiful views, and the atmosphere inside was great. It was a bit difficult to find a free seat, but a German family crowded together so that we could fit in. Then we had a nice chat with them during lunch!

With our vouchers, we could choose between wienerschnitzel and käsknöpfle (spätzle with cheese). We each ordered a dish and shared. It was both good and hearty Austrian food we can promise!

Walking from lunch to coffee

After lunch you turn around and walk back towards Damüls, but you now take a different route, a little further down the mountain. It was still white and beautiful, and we passed high mountains, small huts with cute shutters and skiers cheering happily.

We felt that a walk after lunch was a good idea, and hoped that we would have enough time to shake down the schnitzel and knöpflen before it was time for fika ...

Coffee at Damülser Hof

The last stop on this culinary winter walk in Austria is a coffee at the Damülser Hof in Damüls. Here you could choose between apfelstrudel and topfenstrudel, and we chose one of each so we could share and try both. In retrospect, we thought the apfelstrudel was perhaps the better choice, but the topfenstrudel, which is filled with cream cheese, was also very good.

A delightful culinary winter walk in Austria

All in all, we can say that this culinary winter hike in Austria was a truly wonderful experience. According to the brochure, we hiked 10.6 kilometers, but even though some sections were slightly uphill, it felt shorter.

Maybe because it was so incredibly beautiful and because there was plenty of time to rest – both outside in the sun and inside at a restaurant. After the day was over, we were both very tired, in a nice way!

Where can you live?

We started from Hotel Rössle in the village of Au, and we can highly recommend this hotel. This is a very cosy and homely hotel, with great staff and very good food.

More to see and do in the neighbourhood

Once you've completed a culinary winter hike in Austria, or more specifically in the Bregenzerwald in Vorarlberg, there is of course plenty more to see and do nearby. Here are some more tips:

• Cross-country skiing in Austria
• Things to do in Bregenz
• All our tips about Vorarlberg