Today we didn’t visit Switzerland, we went to the neighboring country, to Austria ^ ^ There you can find the “Pfänder”, a mountain that belongs to the Allgäu Alps and is located at the eastern end of Lake Constance.
The Pfänderbahn
To get up the mountain you can use a mountain railway called the “Pfänderbahn”. This is an aerial cableway in Bregenz. The cable car connects the valley station with the 1022 meter high mountain station near the Pfänderspitze. The Pfänderbahn existed since 1927 and is one of the first cable cars in Austria.
The Pfänderbahn is barrierfree
So let’s get to the most important thing first, the mountain railway is 100% barrier-free. This means that there are disabled parking spaces, disabled toilets and barrier-free accesses. So we went into the lobby and bought our tickets. Unfortunately, it is not possible to get free entry for the accompanying person when buying tickets, but the disabled person and the accompanying person pay a reduced price.
From the entrance hall we went to the entrance of the gondola. Since everything was flat, the way into the gondola was very easy. As already described on the website, there were large glass windows and you could enjoy the whole view. In fact, people made room for me so that I could get to the front of the gondola. On the way back I was sadly not in the first row, but everything was only half as bad. Because not only the front of the gondola is glassed, but also the sides are equipped with large windows. Otherwise you can ask friendly, the worst thing that can happen to you is a "no" and that doesn't kill anyone =)
A look over four countries
So now we were 1064 meters above sea level and we had a wonderful view of Lake Constance and the Alps. But that wasn't all! From up here you could see over 4 different countries - Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Germany. There were illustrations with labels to help with orientation. There are two panoramic maps. The first map consists of copper plates and contains detailed information on the surrounding mountains. The second map is called the lake panorama map. It contains information about Lake Constance and the surrounding area.
Since the sun was shining, we sunbathed a bit and watched the gondolas going up and down. And then we went back down with the train. As already mentioned, a lot of people were kind enough to let me get to the front of the gondola. Well, I don't block anyone's view either. They all look over me xD And so my day in Austria ended already.
Again it was a nice experience and I am very grateful to my family for taking all the trouble to go on excursions with me! I hope you also have a family that supports you as much as mine does with me!
And here's a video if you don't like reading :D
Things I learned
1) The Pfänderbahn is barrier-free
2) The entrance fee for the disabled person and the accompanying person is reduced
3) From the lookout point you can see 4 countries
4) And here is the link to the homepage: <a href="https://www.pfaenderbahn.at/en/
