Travel: Taking a Trip to Austria’s Cheese Road

The powers that be at Felix have yet to realise that I have an agenda: a delicious, dairy-fuelled, and often stinky agenda. Slowly and insidiously, I’m sneaking odes to cheese into all sections of our magazine. I will wax-rind lyrical about the taste, texture and type given half a chance. Or until I burst from a brie-de-meaux binge.

I imagined that getting cheese into our Travel coverage would be challenging. That was until I stumbled upon a seemingly mythical cheese road in Austria. Some late-night internet surfing hinted at its existence but most of the details I could find about the “Bregenzerwald Cheese Road” were in German, of which I know two words (Käse, bitte).

With no other choice, I opted for a trial by fire and fondue: I would fly out and see what was there. Grabbing my sister, a fellow turophile, I went searching for the elusive Alpine Cheese Road.

The Road

The first thing we learned was that, despite its name, this is not a single road of cheese. It’s an association of producers and purveyors through an entire region. Stretching across Austria’s northwest between Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Germany, the route focuses around a place delightfully named Egg.

Driving is pretty much the only option as it’s a remote farming region in the Alps and not easily accessed by public transport. The drive, however, is one of the best parts and you don’t have to be a cheese lover or even a liker to appreciate the extraordinary alpine beauty. Hiking and driving in the snow-capped mountains, crisp air and bright sunshine is enough to charm even the lactose-intolerant into a visit.

Combining our trip with other countries, we had only one full day to find our holy gruyere grail and there was lots to choose from. There were shops, restaurants, farms and experiences to try and plenty of rules to learn. Restaurants must serve a minimum of five cheese dishes and use five Bregenzerwald cheeses to earn their place on the route. That was a lot of cheese to tuck into and not much time.

The Route

We started our journey from Switzerland, driving across the border towards Schwarzenberg. Passing over places such as – I kid you not – Ammanegg, we focused our hunt on the central Egg area. Our first stop was a surprise. We might have driven past the humble Hotel Berghof Getz chalet had it not been for the extraordinary views opposite. Stark mountains and green pastures were the perfect accoutrement to our breakfast: cheese soup.

Neither too salty nor too sweet, this regional delicacy hit the right spot. It’s an ideal way to keep warm on the hotel verandah as you take in the snow-dusted scenery. Though the menu and restaurant promised much more, we had more towns to try and wanted to make Egg for lunch.

Egg and Cheese

Entering Egg, we found that the best restaurant for the job, Kaesstadl, was actually closed for December – not a promising start. Luckily there were other options, so we chose Gasthaus Traube. It’s a proper local and was feeding the entire police force (of three) on our arrival. The gregarious owner took our order for “anything with cheese” and asked if we’d prefer small or large. With Andelsbuch next on our list, we went for small and awaited our cheesy fate.

What came was the largest casserole of cheese pasta I’d seen. We should have guessed from the size of the man that his portions might be a little skewed. It was unbelievably good. Kässpätzle is handmade noodle pieces oozing rich cheese sauce, topped off with crunchy onions and an enormous side of potato salad. It’s hearty, it’s artery-clogging and it’s delicious.

While we came out victors, our bellies were ready to bow out. We plodded to Andelsbuch to buy some stinky souvenirs and samples at the Käsehaus. This shop has everything: tools, gift boxes, sweets and the stuff itself. Their cheese chocolate can be described only as special, dividing my entire family as to whether it’s even edible. It’s certainly a novelty.

More Than Just Meals

Back in Egg, visitors can explore cheese-making at the Metzler Molke alpine farm. There’ are also legendary cheese cellars further out in Lingenau, and restaurants galore. We recommend fuelling up and hiking it off. It’s a one of a kind food and flora holiday. We had cheese for every meal, found cheese souvenirs and saw a stunning part of the Austrian countryside.

by Jo Davey

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