The best indoor activities around the Pitztal

Our favourite indoor activities when the weather is unlucky

It rains here. Not constantly, but a week in the mountains without a grey day is luck rather than planning. Guests sometimes treat this as a disaster, and it does not need to be.

Here is what we actually recommend, and at the end, two things we would not bother with.

Aqua Dome in Längenfeld

Forty minutes from the Landhaus, over the Ötztal side. A large thermal spa with outdoor pools that are best in bad weather, when steam rises off the water and you cannot see the mountains anyway.

The adult section is quiet and genuinely restful. The family area is busy and loud. Both are good, but choose deliberately and go early: after two o’clock on a wet day the car park tells you everything.

Practical: allow half a day including the drive. Book online in high season.

The Alpenbad in Jerzens

Closer, smaller, cheaper. Fifteen minutes down the valley. No spa pretensions, just a decent pool with a slide and an indoor section that works perfectly well for an afternoon with children.

This is where we send families who want to be back for dinner.

Fasnachtshaus in Imst

A museum about the Schemenlaufen, the carnival procession that has been running in Imst for centuries and is on the UNESCO list. Masks, costumes, a lot of them slightly unsettling.

It sounds niche. It is not: the masks are extraordinary objects, and there is enough in an hour to hold most people. Worth combining with lunch in Imst.

Climbing at Kletterzentrum Imst

One of the larger climbing centres in Tyrol, with indoor walls for every level and instructors who speak English. If anyone in your group climbs, this is the obvious rainy-day answer. If nobody does, the beginner sessions are a reasonable way to start.

Museum im Ballhaus, Imst

Local history, well presented, in a building worth seeing on its own. About an hour. Good for a morning when you want something quiet and dry without driving far.

Stams Abbey

Half an hour towards Innsbruck. A baroque Cistercian monastery, and one of the more impressive buildings in Tyrol. The interior is genuinely worth the trip, and the drive is a pleasant one even under cloud.

Not one for young children. Excellent for a couple with a spare morning.

Innsbruck for the day

An hour by car. If the rain is settled in for the whole day, this is the strongest option: the old town arcades keep you dry, the Golden Roof is right there, and the Hofburg and the Tyrolean Folk Art Museum are both indoors and both good.

Park at one of the garages at the edge of the centre and walk. Driving into the old town is a mistake we have watched several guests make.

Two indoor activities we would skip

The larger indoor play barns down the valley. They exist, they are loud, and you did not come to the Alps for that.

Driving to the glacier in poor visibility. The gondola runs, but if the cloud is at 2,000 metres you will pay a good deal to stand in fog. Check the webcams first, or ask us: we look at them every morning.

Ask before you drive

Opening hours in the valley change with the season, and some places close between the summer and winter periods. We keep track because guests ask daily. Before you set off, put your head round the kitchen door and we will tell you what is actually open.