The residents of Serfaus, a pretty village perched high up on a plateau overlooking the valley floor, have always been famous for their inventiveness and determination. The best proof of this can be found in the tiny underground railway (the second smallest in the world!) built in 1985 following the introduction of a ban on cars in the village centre in the 1970s.
Sometimes, necessity is the mother of invention. Until the mid-1980s, residents and guests in Serfaus had to put up with the noise and air pollution caused by tens of thousands of cars passing through the village. The solution? Simple! A ban on driving in the village and the construction of a tiny underground railway transporting locals and visitors the 1.28 kilometres from the car park into the centre.
This is just one example of the inventiveness for which people in Serfaus are known. Until just a few decades ago boys and young men would often smuggle contraband over the nearby border from Switzerland into Austria in order to make ends meet in a region where living conditions were often harsh. Today things have changed. Serfaus, together with Fiss and Ladis, forms part of a popular and well-known ski area on the sunny plateau known to locals as the “Oberes Gericht”. It is popular with visitors both in winter and summer, who appreciate the fresh mountain air and pedestrianised centre of a village which boasts more than 2,000 hours of sunshine a year. Serfaus really is the ideal destination for families with children of all ages.
Sometimes, necessity is the mother of invention. Until the mid-1980s, residents and guests in Serfaus had to put up with the noise and air pollution…
