Side Events

Give your tired feet some fresh air and experience the joy of walking barefoot through meadows and forests. This is not only therapy for your otherwise confined feet, it’s also medicine for the soul and your entire physical body.

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.

Have you ever made your own barbecue, complete with cutlery and equipment? That's the kind of thing teams can expect at Steelsoul in Röthis.

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 Barock­baumeister Museum is dedicated to the impressive history of the Au guild, which established itself in Au and Schoppernau as early as the 17th century. 

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.

A different type of natural museum. The inatura – Erlebnis Naturschau is not something for simply looking at – it has been developed so that it can be explored, felt and discovered. It is a highlight for fans of science and nature and, compared with classic museums, it represents a refreshingly relaxed change.

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.

For some, dashing through the woods at a speed of 130km an hour is just a speed kick at an altitude of 160 metres. For others, it is the craving for their own wings that you get for the duration of the flight at least. 

This bridge is high, fair enough. One hundred and six metres should suffice for a gentle fall on an elastic rope, as well as for a good adrenaline cocktail in your body. This jump is considered seriously cool – the extremely tough safety standards have been proving themselves accident-free since 1997. This is the perfect place for anybody bravely looking for the next adventure.

For those who simply can’t get enough of it, head to the Alpenkäse Bregenzerwald Sennerei on a journey of discovery. There you can learn how cheese is still produced in the time-honoured way.

A natural, pure and characterful beer, visitors can now get step-by-step insights into the brewing process. Of course, such a tour also includes tasting sessions of everything from pale ale to wheet beer. 

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.

The Austria Guides have developed guided and themed tours of the city that present a wide variety of places, people and cultures and prove that it is the mix that makes Dornbirn the exciting city that it is.