Achensee

The Achensee, at around 6.8 km long, is the largest lake in Tyrol and, because of its size and clear, turquoise water, is called the Tyrolean Sea. Framed by the Karwendel and Rofan ranges, it is a popular sailing, hiking and winter-sports area. The historic Achensee Railway, a steam cog railway, has run up to the lake since 1889.

Highlights

• Tyrol's largest lake with turquoise water
• Historic steam cog railway Achensee Railway (since 1889)
• Sailing, surfing and bathing in summer
• Hiking in the Karwendel and Rofan

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Practical info

Background & History

Lake Achensee is regarded as the largest lake in Tyrol and lies at around 930 metres like a turquoise band between the rugged Karwendel in the west and the friendlier Rofan mountains in the east. It owes its intense colour to the lime-rich meltwater, which holds fine rock flour in suspension and refracts the light into emerald green. For a long time the high valley was shaped above all by alpine pasture farming and by the floating of timber, with which firewood and building timber were transported away from the surrounding forests. Only in the 19th century did the beginning summer retreat discover the region, and the lake became a refined travel destination. Empress Elisabeth of Austria too was among the prominent guests who sought the cool mountain air and the stillness of the water, and the painter and the poet also found motifs here.

A special piece of technical history is the Achensee railway, a coal-fired rack railway from the year 1889, which steams from Jenbach in the Inn valley up to the lake and ranks among the oldest preserved railways of its kind. Over a few kilometres it overcomes a considerable difference in altitude and once brought summer guests as well as goods into the valley. On the lake itself excursion boats still operate to this day, whose tradition reaches back into the 19th century and which open up the long body of water from shore to shore. Whoever walks along the water still senses the mixture of peasant past, early travel culture and imperial lustre that characterises this place unmistakably to this day.