Western Austria (Lake Constance & Arlberg)
Vorarlberg
Austria's westernmost province for UK travellers: Lake Constance and Bregenz, the Bregenzerwald's design-led villages, the Arlberg ski area, and why you fly into Zurich or Munich rather than Vienna.
In short
Vorarlberg at a glance
Vorarlberg is the small, mountainous province in Austria's far west, wedged between Lake Constance, Switzerland and the Arlberg pass — closer to Zurich than to Vienna and culturally its own thing. Most UK trips split two ways: summer around Bregenz and the lake plus the Bregenzerwald's timber villages and modern architecture, or a winter ski week up at Lech-Zürs and St. Anton on the Arlberg. The headline practical point is the airport — fly into Zurich (about 1h30 to Bregenz) or Munich, not Vienna, which is the wrong end of the country and a 6-hour-plus drive away.
Vorarlberg is the part of Austria that doesn’t feel like the Austria of the brochures. Sat in the far west between Lake Constance, Switzerland and the Arlberg pass, it’s closer to Zurich than to Vienna and proud of it — a province of working dairy villages, clean modern timber architecture and a dialect even other Austrians struggle with. The two trips people take here are quite different: a summer around the lake and the Bregenzerwald, or a winter ski week up at Lech and Zürs on the Arlberg, where the snow is some of the most reliable in the Eastern Alps.
The mistake first-timers make is logistical, and it’s an expensive one: booking flights to Vienna because it’s the main Austrian airport. Vienna is over 600km away at the wrong end of the country — fly into Zurich instead, about ninety minutes from Bregenz, or Munich. The second mistake is treating the Bregenzerwald as a quick detour. It’s the most distinctive thing in the province — a valley where every village seems to have an award-winning building and its own cheese — and it deserves a couple of unhurried days with a hire car, not a single rushed afternoon.
The route
A relaxed summer week pairing Lake Constance with the Bregenzerwald, then up to the Arlberg high country — or, in winter, the same Arlberg base as a dedicated ski week. Transfer times assume a hire car picked up at Zurich Airport; the lakeside and valley villages are too spread out to do comfortably on buses alone.
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Days 1–2
Bregenz & Lake Constance
Pick the car up at Zurich Airport and drive to Bregenz in about 1h30. Ride the Pfänder cable car for the four-country panorama over the lake, walk the harbour promenade, and — if you're here in July or August — catch an opera on the floating Seebühne. Lindau, the half-timbered German island town, is a 15-minute drive or short train hop around the lakehead and makes the easiest half-day out.
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Days 3–4
The Bregenzerwald
Loop up the valley (about 40 minutes from Bregenz to Schwarzenberg) through Egg, Bezau and Schoppernau. This is the architecture-and-cheese country: working dairies on the KäseStrasse, the Werkraum Bregenzerwald design house in Andelsbuch, and contemporary timber buildings in almost every village. Ride the Bezau–Bregenzerwald heritage railway and walk a section of the high meadows.
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Days 5–6
Lech, Zürs & the Arlberg
Drive over to Lech (about 1h15 from Bezau via the Hochtannberg pass in summer; the pass can close in winter, when you approach via the Arlberg road). In summer it's a hiking and mountain-biking base with the Green Ring trail; in winter it's the heart of the Arlberg ski area, linked by lift to St. Anton, Zürs and Stuben on one pass.
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Day 7
Feldkirch & home
Drop back down to medieval Feldkirch (about 1h from Lech) for the Schattenburg castle and the old town before returning the car at Zurich, roughly 1h20 away. If you'd rather train it, Feldkirch is on the Zurich–Vienna railjet line.
Where to base yourself
Pick one or two bases rather than moving every night.
Bregenz & the lakeshore
££ mid-rangeThe provincial capital and the obvious summer base: a walkable lakefront, the Pfänder cable car from the edge of town, the Bregenz Festival in season and ferries across Lake Constance to Germany and Switzerland. Quieter and far cheaper than the Swiss side of the same lake. Book months ahead for any night during the July–August festival.
Best for: Summer, the lake, the festival, first-timers
The Bregenzerwald (Bezau, Schwarzenberg)
££ mid-rangeStay up the valley for the real character of the province — timber farmhouses turned design hotels, half-board with local cheese and a slower pace. Bezau is the most convenient hub with the heritage railway and bus links; Schwarzenberg is the prettiest village. You'll want a car here, as buses thin out in the evenings.
Best for: Architecture, food, hiking, slow travel
Lech & Zürs on the Arlberg
£££ premiumVorarlberg's premium mountain address and one of the Alps' most exclusive ski villages — a week's resort base in winter, a high-altitude hiking base in summer. Lift-linked to St. Anton on a single Arlberg pass. The honest trade-off is price: Lech is genuinely expensive in peak ski weeks, so the Bregenzerwald or Brand is better value if you're not committed to the Arlberg terrain.
Best for: A dedicated ski week or high-mountain hiking
Getting around Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg is small but spread out, and unlike a Vienna–Salzburg city trip it genuinely rewards a hire car — the lake towns and Bregenzerwald villages are scattered across valleys that buses serve slowly. Pick the car up at Zurich Airport (about 1h30 to Bregenz) rather than flying into Vienna, which is over 600km away at the wrong end of Austria. That said, the province runs an excellent integrated bus-and-train network, the Verkehrsverbund Vorarlberg, and the regional Maximum day ticket covers the whole network for about £12 (€13.50) — useful if you're basing yourself in Bregenz or Bezau and not roaming far. Note that the scenic Hochtannberg pass linking the Bregenzerwald to Lech can close in winter, so the snow-season approach to the Arlberg is via the main Arlberg road instead. Drive on the right.
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