Austria - Hallstatt and Grossglockner

When visiting Austria, one would obviously plan around Vienna and Salzburg – especially during this Mozart Festive Year! But again, the true gems often lie off the beaten track.

We started our Austrian leg of our Central Europe round-about in Salzburg: staying at our popular small hotel, Blaue Gans, in the pedestrian area of Getreide Gasse just off Von Karajan-Platz, and conveniently with public parking under Mönchsberg. Although a bit too much emphasise on Mozart everywhere, a real treat was the cultural procession through the streets, demonstrating the diversity of the different regions of Austria.

A two-hour drive from Salzburg lies Hallstatt, nestled between the Hallstätter See and the Dachstein Mountains. What a special little retreat! The lake district of Upper Austria, centered on the region the Salzkammergut (salt estates), presents the dedicated traveller with many memories of soaring mountains, needle like peaks, a glittering necklace of turquoise lakes and forested valleys where the roe deer still roams. Some of these lakes, like the Gosauer See and Hallstätter See, remain quite unspoiled, purely because of its remote location.


 

Hallstatt, the oldest settlement in Austria, is often referred to as the prettiest little lakeside village in the world. In the centre of the village is a charming square enclosed by colourful houses and with flower-laden balconies. Two special family-owned little pensions, the Gasthof Zauner and Seehotel Grüner Baum, are facing this square. We had a special room in the latter, with a comfortable balcony outside, facing the changing moods of the lake. This guesthouse with daffodil-yellow façade dates back to 1760 and was once the house of the most important salt trader in the region.

We arrived in rainy weather and the fireplace in the lounge created a warm and homely atmosphere. The next morning the sun broke through the mist, and resulted in the most photogenic scenes during our cruise on the lake. Also worth visiting is the salt mines above the village and accessible by funicular as well as the Dachstein ice caves around the southern end of the lake.

Be sure to visit the Michaelerkirche (parish church) which is picturesquely situated near the lake. Within this 16^th century Gothic church you will find a beautiful winged altar. Because there was little space to bury the dead over the centuries, the custom developed of digging up the bodies after 15 years, piling the bones in the sun, and painting the skulls. The myriad bones and skulls are now on view in the karner (charnel house).
 

The route is not only a marvel of construction, but borders extraordinary scenic views within the Hohe Tauern National Park. The Edelweissspitze Panorama offers the best 360-degree view of the Alps, accessible by vehicle. A detour leads to the Franz Josefs Höhe, a viewing area onto the Grossglockner peak and home to the Heiligenblut mountaineering school.

The scenic village of Heiligenblut, at the southern slope of the Grossglockner, is a popular point to enter the Hohe Tauern Park. During June pilgrims from Pinzgau still cross over the Hochtor each year to pray in Heiligenblutkirche (church) for their crops and cows. This is a particular popular ski-area. According to local legend, St Briccius, after obtaining a vial of the blood of Jesus, was buried by an avalanche of snow, but when his body was recovered some 50 years later, still in its natural state, the tiny vial was miraculously found hidden within one of the saint’s open wounds.

For the enthusiastic traveller, Austria offers breathtaking scenery of snow and bush, peaks and lakes, villages and cities and colourful interesting people. Their food is not top-ranking cuisine in the world, but delicious country cooking. Typical dishes will include leberknödelsuppe (beef liver soup with dumplings), eierschwammerl (chanterelle mushrooms and egg salad), bauernschmaus und sauerkraut (country platter with a selection of meat and cabbage). Popular wines are grüner veltliner, eiswein, Riesling and chardonnay. Although not as renown as Belgium and Germany for its beer, Austria produces some interesting good malty beers for more than 150 years, like the Gösser Spezial or sweeter Stiftsbräu. But there is still nothing like schnaps to round off any geschnetzeltes und rösti!