The capital of the inner Ötz Valley, Sölden, about 1,342m (4,403 ft.) above sea level, draws visitors to this valley in summer, to the woods in spring and autumn, and to the heights in winter. This old-fashioned village is full of folkloric interest. It's 60km (37 miles) south of Ötz, 69km (43 miles) southeast of Imst, and 90km (56 miles) southwest of Innsbruck.
Sölden is linked by road, cable car, and ski lift to the part-time winter resort of Hochsölden (2,074m/6,804 ft.), 9km (5 1/2 miles) away, via the Giggjochbahn (tel. 05254/508), a cable car that charges 13€ ($16) round-trip for adults and 6.50€ ($8.45) for children. Although Hochsölden won't provide as many amenities or diversions as the larger community of Sölden, some skiers prefer it for its isolation and small scale. Newly established as a reaction to winter-season alpine tourism, it contains only about five hotels, and can also be reached via car after a 20-minute drive from Sölden.
One of the best-known cable cars in Austria is the Geislachkogelbahn (tel. 05254/508), which connects Sölden to the top of the Geislachkogel peak, 3,031m (9,944 ft.) above sea level. Here you'll be rewarded with a panoramic sweep of the Ötzal Alps and a view of a cross jutting skyward from a point near the summit. En route, the cable car travels above glacial fields and savage-looking rocks to one of the most isolated regions of Austria. Round-trip passage on the cable car costs 30€ to 37€ ($39-$48) depending on the season. Children under 8 travel free. It operates from mid-June to mid-September every day from 9am to 5:30pm and from December to Easter daily from 9am to 4pm.
Sölden is also the start of the Ötztaler Gletscherstrasse (Ötzal Glacier Road), an 18km (11-mile) stretch through the Rettenbachtal that showcases some of the loftiest pieces of road engineering in Europe, rising to a height of some 2,821m (9,255 ft.). Accessible only from April to November, it ends at a point near the Ötzal Glacier, where a panoramic view stretches out over a year-round river of ice. At a point near the road's summit, a 1.5km-long (1-mile) tunnel connects the hamlet of Rettenbachferner with a small-scale resort of Tiefenbachferner.
