The town of Gotzens, Austria, with a grass filed in front and behind snowcapped mountains and clear blue sky. A view visible on the winter walks in Götzens.
Austria,  Gotzens,  Mountains,  snow,  walking,  winter,  wintersport

4 Winter walks in Götzens

February 4, 2020 / 22 Comments
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Almost every year we take a winterbreak and go to a ski destination. Not to ski, but to enjoy the snowy landscapes. But this time we had a bit of bad luck; Yuri got a fever and couldn’t do anything. Paul and I decided to go for short walks in the area separately. One of us stayed with Yuri and the other one explored the surroundings. After lunch we switched, and the other one followed the same route. This way we made 4 beautiful winter walks near Götzens in Austria, before Yuri felt better and could go out and explore a bit with us. Mind you, we didn’t follow specific tours, but made up our own, following signs, to the surrounding towns. In the following text I describe the 4 winter walks in Götzens we undertook.

1.Götzens town

A small chapel, seen from the front. White plastered with a small tower in the front. Black tiled roof. A wooden Jesus figure on the front. Bushes on the side, mountains in the back and blue clear sky. This is one of the things to see on winter walks in Götzens.
Beautiful small chapel in Gotzens

The first of the 4 winter walks in Götzens is in the town of Götzens itself. Götzens is a beautiful village in the Alps, in the shadow of Innsbrück. The first day Paul and I both went for a sunny walk through the town of Götzens. It’s a small town with, besides a ski-lift, not much to do. But there are beautiful houses with wood and paintings.

Mountains covered with trees and snow. Above the mountains clear blue sky
The snowy mountains surrounding Gotzens

I love walking, especially when the sun is shining and I see snow covered mountains all around me. The town is surrounded by them. The small town has a church, chapel, ski-lift and several hotels.

A house visible on the winter walks in Götzens, Austria, with white plastered walls, curved trees in front, a green bench in the front of the house to the right. On the porch a red bench next to the front door. A wooden balcony on the top.
One of the houses in Gotzens, Austria. A lot of the houses where nicely decorated and well kept.

This wasn’t a long walk, paved road all the way. No snow on the sidewalks, so an easy walk. Only a bit of height difference, except the path up the mountain, but all moderate.

A beautiful church in the middle of town, white colored, with ornamental decorations. Pink colored and grey/brown lines all over the church.
A beautiful church in the middle of town, Gotzens, Austria
A Maria statue with a roof over it. Standing on a pedastale. With a blue skirt, white blouse, yellow shirt over it and a ray behind here head.
A Maria statue in front of the church in Gotzens, Austria
Beautifully colored alcove on a white plastered wall. The alcove is colored green, with wooden window stills. There are 3 painted pictures under the window. Visible on the winter walks in Götzens.
A beautiful alcove on a house

2.Panoramaweg Götzens-Neu Götzens/Mutters

Snow capped mountains, the mountains are dark colored and covered in trees at the beginning, then there are low hanging clouds, above those clouds are the snow capped peaks. Above the peaks is an overcast sky. Views from winter walks in Götzens.
Beautiful snow capped mountains en route from Gotzens to Mutters

For the second of the winter walks in Götzens , we wet up the mountain. This walking path takes you through forest with open clearings. That day we had a sky covered with clouds, but the view was still pretty. The panoramas contained the mountains on the other side of the valley and the villages in the valley.

Grey mountains covered with trees on half of the mountains, in the upper half of the mountains is snow on the peaks and above the peaks is a overcast sky
View from the path on the mountains on the other side of the valley.

It was fun and kind of relaxing walking in the fresh mountain air. Although it’s a workout you have a good feeling about yourself afterwards.

A small waterfall flowing down the rocks
A waterfall next to the path from Gotzens to Mutters.

A good walk with excellent views and even a few nanda’s and goats along the way (behind the fence) from a farmer. We followed the panoramaweg from the start of the ski-lift to Neu-Götzens and then to Mutters. We didn’t leave the panoramaweg to go into the villages. We just turned around after an hour and walked the same way back. All in all we both walked 2,5 hours back and forth from the hotel. The panoramaweg is a gravel path and on several places there was still snow, glazed frost or melted snow which had turned mushy.

Two nanda's on a snow covered field behind a fence. These animals you can walk past on winter walks in Götzens.
Nanda’s next to the path, behind a fence.
A deer in the middle of a picture on a snow covered field, with some grass visible through the snow. Trees in the back of the picture
A deer next to the path behind a fence

We had our snowboots on which made the walking easy. At some spots the snow was still high and my boots went in deep.  

A tree on each side of the picture, in between mountains with snow on top visible.
Between the trees you see the mountains on the other side of the valley.

Almost everywhere along the path there were electricity lines in view, but only hindering when taking pictures.

In the forefront some low hanging branches/bushes, looking down you see a town (Neu-Gotzens), behind the town mountains. The mountains in the back are snow capped. Above overcast sky. A view from the winter walks in Götzens.
The town of Neu-Gotzens visible from the mountains

3.Panoramaweg Götzens-Axams

The town of Götzens in the forefront behind mountains the peaks covered in clouds. Part of the view on the winter walks in Götzens.
Looking down on Gotzens from the mountain near the skilift
The town of Gotzens with mountains behind it and snow capped mountains. Clouded skies and a green grass field in front of the town.
The town of Gotzens down in the valley.
In the middle a small path, green grass on the sides, the path goes up. On the right yellow signing postsLow bushes on the left side, some trees on the right side. Blue skies above
The beginning of the path
On the bottom of the picture the town of Gotzens, behind it mountains with snow cappes peaks and a bit of clear blue sky. A view visible on the winter walks in Götzens.
The town of Gotzens between the mountains

The third of the winter walks in Götzens was on the same mountain as the second walk, but in the other direction. This day we had a clear blue sky, which is perfect for any walk, but especially in the mountains. On Tuesday we had followed the panoramaweg towards Mutters, this day we went the other way and followed the signs Birgitz and Axams. The beginning of the path followed the stations of the Cross. The beginning of the path goes up and provides views of the town of Götzens with snowcapped mountains in the background. The path then runs through a forest, partly next to a wall. When leaving the forest, cleared land offers beautiful panoramas on Birgitz, Axams and the mountains surrounding the valley. Again electricity cables in view, which makes shooting killer photo’s hard, since they block the cute villages and snow covered mountains.

A station of the cross. Wooden figures, Jesus carying his cross on a stale statue, with text beneath it.
A station of the cross, all the stations of the cross are along the path
A path in the middle, running next to a wall, which has moss over it. On the other side trees. A wall you can look up close at the winter walks in Götzens.
Part of the wall you walk past on the route to Axams.
A wider path lined with trees on both sides
The path goes through a small forest on the mountain

The panoramaweg was much longer, but when reaching Axams we decided to go down into town and walk back to the hotel through Axams and Birgitz. All three villages have beautiful craftmanship houses. The chalets are adorned with crafted wood and paintings. The towns are picturesque, not just from above, looking down from the mountains, but also while walking through them. To see the cottages with colorful shutters and small towers is a feast for the eye. I couldn’t get enough of it. Every town had a beautiful white church with a grey or red roof.

In the middle in the back is the town of Axams in the valley. In front trees and a green grass field. In the back mountains with green grass fields and trees
The town of Axams down in the valley
In front are trees on the sides, in between a mountain rises with a snow capped peak.
The beautiful mountains surrounding Axams.

The walk took us 2 hours, starting and ending at our hotel. There was not a lot of snow on the panoramaweg, only a few spots. There was no snow at all on the pavement in the towns. There were height differences all along our route, but it was all in all still moderate. On a sidenote we walked the route without Yuri, but the pavement through the towns followed the main road, on which the trucks and most of the traffic drives. It would have been scary to me if Yuri had walked next to me.

In the middle a church with alarge tower with a red roof. The church is white plastered and has blue tiles roofs. Trees in front, mountains in the back and the sky visible above. Houses surrounding the church
A beautiful church in Axams, visible through the trees
A church tower, the top of it against a blue clear sky
A church tower in Gotzens

In conclusion it was a joy to walk in the mountains with the sun shining in your face, looking at the snowcapped mountains and fields and walking through the villages watching the workmanshiphomes.

Part of the front of the hgouse, white plastered wall and wooden parts, with decoration
A decorated house in Gotzens, as there are a lot
The front of a house with a bench in the middle, stairs in front, White plastered wall and a wooden door and window, green latches. The house is visible on the winter walks in Götzens.
A house where they made the outside cosy

4.Waldweg Götzens-Völs

Mountains with snow covered peaks and a grey clouded sky above, the last walk of the winter walks in Götzens.
Snow capped mountains with grey skies, forebarers of more snow
A clouded sky, with underneath mountains, and mountains covered under green trees
The view from the waldweg on the valley

Although we walked almost the same route, Paul’s was the most beautiful, since the whole forest was covered in snow. This is the last of the winter walks in Götzens we undertook, this time we went down the mountain.

A path with high rising trees on both sides
The waldweg, a path in the forest going down the mountain
A path with high rising snow covered trees on both sides. During the winter walks in Götzens you walk down the mountain on this path.
The waldweg, a path in the forest going down the mountain

Völs is in a valley that lies lower than the valley Götzens is in. The waldweg winds down the mountain through the forest. There are some mountain panorama’s surrounding the valley.

Clouded sky, with underneath trees and snow covered houses in between, and a snow covered field in front
Snow covered houses on the way to Vols
The town of Vols, with ion front grass field and a path in between. Surrounding the town are snow capped mountaoins and a clouded sky
The path in the valley to Vols

It had snowed the evening and night before Paul took his walk. He had blue sky with some clouds. I had a clouded grey sky, and the snow hadn’t fallen yet.

In the valley the town of Vols, on the left a castle on a hill. In the back snow capped mountains whith clouded skies above
The town of Vols, with a castle towering above it
On a hill a castle, or 2 larger building surrounded by trees, with a mountain behind it
The castle on the hill in Vols

Paul took the longer route since he didn’t turn around before the village of Völs. He visited the town as well and had some coffee at a bakery there.

Church with white washed walls, a tower with a red roof. Clouds behind it
A church in Vols

The whole path back and forth takes approximately 1,5 till 2 hours. It’s a hardened path, partly sand and gravel. The beginning is a concrete small road. The route was downhill the whole way to Völs, back is only uphill. It’s not steep, it’s just a winding road.

A fountain (not working) wit a statue of a sitting girl and 3 geese. Behind the statue houses and trees. A statue visible on the winter walks in Götzens.
A girls and her geeze statue

I hope this blog has shown you that even when you don’t ski, you can still enjoy Austria in winter!

Further for more information about Gotzens, check the website of the city of Innsbruck . Gotzens is close to Innsbruck. These winter walks can be easily included in road trips, when Innsbruck is a stop.

If being in the snow is to cold for you, and you want some sun than check out this blog about the Dordogne in France.

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