Austria: Tirol and Salzburg

Travel date: August 2001. Report date: December 2001. Select a part of the journey by clicking the map or the desired yellow dot in the index below.
	Global description
	Inn valley
	Innsbruck
	Overbordering to Germany: Neuschwanstein castle
	From Innsbruck to Salzburg: Gerloss Pass and Krimmler Wasserfälle
	Salzburg
	Salzach valley
	Salzkammergut lakes
	Back to Italy
	All entrance fees
	Conclusion

Summer 2001 begins as a very hot season, so we decide to search for a fresher weather in Austria. We plan to spend about ten days in visiting Tirol and Salzburg. We like camping and plan to set only two stages, the first in Innsbruck surroundings and the second in Salzburg region. Similarly to summer 2000, our travel companions are Marco, Antonella and their daughter Francesca, and we have two cars, one for each family.

In order to avoid queuing and traffic jams, we plan to start on Sunday August 5^th in the very early morning. Good choice !! By starting on 4.30 in the morning, we forerun most of the traffic that is going to cross the Brenner border and succeed in arriving in Innsbruck in the late morning. We set our camp in Hall in Tirol, a small city about 20 km E of Innsbruck, along the Inn river.

Hall in Tirol itself is a little city worth a short visit, unfortunately we only succeed in having an evening walk.

We start our Austria vacation on Sunday 5^th afternoon by visiting Schwaz underground silver mine (Silberbergwerk). It is quite interesting, despite the humidity level and the water dropping inside the mine itself. The visit takes about one hour, partly on a small mining train and mainly on foot. The inside temperature is constant, about 10° C, and I suggest wearing waterproof shoes. Moreover, typical yellow work raincoats and helmets are supplied by the staff to every visitor. Despite the price, it is visit worth doing, provided you are properly suited and you don´t suffer from high humidity level. For more details, don´t miss visiting the official web site. Schwaz itself is a kind city, with a fine gothic church and a cloister, and dominated by a castle that hosts a museum about silver mining activities (that we don´t visited and can´t report).

On Tuesday 7^th we spend the morning in visiting the Swarowski Kristallenwelten, a permanent show in Swarowski home town, Wattens (about 15 km E of Innsbruck). Though we don´t own anything, we like Swarowski crystal creations, anyway, we didn´t appreciate such a strange show, and wouldn´t suggest a visit, unless you are real, deep estimator.

Later, we have lunch and a very relaxing break on Achensee, where we can enjoy the sunny and warm weather on the grassy lakeshores. For coldproof people, it is possible windsurfing, bathing and even scuba diving (no thanks, I´m not interested in diving in a lake, and surely not in a cold alpine lake).

We end this day in Kufstein, where we have a look to the city, particularly to the old, face painted Rathaus and to the huge fortress (Festung) dominating the city from a rocky cliff in its middle. Unfortunately it is too late for visiting the fortress museum (and getting up and down by cable car), but people are allowed to climb the covered staircase and have a walk around for free after the closing time, 5.30 in the afternoon. While waiting, we can attend the Hero concert. It is held every day at this time by playing the highly powerful organ hosted in one of the round tower of the fortress. I can´t say anything about the museum, but I´d say that listening the organ playing is surely a must in Kufstein.

On Monday 6^th we spend the whole day in visiting the city of Innsbruck, but before reporting our city tour, let me say something about the Innsbruck Card, an useful way to save money in visiting this city.

This card allows one free entrance in most of the city museums and attractions, plus free and unlimited use of public buses. It can last 24, 48 or 72 hours and consists in a plastic card with a microchip that is checked through an electronic card reader and stores the date and time of its first usage. From then on, the owner has 24, 48 or 72 hours of validity. It can be bought in any of the main museums where it is accepted and in the tourist info points. It usually allows the user to save a good amount of bucks, but pay attention, if you are going to buy it with a credit card: it is not accepted everywhere, so good luck !! What's more, you are not sure you can find the desired duration wherever you buy it, so good luck again !! Let me report our case: we had planned to buy the 24 h version in our first visit, the Alpenzoo, and to pay it with my credit card. Actually, at the Alpenzoo we found only the 48 h version and had to pay cash. Later, when visiting Ambras castle, we saw people buying the 24 h version and paying with credit card. Lucky, uh ?!

Well, on with the report. Our first stop in Innsbruck is at the Alpenzoo (maybe I said it before ...), a famous zoo mostly dedicated to alpine species. Really my expectation was for something far different. I hoped to see a modern zoo, with wide or missing cages and a lot of space for the animals, quite similar to the Burger Zoo we saw in Arnhem (Holland). On the opposite, we found a quite traditional one, both for the cages dimensions and for the animal conditions. Anyway, in my opinion it is fine and it is worth a visit, mainly if you have children.

Later, we move to Schloss Ambras, on the opposite side of the city. This castle hosts a composite museum. On ground floor you can see is a weapons and armors collection. On the first floor there is a collection of natural curiosities such as crafted red coral, big shells and so on. In the main body of the castle there is the fine Spanische Saal, now used for concerts, and also a paintings collections.

In the afternoon we move to the city center. Here we visit the Hofkirche, that maybe would be worth a look, but unfortunately is almost completely under restoration. Quite disappointed, we decide to spend a couple of hours in visiting the Tiroler Volkskunstmuseum, beside the Hofkirche, same entrance. On the three floors of this museum we can see a lot of popular objects, day by day life tools and furniture coming from everywhere in Tirol. Moreover, there are also some houses whose rooms have been disassembled and re-assembled in the museum. Surely interesting, a pleasant surprise after the Hofkirche disappointment.

Our on foot tour in the city center ends with a sight to the Goldenes Dachsl, a covered balcony with a copper, gold like roof that is the symbol of Innsbruck, a climb on the city tower and a view to the Cathedral (this last one, not exalting at all). Finally, we end exploiting our Innsbruck Card by having a round trip on a randomly chosen city bus.

While staying in the Innsbruck surrounding, on Wednesday 8^th we have a one day tour over the Germany border in order to see the famous Neuschwanstein castle in Schwangau. What a bad mistake !! First of all, it is quite far, over 120 km, mostly on a busy mountain road, including the steep Fernpass, that we climb queuing at the average speed of 20 kmh !! Second, I suppose it is the most crowded place in the world. We arrived at about 11.00 in the morning and, after a over 30 min queue at the ticket office, succeeded in getting an entrance time of 14.45, being included in an English speaking group . Third, it had been raining almost all day long. Maybe it would be a charming and romantic place with sunshine, but under the rain, trust me, it is absolutely not worth a tour. Finally, I didn´t like it very much, either the external view or the internal visit.

In my opinion, it seems too false, as it actually is, since it was built in the second half of XIX century. On the opposite, we cannot say anything about the other castle, Hohenschwangau, since we haven´t visited it because of the few time available.

On Thursday August 9^th we move from Innsbruck to Salzburg. In order to see some mountain landscapes that otherwise we would miss, my proposed journey is an all mountain one via Gerloss Pass, Krimml, Bischofschofen. Our target is Golling, somewhere S of Salzburg, in the Salzach valley. Actually the landscapes we see are really beautiful and relaxing.

One note about Gerloss Pass: a toll payment is required, but you can skip it, if you want. About 50 m before the toll station you can see on your left an alternative road, free, that takes you directly on the other side to Mittersill, skipping the pass itself. So, why should you pay? Well, the toll road gives you some beautiful view points to Krimmler Wasserfälle, the highest waterfalls in Europe. They are 380 m high, divided into three jumps.

Unfortunately, such viewpoints are quite far from the waterfall, in so far that you are on the opposite side of the valley, so sunny weather is strongly required. Well, we actually find low clouds, so we could hardly see some spots among the clouds themselves, and never succeeded in viewing the whole waterfall all together. Sometimes we could see the lowest water jump, sometimes the middle one, almost never the topmost. Lucky as usual, no other comment is needed !! Our plan was to have a short walk to the waterfalls (warning: ticket !! pay again !!), but the weather suggestion is quite clear: let´s skip over.

So here we are on the road again. We go on up to Zell am See, a tourist city on a tourist lake, where we have lunch in the gardens near the lakeshore. After that, we go on and finally arrive in Golling, about 20 km SE of Salzburg, in the Salzach valley, where we set our camp in a curious campsite hosted by a hotel.

For visiting Salzburg, a useful way to save money is the Salzburg card. It is similar to the Innsbruck Card (24, 48 or 72 hours, see above), with only a slight difference: there are several attractions in the city surroundings where such a card gives a strong discount on the entrance ticket.

We plan to spend at least one day in visiting Salzburg, and we begin on Friday 10^th, again under a deeply raining weather. In order to avoid the problems we had in Innsbruck, we decide to by our Salzburg cards in an info point we see before entering the city. I hope this allow us to pay with credit card. No, no, no, At the info point we meet a very kind girl, that speaks a good Italian, gives us every information we need, including the weather forecasts (upturn to sun is expected). So, I couldn´t ask more but, what a news, no credit cards, only cash !!

Since it is raining, we spend the morning in visiting Hallein salt mine (see below, Salzach valley section), that is underground, hoping the weather get better in the afternoon. No matter, in the afternoon it is still raining, and we also must fight against bad luck when Marco´s car battery crashes down abruptly. We waste two hours and pay too much for the car assistance, but at the end, the car is OK, it has stopped raining and we can finally go to Salzburg. We have only time to see Schloss Helbrunn and its garden. It was build as the countryside summer home for Salzburg prince archbishops. It is claimed to be like a small Schönbrunn, referencing the famous imperial residence in Wien, but it is not true at all. Anyway, there is something really interesting: the Wasserspiele (Ticket on its own, different from the castle itself). They are group of amazing water tricks, aged XVIII century. They are located in the gardens and are currently operating with only natural water pressure given by gravity force, without any electrical pump. It is almost unbelievable, and surely surprising. Some warning can be useful: better keeping cameras inside their covers, and a sunny, warm day is strongly recommended. It is a guided tour and everything is managed by the guide himself, so pay attention to every move of his... and don´t get angry if you get wet: it is only a joke !! Our only disappointment is that it is a rainy day and we have already been wet for the whole day.

With keep on visiting Salzburg on Saturday 11^th. Well, first good news is that it is not raining, only slightly cloudy, with some spots of sun in the sky. The most suitable way to visit the city center is to park the car in the park & ride parking sites and get to the center by bus. Our first stage is the Residenz, where we visit the Prunkraume on the 1^st floor and also have a look to the Paintings gallery on the 2^nd floor. The former is very fine, absolutely a must visit. About the latter, well, it is fine but nothing more. Later we see the Cathedral museum, from where we also succeed in having a top view to the cathedral itself from the organ site. Since it doesn´t seem to be very interesting to us, we avoid challenging the crowd to enter inside and go on the fortress.

Hohensalzburg Festung is the huge fortress dominating the city from above the Mönchsberg, the rocky cliff located near the city center. It is claimed to be central Europe´s largest completely preserved fortress, dating from the XI century, and can be reach on foot or with a short railway cable car (one up and down trip included in Salzburg Card). From the hill top there is a beautiful sight on the city, and we start our visit wandering in the courtyards (free access here). After a while, despite the crowd, we keep queuing for the guided tour, and in about 45 min we succeed entering the fortress. Well, it is worth such a queue. The tour spans over much of the fortress, from the granaries to the main tower, with an interesting view the prince archbishops´ apartments, and ends with an historical military museum hosted in the fortress itself. Before leaving, we still have a short look to the Welt der Marionetten museum, nothing to remark about, can skip over.

It is now the late afternoon, we have been walking all day long, begin to get tired and end our day with a short walk in Getreide Gasse, the most famous walk street in Salzburg.

New day, it is Sunday 12th, the sun shines and we enjoy the warm weather in Grossmain Freilichtmuseum, about 20 km W of Salzburg. It is an open air museum where one can see 61 farms, aged from XVI to XIX century, taken from the whole Salzburg region, completely disassembled and rebuilt here. It is definitely a relaxing way to spend half a day, or even the whole day. Since it is open air, good weather is strongly required. Many picnic areas are available and one can attend craftsman demos such as paper making, glass blowing, wool weaving and so on. Only a small warning is due: on holidays better arriving early to park not too far from the entrance. This museum is quite similar to the Openluchtmuseum we visited in Arnhem, Holland, with the only difference that this one in less dense, that is the museum area is similar but there are much less houses and much more tracks to walk in a pine tree wood.

In the afternoon, beer in Salzburg !!! We are going to visit Stiegler Brauwelt, the Europe largest beer museum (Stiegl folks say so, not me !!). Actually it is quite hard to locate, we asked several people and even kept doubting it really exists, but finally found a skating guy who knew it and helped us in getting there. Once it was a brewery, now has become a museum of beer making and whatever is related. Well, the museum is interesting and is worth a visit, mainly if you have already paid a Salzburg Card, but the main attraction is the beer tasting at the end of the tour. Actually the entrance ticket includes the voucher for one small (0.3 l) normal beer, plus one small (0.3 l) special, more sophisticated beer, plus one bretzel (a typical bread like salted snack). What´s more, on exit, one more gift, a small beer bottle each.

Again in Salzburg, we still have some time to visit Mozart birth house, that, in my opinion, is worth a look only for Mozart strong estimators (not me !).

Salzach valley is a narrow valley, deeply carved between mountains, that ends opening into Salzburg plain. The mountain landscapes are great and partly recall Italian Dolomiti, with sharp rocky towers and high peaks.

One of the most interesting places is the Salzbergwerk in Bad Dürrnberg, near Hallein, that we visited on Friday 10^th. Actually in this region there are almost ten attraction like this one, all of them are similar one another, but maybe this is the best known. It is worth remarking that salt has been extracted here since 5000 years ago, in prehistorical times, and, from the Middle Age on, has been improving Salzburg fortune (don´t forget that Salzburg means city of salt).

Hallein salt mine visit begins wearing white suits. Later the visitors seat on small electric train that takes them inside the mountain. It might seem to be similar to the silver mine visited in Schwaz, but it is not so. The first difference is that it is not wet, there is no water and the visit is much more comfortable. Another important difference is that this mine has become like a game, an amusing attraction, whose most interesting aspects are the wooden toboggan that recall the old ones used by the miners in past times to get deeper and deeper inside the mountain. Well, it is possible to see one of the old toboggan and it is much steeper than today´s one, but now it is only a game for tourists... Some other interesting aspects of this mine is an underground salt water artificial lake and the underground German border crossing, since the mine tunnels span back and forth over this border. Last but not least, in this mine, once upon a time, a 5000 years old Celtic man was found. It was supposed to be an old times Celtic miner, dead for a work accident and perfectly preserved by salt over 50 centuries. Unfortunately, it was not properly handled and, after being extracted, the corpse got destroyed within a few days, but the memory of such an event still persists ...

On Monday 13^th we move ten km south from Golling to reach Werfen, where there are the two most interesting attractions I had been expecting to see in these vacation (this is my opinion, somebody could not agree, of course ...).

The first, beyond every doubt, is the Eisriesenwelt, an iced cave whose visit is really a breathtaking experience. Let me remark that it is not an easy tour, a long walk is required, but it is worth such an effort. Moreover, an important advice is a suitable dressing: waterproof mountain shoes and a windbreaker are absolutely needed, a good pullover and trousers are strongly recommended, and a pair of gloves would be appreciated (let me thank my colleague Stefania for such a good suggestion). It is important to remember that in the cave is completely iced, so the temperature could not be far different from 0º C ...

The very first effort in getting to the cave is left to the car, that takes us along a 12 km long, up to 17% steep, narrow mountain road up to the car park. OK, now on foot It is about a 15 min walk up to the low station of the cableway, where we can choose between taking it or climbing 2 hours on a steep mountain track. Would you guess our choice… From the top station, again a 15 min uphill walk on a track up to the cave entrance. We stop, dress properly and than finally enter, grouped by fifty according to the language.

The cave tour takes over one hour, on a round trip with over 700 steps up and the same down. Inside the cave there is no light at all in order to maintain the low temperature, we are given a carbide lantern two by two and sometimes, the most interesting view are spotted by the guide burning a magnesium, light producing ribbon. Much more than the approaching track, this tour is really hard, some passages are low, steep and uncomfortable, but we see some ice natural sculptures and shapes, and live an absolutely charming atmosphere. Photo and films are not allowed, one can try but it is very difficult anyway for the high darkness.

The second important attraction in Werfen is Hohenwerfen, a huge middle age castle on the top of a rocky cliff in the middle of valley. The castle visit includes a falconry show, held in the outer courtyard twice a day, at 11.00 and 15.00. Again this visit is not easy, because it is not possible to reach the top of the hill by car, only on foot, (anyway, a cheap taxi service is available), and mainly because the top of the hill is anything but a flat plain. After the entrance, a steep road gets to top along the castle external walls, beside the outer courtyard where the falconry shows are held. At the end of this road, after entering the second castle wall, a long staircase inside the castle body takes the visitor up to the inner courtyard, where there is the starting point of guided tours. It is remarkable that we are now about 50 meters higher then the entrance level, and we saw some elder people having difficult in climbing such a staircase. The ticket includes everything in the castle, that is the falconry show, the castle guided tour and the falconry museum, hosted in the lower part of the castle itself, near the entrance.

In my opinion, the falconry show is good, it is worth not missing it, but it is not really wonderful. For example, I liked a bit more the one we attended in summer 2000 in Montrichard castle, in the Loire valley, France. I´d say that this one is slightly less spectacular, with much less animals, even though more technical, as far as raptor training is concerned.

The guided tour of the castle is very interesting, in spite of the big amount of steps to climb or descend. It takes the visitor from the bottom of underground prisons up to the top of the main tower, where it is possible to admire a XVII century old tower clock, with an over 7 meters long pendulum and, what´s more, perfectly working. Finally, an historical note is given by the guides themselves, who are Middle Age dressed. Before exiting, also the falconry museum is worth a sight. As I wrote before, both Eisriesenwelt and Hohenwerfen are a must visit in this region. Let me suggest not to miss them for any reason !!

There is still something worth seeing in Salzach valley: Gollinger Wasserfall. It is near Golling, in the middle of a pine trees forest, and can be seen after a 20 min walk on a narrow mountain track. It cannot be compared at all with Krimml waterfall, since it is less than 40 m high, but it is a good way to spend a couple of hours. I suppose it would be better in the morning, spotted by sunlight, anyway, even in the incoming late afternoon shadow it is a good natural spectacle.

On Tuesday 14th we have around trip within the lake region E of Salzburg. Among all, we are interested in three of them: Halstatter See, St Wolfgang See end Mondsee. Anyway, while getting from Golling to Hallstatt we take a short diversion to see a small artificial lake, the Gosausee, frow where we can have a beautiful sight on Dachstein glacier.

We spend the morning in Hallstatt, a very fine small village on the lake banks whose visit is highly relaxing. Cars are not allowed, so we had to park outside the city, about 1 km on foot, but the village is absolutely worth such a walk. The main attraction is the parish, very kind in itself and surrounded by a very small cemetery. Since once it was not possible to bury all the citizens, they used to unbury the corpses after ten years from death and keep only the remaining bones in a mall cave. Well, nothing particular, except that ... in order to keep memory of their dead relatives, people used to paint the skull with the dead´s name and some other decoration, so in the cave we could see such a curious exposition of painted skulls. Ok, I agree that it is quite impressive at all, anyway it is anything but macabre and I would suggest such a visit since it is really unique !!

On the opposite, I would strongly suggest not to go to St. Wofgang. Such a village is quite famous, but is very crowded and moreover is almost only full of shops. In my opinion, it is anything but relaxing, and every minute spent in there is a waste of time. Finally, we end our tour at Mondsee, where we enjoy the late afternoon on the lakeshore.

We have still one day left, Thursday 15^th, and we plan to see Burg Mautendorf, a middle age castle over 70 km S of Golling, in Lungau region. Not a good idea at all !! It was claimed to be a middle age life replica, but it is quite poor and not very interesting, moreover after seeing Hohenwerfen and Hohensalzburg fortresses. We had not planned to visit this castle, actually we didn´t know it exists, and now I guess why !!! Well, it is absolutely not worth a visit, unless you are within 5 km, you have already seen every other thing around you and you don´t know how to spend half a day. Maybe it could be something interesting only if one hasn´t visited any other castle or fortress in the surrounding.

With this unlucky choice we end our vacation. On Friday 16^th we get back to Italy on the Tauern autoroute up to Italian border at Tarvisio, and then heading south to the Adriatic see, where we are going to spend the last remained days before coming back home.

Warning: in the prices listed below, the € value has been calculated by me because, by the time of our travel, € pricing was still optional, so some discrepancy may occur in comparison to the real € prices.

What a fine vacation!! We have seen a lot of beautiful places, the weather has been not so bad, in spite of the three rainy days, and the people are very kind. Well, some of the places have been disappointing, it may happen, but the good impressions are overwhelming.

Only one main warning is due: let me remark not to trust on your credit card!! Cash is almost always better!! I got surprised for the cheap prices in camping places, restaurants and supermarkets. On the opposite, again I got surprised for the expensive prices in museums and tourist attractions. Anyway, I´d say that life cost seems to be a slightly cheaper than Italy.