Travel guide Maishofen
Off to Maishofen between mountain and lake!
Maishofen is both a hamlet and a cozy community of about 3,600 inhabitants in the Austrian
Salzburg region. Book your affordable accommodation in the Maishofen area not only because of the easy access! Maishofen is situated at 768 m above sea level and is a lush green, 50% wooded valley of just under 30 km², picturesquely squeezed between the Pinzgau grass mountains and Lake Zell in the south. The significant ski resort and traffic junction
Zell am See is just a stone's throw from Maishofen. Coming from Munich, you can reach the accommodation in Maishofen via the A8 motorway in just over 2 hours (164 km). The Westbahn railway line runs through Maishofen with the centrally located Maishofen - Saalbach stop.
Only sweating in the mountains here
Continental climate characterizes the weather in the valley of the Pinzgau grass mountains. Winters are cold and snowy, summers score with pleasant maximum temperatures between 20 and 24 °C. The warmest months are July and August, the coldest are December, January, and February, with January being the coldest at up to -10 °C. It rains again and again over the year in Maishofen, so a light rain jacket should be part of your standard backpack equipment.
"So, how was the food on your vacation?"
In the Pinzgau grass mountains region, there is culinary art that you can recreate in the well-equipped kitchen of your affordable holiday apartment in Maishofen. Delicious are the cheese and meat specialties of the regional organic farmers, such as the Pinzgau alpine cheese with goat's milk, the heartier Pinzgau mountain cheese, or the various Pinzgau bacon types, sausage with cheese, and the game raw ham. Don't miss the classics of the mountain region, like Pinzgau Kasnocken and Pinzgau Bladln (doughnuts) with potato and bacon filling. If you like clear soups with "something in" and/or are vegetarian, then the clear Pinzgau Kaspressknödel soup with vegetable patties as an insert is definitely for you. Tip: In the Schlosswirtschaft "Mayer's Restaurant" at Schloss Prielau on Lake Zell, the multiple award-winning star chef Andreas Mayer cooks. He ensures fine culinary delights that "Guide Michelin" honors with two stars and "Gault Millau" with three toques!
Hiking with goblins: Maishofen's stalking paths with adventure value
Maishofen is a
holiday for the whole family, for both mountain goats and water rats! Popular with children are the adventure trails with play stations ("Montelinos Erlebnisweg") or themed hikes searching for the goblin Kodok in Saalbach -
Hinterglemm. Children love animals in nature. Ferleiten offers them large open enclosures with over 200 different animals that they can observe here in peace. And in Maishofen, your loved ones can strengthen their immune system at a farm like the Maishofen bio-farm "Walchengut." Here they can spend an exciting day with ponies (riding/riding lessons), mini pigs, cows, and all sorts of other farm animals. Maishofener Strandbad on Lake Zell (free of charge) provides bathing fun with sunbathing lawns, a play island in the lake, a playground, and a cozy restaurant for the whole family. In the mood for nostalgia? Take a family outing with the Pinzgauer Lokalbahn (bicycle transport allowed), a narrow-gauge railway from 1898 that takes you from Zell am See, via
Mittersill with its worth seeing adventure world museum "Nationalparkwelten Hohe Tauern" to Krimml. In
Krimml, there are the Krimmler waterfalls and the beautifully developed Tauern bike path. In this region, hikers with dogs or families experience almost euphoric states. The gently sloping grass mountains offer easy to moderate hiking routes that can be reached directly from your accommodation in Maishofen. For cyclists, there is much to discover on well-developed cycle paths. Guests with children will find child-friendly themed hiking trails, organic farms, animal parks, and, in case the weather is not so good, the Kreativland Maishofen, an indoor fun landscape for kids.
False castles and twisted parlors
In the
holiday land for hikers, Maishofen has no fewer than four castles on its "Best-Of" offerings! Local castles are no Sanssouci, yet they are worth seeing. The oldest of the magnificent buildings here is Schloss Saalhof from the 13th century, now a 2-star hotel with a restaurant. The Stiegerschlössl is Gothic in its core, a massive farmhouse. Inside it is a cozy parlor where the guest should direct their gaze towards the ceiling: Warning, Dada art! The listed Schloss Kammer - today a hotel and inn - is actually a 15th-century farmhouse that was expanded into a residence (home of lower nobility) a century later and provided with a large chapel. Its former altar now stands in the listed parish church in Maishofen. Tip: Ask for the original late Gothic building with pointed arch vaults and slender Gothic columns. Last but not least, there is Schloss Prielau, documented since the 15th century. It was bought in 1932 by Gertrude von Hofmannsthal, the widow of the famous writer Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The family emigrated during the Nazi era, and the SS confiscated the castle. After the war, the Porsche family bought the property and converted it into a 4-star hotel. Don't miss: Try the star cuisine!