Tyrol (Austrian Bundesland)

Tyrol is a region in the eastern Alps, straddling Austria and Italy. The former County of Tyrol was divided between the two countries after the First World War, when the Austro-Hungarian Empire was dismembered, and only the northern part is part of Austria.

The Austrian Bundesland of Tyrol is made up of two distinct regions separated by the western part of the state of Salzburg: North Tyrol, of which Innsbruck is the main city, and East Tyrol, where the Grossglockner, Austria's highest mountain at 3798 m, is located.

Tourism is an important economic sector in Tyrol, accounting on average for 17.5% of the gross regional product. The state is best known as a winter sports paradise, with less developed summer tourism.

The climate is influenced by the west wind, with foehn in the transitional seasons and winds of up to 200 km/h. Spring is generally unstable and rainy, while autumn is often characterised by long periods of good weather.

During our 2022 "Switzerland Tour outside Switzerland", we definitely found that spring is not the ideal time to visit the Tyrol.

We travelled through Austria at the end of May, in the middle of the off-season. Grey weather, closed restaurants, beautiful landscapes but deserted villages. A bit of a post-apocalyptic atmosphere.

We didn't linger on the road, shooting very few panoramas, eager to reach the Italian Tyrol and the mildness of the south...