During my 12 years flying XC here in the Zillertal I've always used public transport for getting home if I land short. As it's cheap, regular and as you'd expect from the Austrians always on time.
This method of retrieval is now perfectly suited for XC flights around the Ziller and Tux valleys.
As they have overhauled the entire rail system AND more importantly the timetable.
New faster, greener trains speed up and down the valley every 30 minutes.
The system easily ensures that pilots get back to Mayrhofen for more flying in the afternoon, as conditions work until late in Spring and Summer.
It costs around 5 Euros from Strass in Zillertal (end of the valley) back to Mayrhofen (end of the line) and takes roughly 45mins.
It takes 30mins by road, sometimes more if there's traffic.
There are 14 train stations along the valley floor, each village has one. Plus there are a few in between too. So land by a village and pilots will just have a short walk to the nearest station.
Click Map to see all stations
All train stations are also on turnpoint map I'll give to pilots at the start of the week plus all are GPS turnpoints too. So a simple "go to" nearest will show the way to go. If you don't have a GPS just look out for the train track as you fly out to the valley, you can't miss it, it runs parrallel with the road.
Once back at Mayrhofen train station the air-con shuttle service will take you to the pre-arranged meeting point. Cable car, landing field or guest-house.
Once everyone is back we'll normally drive to one of our soaring sites in the valley. In Spring and Summer the soaring conditions can last until sunset and beyond!
In Bassano we use a vehicle & driver for all XC courses. As without it it just wouldn't work. As public transport is virtually non-existent and due to the terrain (flat-lands) you can end up landing anywhere over a huge area.
There is something called the "Zillertal Activ" card and cost 43 Euros for 6 days. This includes free trains/buses (inc. launch at Hohen Strasse) in the whole Ziller and Tux valleys, one ride per day any of the cable cars and free entrance to the swimming pools around the valley.
Ask about it when you arrive and I'll let you know more about it...