Agrad Chalets – Hotel of the Month October
Ten degrees. Maybe a little fog. Our hiking boots are still damp from the forest, while we’re already sitting in a 32-degree outdoor pool thinking: October actually has some pretty good ideas. At least here in the Chiemgau. There’s a reason why Agrad Chalets is our Hotel of the Month for October.
470 Reasons to Stop for a Moment
Agrad Chalets is located in Aschau im Chiemgau, between Lake Chiemsee and the Chiemgau Alps. And before we settle into the sauna for the entire weekend, it’s worth heading outside first. Lake Bärnsee is only a few minutes’ walk away. An easy circular trail leads through forests and meadows, with the distinctive silhouette of the Kampenwand appearing again and again along the way.
Those who want to go higher can take the Kampenwand cable car. The ride takes around 14 minutes and brings us up to 1,467 metres. On a clear day, the view stretches across Lake Chiemsee and the surrounding Bavarian and Austrian mountains. Once at the top, the only question is how much further we want to go, with hiking trails and mountain huts waiting to be explored. In Aschau, by the way, sitting down is taken surprisingly seriously too. The village calls itself Bankerldorf®: more than 470 benches are waiting for anyone who believes that taking a break is at least as important as the walk itself. Around 200 of them are special themed benches. Quite frankly? In October, we can get behind that philosophy.
Even Ten Degrees Have Their Advantages
Because eventually, we have to come back. And that’s when everything that simply feels like wellness in summer suddenly becomes a very good reason to appreciate cooler temperatures at Agrad. The outdoor pool is heated to 32 degrees during the colder months. And the private outdoor sauna at the chalet somehow feels even better once the air outside has turned properly crisp. Then there’s the Hot Tub. Suddenly, we catch ourselves not missing 20 degrees and sunshine quite as much as expected. After a cool day outside, this is exactly what we came for: hot water, sauna, our own chalet and the rather pleasant realisation that we genuinely don’t have to go anywhere else today. The fact that it’s ten degrees outside? Surprisingly easy to forget.
The Best Plan: Not Having to Go Anywhere
After an entire day outdoors, there comes a point when we don’t want to search for a restaurant, put our jackets back on or make yet another decision about where to have dinner. Agrad has a pretty convincing answer to that.
Fondue in our own chalet. Dinner doesn’t become the next item on the itinerary, but simply a continuation of why we came here in the first place. We stay. We eat. Maybe open something to drink. Perhaps head back to the Hot Tub one more time. And very quickly forget that we had originally planned to do anything else. That is probably exactly why this place works so well in autumn.
October, Reimagined
Agrad Chalets’ current packages offer a few more good reasons to extend a weekend just a little longer: time for two, a Midweek Escape, wellness and, a little later, the first winter days in the chalet village. But by this point, we probably don’t need much convincing anymore. We’ve been in the mountains. Walked around a lake. Stopped at at least one of those 470 benches. Sat in warm water while the air outside was cold. Spent time in the sauna. And had fondue in the evening knowing that afterwards, we only had a few steps to walk. Maybe October isn’t simply the month we have to get through until the next holiday after all.
Maybe we just have to spend it in the right place.
