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Published: September 5th 2023
Hallstatt
Your National Geographic picture...Because of our shenanigans driving through and taking our time in the Wachau Valley, stopping in Melk and making some more stops along the way, it definitely resulted in us not getting to
SALZBURG until pretty late. Also booked a hotel pretty late in the game and I think there was a festival going on, so hotels were fairly scarce and expensive. So, for just south of $200 I was able to get a couple nights at the
Das Grune Bio-Hotel Zur Post. Pretty low budget and maybe (or maybe not) typical for Europe but there was no air-con and it was literally a sit-down tup with a hand-held shower. Oh well - it is what it is. We survived. We were also driving around and around at 9pm trying to find food and found very little except gas station food - not necessarily the worst option in Europe.
We survived a hot night somehow and the next morning made our way straight to
CAFE TOMASELLI FOR COFFEE and PASTRIES. Another one of those old institutions with a perfect location to just sit down in the morning while you wake up with your first cup of coffee, watching the world go by as everyone is
Cafe Tomaselli
Breakfast delights going about their business. Well coffee and pastries we got. Custard cake with raspberries (ok), croissants (good), yogurt with muesli (good), quiche (good), and the obligatory mélange. Nothing quite like sitting at an outdoor café in the morning enjoying all the goodies as the rest of the world hurries along. Well maybe the only thing that can come close is the little markets they have in the squares with fresh produce from the local farms. Always a delight seeing these and eyeing everything - just wants to make you pack a picnic.
The narrow GETREIDEGASSE STREET was browsed and admired for the little shops, the ARCHITECTURE, and the people before we made it to
MOZART'S BIRTHPLACE which is sort of an obligatory must. So, through the little old streets we walked until we reached it. Up the stairs we climbed with the little one as we are met with item after item that Mozart owned or played - with the most prized possession MOZART'S FIRST VIOLIN. Like Mozart or not or know much about the guy or not - fact is he was beyond gifted with what he did.
Sound of Music fan or not, when you come to
Cafe Tomaselli
Coffee oh coffee Salzburg this is I would say one of the must dos. In my case, Sound of Music is probably a top 5 movie from my wife's childhood so SOUND OF MUSIC TOUR IN SALZBURG was booked. We visited the lake where the house was located. We visited the gazebo, we drove by a couple sites and then we hit the road to the church of the marriage. On the way there we sang all the songs at the top of our lungs (Nikkie anyway) until we made it to the little town and was given 90 minutes or so to walk around. We visited the church, splashed around in fountains, and got some ice cream. The road back was spent with more singing until we were dropped off in front of the
SCHLOSS MIRABELL GARDENS where many scenes were filmed. What an insightful tour where they mention so many little things you can go back and verify when watching the move for the 100th time. We walked around the gardens, took it all in, took pictures, and stared in amazement at the beautiful scenery. Dinner was across the river at Nagele & Strubell. It was outside, busy, and had great views of
Salzburg
Walking the town with the little guy the night traffic and opera houses/ play houses as people walked by in their Sunday best. We had some white wine and rose accompanied by ravioli (good), and chicken w/ a garden salad (good). A good end to a long day.
The next day it was on to
HALLSTATT - one of the prettiest towns in Austria. A little bit of a drive to get there. We had to drive through town since there was no parking, so we drove around the lake to the other side before turning back and stopping at a little parking area where we admired the town, lake, and mountains from a distance. Back in town we were finally able to find parking after looking for quite a while. Due to the location and lack of space, parking is pretty severely limited so beware. Walking through town is pretty quick but there is quite a bit to see. First up was the FISHERMAN'S COTTAGES which are these little wooden boathouses right on the water. HALLSTATT SQUARE is as pretty as it gets with a little fountain and a gorgeous backdrop. Further along you can find a little lookout on the path that looks back
Salzburg
Don't every town have these now? on the town with a great spot for pictures of the town and its CHURCHES. It was about that time of day, so we sat down at
Braugasthot Hallstatt for beers, a fish salad (very saucy and ok), and the fish of the day with potatoes (good). Our final act in town was to take the FUNICULAR UP THE MOUNTAIN for some pretty spectacular views. The café at the top (Panorama restaurant) had horrendous service, but the views were spectacular and the strudel (good) and mélange/ café au lait made up for the lack of service.
It was time to head to our final destination. There were several roads suggested to drive - DRIVE FROM
LIENZ TO SALZBERG, BRUCK TO
HEILIGENBLUT, HEILIGENBLUT TO ZELL AM SEE, etc. Whichever way you cut it the highlight and what they are all trying to tell you is to drive the
GROSSGLOCKNER ROAD. A drive through BRUCK was made quickly and then we headed into the mountains. Oh, and man how beautiful these mountains were. I can't tell you if this road is open in the winter (I am guessing not) so driving this MAY THROUGH NOVEMBER is probably the way to go. The sun
Salzburg
Schloss Mirabell Gardens was just starting to set behind the MOUNTAINS as we started the climb. Little streams everywhere with sheep grazing and FLOWERS everywhere. Up and up we went with one peak after another and views in every direction. The EDELWEISS-SPITZE LOOKOUT provided some gorgeous views on the way. We kept going until we reached the KAISER-FRANZ-JOSEPH-HOHE LOOKOUT, but at this point it was so dark that there was not much to see.
This is where the fun started. I believe after dark you are not able to get back on the road (there is a toll on each end). We booked the hotel pretty late in the day and to be really honest I just figured it was on the other end of the road in a village somewhere. For some unknown reason we decided to actually map it to the hotel and it took us back on the road to one of the higher points (oh yes thank you T-Mobile free international service plan that has not been dropped to this day because it has gotten us out of a lot of tough spots) on the road. We looked at each other and figured this had to be a
Salzburg
Oh his face! mistake. Alas it was not. I somehow booked a hotel high in the mountains - the
Wallackhouse. It was a long day for us, and we did not check in until well after 9 at which point the kitchen was closed and we were starving. They were very gracious getting us a pizza that went really well with a couple local beers. Sleep came fast as we threw open the windows for some nice fresh mountain air.
Breakfast was great and before we left, we made it a point of thanking our hosts again for saving us with dinner - good people. Back to the lookout we went for some gorgeous views through the clouds and raindrops with GLACIERS in the background and little streams running down the face of the mountain as far as you can see. A stop for strudel and coffee was called for to admire the views for a little longer. We headed back down the mountain and did a quick little drive-through of HEILIGENBLUT at the bottom. The ROAD OF THE GLACIERS was definitely a trip highlight and a must drive. And that is kind of the end of our Austrian adventure.
Good Salzburg
And off we go - Hallstatt was gorgeous
- the Austrian Alps were more beautiful than we could have imagined
Bad - the hotel situation in Salzburg was not great, but it was clean so won't complain too much
- other than that, maybe the fact that we had aa harder time finding parking in Hallstatt, but again that is minor.
Advice - nothing stands out honestly other than it would have been nice to spend some more time in all three places so maybe allocate more than a day to each 😊 - I know I was a little nervous driving the GROSSGLOCKNER ROAD and really more from just a planning perspective (i.e. I knew there was a toll and I thought you had to be out the gates at a certain time so just make sure you have your ducks lined-up on this one before driving it).
- we used Panorama for the Sound of Music tour and it appears they were the best tour company for this
- we had no idea and it was purely dumb-luck that it work out but if you drive the GrossGlockner road stay in the mountains
Salzburg
The Sound of Music mansion - the air is second to none
This finishes off the Austrian journey - part 2 in the books. Three things to check off in our books including Grossglockner Road and Hallstatt. So, 347 down and 5,434 to go.
Til' next time from the land of Mozart and the Sound of Music
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