Keen to experience new soundscapes, go on architecture trails, enjoy time out in nature or savour culinary delights? Vorarlberg is full of destinations to explore and things to do. And what's more, a well-developed public transport system will take you everywhere you want to go.

Well-connected

No need for a car when visiting Vorarlberg, as destinations in the region are easily accessible by train or bus. All schedules have been smartly coordinated, and you can take your bike with you on most trains. Using public transport also comes with lots of extra benefits. A number of event tickets as well as museum tickets purchased online include the trip to and from the venue on public transport within Vorarlberg. Among others, the scheme includes the Bregenz Festival, Kunsthaus Bregenz, vorarlberg museum and the Vorarlberg Landestheater in Bregenz. The same applies if you book a round trip, special cruise or event cruise on one of the Vorarlberg Lines ships or the historic motor ship OESTERREICH or steam ship Hohentwiel. Trains and buses make getting to numerous other events and destinations easy as pie. Hop-on-hop-off is the motto for exploring all of Vorarlberg.

Get moving

Vorarlberg's great variety of mountains and valleys offers prime destinations for hiking and biking afficionados. In many places, cableways and similar means of transport will take you up or down a mountain in a jiffy. Choose from a plethora of themed hiking paths that tell stories or feature interesting artwork. Marvel at landslide-inspired sculptures along the Geotrail Rindberg in Bregenzerwald or the installations set up along the Gauertal AlpKulTour trail in Montafon. Whether you prefer mountain bikes or e-bikes, you will find one for hire nearly everywhere, along with an extensive offer of guided tours. Downhillers will find exciting trails to practice their sport, for instance in Bikepark Brandnertal. In the interest of nature conservation and animal welfare, be mindful and follow the guidance of the “Respektiere deine Grenzen” campaign.

New perspectives

Vorarlberg's towns and villages are a testament to the region's outstanding architecture, design and craftsmanship: contemporary, bold, clean-lined and sustainable are attributes that spring to mind. Timber is the building material of choice here. If you plan to go on Architecture Trails, you can choose from seven different routes, all of which can be easily undertaken by public transport, too. On these tours, you will encounter remarkable buildings as well as innovative Vorarlberg craftsmanship and design. Another way to gain insights into Vorarlberg's architecture and culture are the twelve themed “Umgang Bregenzerwald“ trails or the “Walser Kulturwege“ trails. The Werkraum Building in Andelsbuch in Bregenzerwald showcases creative craftsmanship.

Culinary delights

Be it in traditional taverns, mountain inns, alpine huts or one of the many award-winning restaurants renowned for their creative cuisine, you will always find excellent food on your plate anywhere in Vorarlberg. Chefs rely on regionally sourced produce wherever possible. Alpine farmsteads and dairies produce the cheese that makes “Kässpätzle”, a traditional local dish, such a pleasure for the taste buds. Fresh fish comes directly from Lake Constance or from sustainably managed fish farms. Fruit and vegetables are grown on the fertile land around Lake Constance. Hand-crafted delicacies, from chocolates to fine spirits, abound. Farm shops and weekly markets in towns and villages offer all kinds of special treats.

Heartfelt hospitality

Vorarlberg is known both for its well-appointed hotels, most of which are family-run, and for its hosts, who make sure you will have a pleasurable and safe stay. Many hotels combine traditional architecture with contemporary touches, with interior design features supplied by innovative craftspeople. Recent upgrades often include spacious and light-filled spa areas. B&Bs, holiday homes and apartments offer theirs guests equally stylish interiors.

Cultural pursuits

Opera on Lake Constance, pop music in Feldkirch, jazz in Montafon: Vorarlberg has a lot on offer for culture vultures. The Bregenz Festival with its open-air opera performances on the spectacular lake-side stage is the highlight of the season. The poolbar pop culture festival, which is staged partly out in the open, partly in Feldkirch's indoor pool turned festival venue, is a hotspot for cultural discourse, design and live music. The poolbar festival celebrates its 30th anniversary this summer.

Classical music and song are the focus of the Schubertiade concerts held in Hohenems and Schwarzenberg in Bregenzerwald. The Montafoner Resonanzen present a diverse selection of concerts ranging from folk music to jazz. Lech Zürs am Arlberg has jazz and classical music on its cultural menu. Literaricum Lech takes attendants on a journey through the world of literature. FAQ Bregenzerwald is a forum cum festival, with culinary outings to boost. Many other events, small and large, round off Vorarlberg's summer festival season.

Thought-provoking exhibitions

Vorarlberg's museums and exhibition spaces give visitors access to a range of different experiences. Changing exhibitions have lovers of contemporary art flocking to Kunsthaus Bregenz. Also in Bregenz, the vorarlberg museum shows several permanent exhibitions as well as changing special exhibitions. Families and those with a penchant for experiments are drawn to inatura, the interactive nature show in Dornbirn. The Jewish Museum in Hohenems features changing exhibitions on current issues, as does the Women's Museum in Hittisau, the only one of its kind in Austria. Just a few miles down the road, the new Museum of Baroque Master Builders in Au presents the inspiring history of the local master builders who in the 17th and 18th centuries ventured out to erect some 800 baroque buildings in Southern Germany, Switzerland and Alsace.

Astonishing encounters

Now what is this? – a question that may have popped into the mind of many a visitor out on a stroll or bike ride. There are places in Vorarlberg where you can happen upon astonishing artwork in public spaces. Check out the promenade along Lake Constance in Bregenz, the Säger bridge in Dornbirn, the Silvretta Bielerhöhe mountain top in Montafon or Lech Zürs am Arlberg, where US artist James Turrell created his Skyspace Lech.

New in Vorarlberg in summer 2023

Renovation of the Bregenz Festival: From summer 2023, visitors to the Bregenz Festival's lake performances will be seated on new chairs. All 6,700 chairs and seat shells will be replaced. In the future, there will also be more accessible seats. At the same time, the Bregenz Festival is also renovating the substructure of the grandstand and widening the walkway along Lake Constance that runs through the grandstand. The Bregenz Festival will take place from 19 July to 20 August 2023.

Literaturhaus Hohenems: Since 2015, the literatur:vorarlberg network has been the analogue and digital platform for Vorarlberg's literary scene. From 2023/2024 literature will also have a home: the new Literaturhaus Hohenems will be built in the carefully renovated Villa Iwan and Franziska Rosenthal in the centre of Hohenems. As a venue for literary events, workshops and various projects, it will make literature even more audible and visible throughout the country. The podcast "Radetzkystraße 1" also provides insights. In the episodes, guests have their say who are connected with the literary landscape and the emergence of the Literaturhaus.

Audio Bike Trail "Über die Grenze" of the Jewish Museum Hohenems: On the 100-kilometre-long Audio Bike Trail "Across the Border", cyclists experience history at first hand. Thousands of refugees tried to reach Switzerland from Vorarlberg between 1938 and 1945. Along cycle route no. 1 from Bregenz to the Silvretta and at selected locations in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, 52 symbolic border stones mark listening stations with adventurous and poignant stories of escape. By scanning the QR codes, cyclists are invited to engage with the history of the respective place, to pause and to perceive the surroundings attentively. From July to the beginning of September, guided bike tours will shed light on individual fates and thus create a multi-layered picture of the time.

Virtual architectural tour of the Kunsthaus Bregenz: The Kunsthaus Bregenz (KUB) is a building planned by the well-known Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. Interested visitors can now explore the glass cube and its special architecture virtually. The digital architectural tour offers previously unknown insights. It shows and explains parts of the building that are not accessible to visitors, for example the roof, the intermediate ceilings, the technical rooms and workshops. The 360° exterior view of the building with a view over Bregenz is also impressive.

Culinary cycling in the Bregenzerwald - Lingenau: New in the Bregenzerwald range is the sporty (e)-mountain bike tour under the motto "Culinary cycling", which can be booked as a day package, now also in Lingenau in addition to Mellau. It leads from breakfast in Lingenau through the beautifully located Schetteregg alpine pasture area. Lunch awaits you in Sibratsgfäll. The small village at 930 metres altitude lies in the Nagelfluhkette Nature Park. Nagelfluh refers to a rock conglomerate. Through a typical plenter forest, a sustainably managed forest, we return to Lingenau for dessert. Included in the price, apart from the description of the 34-kilometre route, are breakfast, lunch and a sweet conclusion. Expect a pure cycling time of around four hours.

25 years of KäseStrasse Bregenzerwald: KäseStrasse Bregenzerwald was founded in 1998 as an association to promote Bregenzerwald cheese culture. The members - alpine dairies, cheese farmers, farms with farm-gate sales - invite people to tastings and introduce them to the special features of cheese production. Many Bregenzerwald inns are members of the KäseStrasse and thus designated "cheese inns" with a corresponding menu. The highlight of the KäseStrasse Bregenzerwald calendar of events is the Alpabtrieb in autumn, which is celebrated in several towns. The largest event with a market and cheese awards will take place in Schwarzenberg on 16 September 2023.

For more information, visit www.vorarlberg.travel/en

Press Image Archive: www.vorarlberg.travel/en/activity/press-image-archive

More Press Releases and basic information: www.vorarlberg.travel/en/press-releases