sLOVEnians travel

You might remember our winter culinary Kingtour in Hochkönig, where we skied from hut to hut and had a different coursein each hut. Basically, this time we did the same, just on bikes. To be precise e-mountain bikes, because I would sure not cycle up that hill with a normal bike. 😉

Hochkönig is such a picturesque region – winter or summer – the views are amazing. The main three villages in the region are Maria Alm, Dienten and Mühlbach. This time we stayed in Dienten, a lovely alpine village nestled between the mountains, with a streem flowing through and traditional wooden houses full of flowers. It was very picturesque. But let’s dive into the culinary tour, shall we?

Culinary Kingtour Hochkönig

In summer you can choose between 2 tours: culinary Königstour Gipfelglück and culinary Königstour Gipfelstürmer. The first one is a vegetarian version, the second one for meat lovers. Of course we did the vegetarian option, so culinary Königstour Gipfelglück, which was a delight.

We rented bikes at the local Ski and Bike shop (inside the cable car station) and off we went. We had a bit of bad luck with the weather, so at the end we completed the tour in 2 days – on day one we drove up to Dientalm, where we had an amazing pumpkin soup with alpine herbs and believe me it was a true delight (actually my favourite dish on the tour). The hut is really lovely (you can come here by car as well), oh and the drinks were included, so we opted for home made sage and elderflower juices.

The next stop was at Bürglalm, which probably has one of the best views over the Hochkönig mountain range. Here the main course was waiting for us – homemade cream cheese with baked tomatoes and alpine herbs. It was really good, but in my opinion a little modest for a main course. There are basically 4 cubes of cheese, herbs (which were super tasty), some oil poured over and a basket of bread. It was like a cold appetizer. Oh, and drinks were not included here. We liked the first hut more 😊

But one hut was still waiting for us – Königsbergalm. This hut is a bit further away, but the drive there is easy enough with e-bikes and the views were again a delight. When we arrived, the sun was shining, on the terrace was a free table so we ordered our last course of the culinary Kingstour: fresh alpine milk meets wild berry and mint. A pastel purple glass with dangling black currants arrived in front of us and oh boy it was good. We relaxed a bit at the hut, before slowly biking back to the hotel. Wellness was calling …

After all the food, it’s healthy to have s quick digestif, right?

Because we charged our bikes at the last hut, we decided for a small extra tour – in Dienten, just 10 minutes from the main road is Grünegg Alm, a lovely hut with excellent vegetarian local dishes, but most important: a schnaps distillery. The owner and main schnaps maker was so nice and took us to the show room, where we could try some local spirits. What surprised us: since 2020 they also make sanitizers. But not just any, I would name them boutique sanitizers, because they are made just from natural products, they are super effective due to high alcohol levels, but because of etheric oils they smell like heaven ❤ Took 2 home, as well as 2 bottles of schnaps – pppssst the walnut schnaps is reeeallly good (If you like sweet spirits).

Ok, now is the time when you have to decide: do you want to rest at the hotel or do you want one last challenge. From Grünegg Alm you bike about 30-40 minutes to the top of Hochmais. And from here you’ll have an amazing sunset (if the weather is nicer as on our tour) and stunning views of the majestic Hochkönig. There’s also a lovely small chappel and a swing for some fun 😉

After all these vertical meters you definitely deserve dinner and wellness. We were really happy with our family-run hotel Vital hotel Post in the center of Dienten. The rooms are really big and renovated, the wellness has an indoor pool, 3 saunas, salt room, IR room and one with electric warming chairs. And the food … I know, this post is mostly about food, but all the vegetarian dishes they prepared for us were so good and professionally served, we felt like royalty.

An e-bike tour is such a great way to spend the day in the mountains, especially if you like to visit more peaks. It’s also a great way to add variety to your holiday, if you mostly hike. And if you add the culinary aspect to this “Culinary Kingtour”, you get a perfect balanced day between workout and getting to know local specialties, all with a view of the Hochkönig.