Side Events

Hop on, brakes off, and downwards you go. Around curves, over bridges, through forests and meadows – the view is marvellous, and adrenaline is guaranteed: is there a better team event than this?

Known as the ‘King of Grill’, Vorarlberg’s master of barbecues Tom Heinzle has long since made a name for himself on the international cooking scene. He has put an end to the myth that barbecuing is an activity only for the summer.

At Waldschule Bodensee, event participants can come to face-to-face with proper adventure. Deep within the forest near Bregenz lies the Waldhaus, which can play host to the most nature-based and grounded meetings possible. Between conversations or work tasks, take a step into the greenery for deep breaths of fresh air, a “forest workout”, a gentle stroll, or customised activities. There are basically no limits to the possibilities here

Feel that grass beneath your feet, and breathe in the freshest mountain air. Countless edible wild herbs grow in our meadows, from dandelions to yarrow. But how to distinguish the beneficial herbs from the weeds? Luckily, there are various hiking excursions available where you can learn exactly that.

It’s anything but a walk in the park – it might look easy, but a rope park with its different degrees of difficulty offers challenge, fun and team spirit. Various stations and courses in all the various degrees of difficulty are available at the five rope parks in Vorarlberg.

The name is intentional – the long-established Mohren brewery in Dornbirn has over time developed into an experience world with museum, guided tours, a creative brewery, tastings and attractive workshop rooms right at its heart. Interested visitors may enjoy making their own beer in a single day that takes in all the processes from malt crushing to mashing, purifying and cooking.

At the end of a hard day’s work in lovely meeting rooms, an exclusive wine-tasting session in any one of the many wine cellars in the region is the stylish way to finish off the evening. For instance, the water tower on Gebhardsberg built in 1079 has been afforded a new role since over a hundred different wines from the best wine-growing estates in Austria and the region of Bodensee-Alpenrhein have been stored in it.

Once upon a time, you had to travel to the far north to take a dog-pulled sleigh ride, to experience up close the life of a musher in the wilderness. These days, however, a lovely team of dogs awaits guests in the Kleinwalsertal and in the Brandnertal.

How can gin be so subtle? How can kummel liqueur be so sophisticated? And what inspires these combinations of flavours? Participants on a guided tour at MAAN – makers of fine spirits in Alberschwende – will discover the love, patience and quality that goes into every bottle. 

The historic old town of Feldkirch at the foot of Schattenburg Castle and protected by a Buddhist monastery is home to many historical nooks and crannies, inns, taverns and markets and the legacy of the humanists who made history there long ago.

Making clocks, pepper mills and lamps from wood – all of that and much more is possible at the workshops that the Bizau-based Bär company organises in the Bregenzerwald. The idea is right on trend because the more digital the world becomes, the greater the desire is to make something from scratch with your own hands. 

The newly constructed cooperative cheese cellar in Lingenau is home to 32,000 cheeses. A visit to the cheese – which matures for between four and 18 months – constitutes an impressive walk through the storeroom at 10.5°C.

The art of archery is underestimated – this sport is a far cry from our childhood games of cowboy and Indians. It demands a high degree of precision and concentration, discipline and inner tranquillity. All these are things which would be useful in daily life, if only we had gotten round to practising them.

A very special natural monument takes you right down to the depths of the Cave Schneckenloch in Bizau. The biggest cave in Vorarlberg requires a certain degree of stamina and sure-footedness, yet once the visitors get back to terra firma they are usually lost for words, overcome by images of subterranean halls, stalactites and natural tunnels, some of which you have to crawl through.

Every year, the lake stage of the Bregenz Festival Theatre attracts thousands of spectators who are enchanted by the singers and musicians in the glow of the evening light. However, you need to take a guided tour behind the scenes of the stage to find out that sophisticated technology which functions perfectly both under and above water, is behind all of this.