"Grunau im Amtal" Grünau im Almtal by Peterodl

I went to Grunau im Amtal as the start of my solo travel after being in Vienna for two weeks finishing off my traveling classroom with the UW-River Falls.
I transfered trains at Wels station and 1 hour later I arrived at the Grunau station.
I called my hostel (the Backpackers Treehouse Hostel) for a free pick-up to the hostel. Ten min. later, I was off and riding.

Almsee

My first day I bummed around the hostel and watched lots of movies in the tv room.
The 2nd day, I rented a bike for 8 Euros and biked down to the Almsee, for a 42 kilometers (roughly 26 miles) round trip. I did the round trip in 3 1/2 hours! The countryside is great and there's lots of interesting things to see on the way like frog crossing signs or grilled fish on a stick stands.
The 3rd day (Sunday), I climbed up a large hill 1200meters (3600 feet) to the Hochberghaus ("High Mountain House") and, although the restaurant was closed, i met some bikers climbing the mountain and had a nice picnic at the top.

If biking and climbing aren't for you, the Grunau im Amtal area has plenty else to do. In the winter there are many ski lifts close by each other and in the winter you can ride horses.

Climbiing down from the Hochberghaus

The locals of Grunau im Amtal are a pretty friendly bunch. A few locals hang out at the Treehouse hostel (esp. on Sunday) and have a drink in the two bars there.
I was watching movies after my 42 kilometer bikeride and a young guy popped his head into the room and asked if i was alone. I said yes and he said "You must have a drink!" He said his name was Max and he bought me a .5 litre glass of peach wine. "We drink to here!" he said, pointing to 3/4 from the top of the glass. We drank at the same time, and since it seemed to be a challenge, I drank until there was only 1/4 left in the glass. Max looked at the glass and then at me and said "You are a GOOD drinker!"
He bought me another glass of peach wine and I drank that fairly quickly while talking with another local.
To buy me two glasses of a drink, out of his own pocket and not expect me to pay him back was a shock to me.
After I had climbed back down the mountain, I was walking down the road towards the hostel and still had 1 mile or so to go, Max passed me on his motercycle, turned around and gave me a ride back.
Max will always be a friendly remembrance of my time spent in Grunau.

• Pros:relaxing, small, outdoor activities, fun locals
• Cons:small, rural, out of the way
• In a nutshell:Great relaxing place to get your bearings straight