#6 The Wachau

Another of Austria's wine regions, the Wachau offers a beautiful drive past terraced vineyards along the Danube from Grein in the west to Krems at the eastern end.

Best Towns:

• Drnstein
• Grein
• Krems
• Melk
• Weissenkirchen

Top Sights:

• Melks Benedictine Abbey with its fabulous church and library
• Krems Wine Museum
• Ruined castle at Drnstein

Suggested Activities:

• Bike the flat path along the Danube
• Hike up to Drnsteins ruined castle where Richard the Lionhearted was imprisoned
• Walk Drnsteins charming Hauptstrasse

Places to Stay:

• Hotel Richard Lwenherz, A-3601 Drnstein, +43/02711 222, fax 222 13, email: loewenherz@netway.at,

• Hotel Goldenes Kreuz, A-4360 Grein, tel. +43/07268/316, fax 3168

Food Suggestions:

• Stadt Melk, Hauptplatz 1, Melk, tel. +43/02752/524 75, fax 524 75-19

#7 Gasteiner Valley

Far off the beaten track for most American tourists, are Badgastein and Bad Hofgastein, in the Gasteiner Valley straight south of Salzburg. Though they are about as different as two Austrian towns can be, because of their proximity we are considering them together.

Badgastein reeks of another time the late 19th century when its pretty setting, hot springs and radon tunnels attracted Europe's royal families, especially the Habsburgs. Its situation, a few hundred feet above the valley floor, laid out along the curve of the valleys end, is especially appealing. The main street hugs the crescent-shaped hillside like a horseshoe and in the heart of town, slashing through the middle of that horseshoe, a roaring waterfall blasts it way wildly down the steep hillside. Continue on around the horseshoe and the road becomes Kaiser-Wilhelm Promenade, a wide, flat walking path that meanders past hotels, shops and crumbling Belle poque buildings.

Though it lacks the faded, but genteel charm of its higher neighbor, Bad Hofgastein, on the valley floor is a less expensive but livelier alternative.

Top Sight:

• Kaiser Wilhelm Promenade

Suggested Activities:

• Walk the Kaiser Wilhelm Promenade to the Gasteiner Hohenweg and follow it along the flank of the mountain to Bad Hofgastein. Return by bus.

Places to Stay:

• Hotel Grüner Baum, , A-5640 Badgastein, tel. +42/06434/ 25 160, fax 25 16 25,
  email: info@grunerbaum.com, web: www.grunerbaum.com/index_en.html,

• Landhaus Gletschermühle, Gletschermühlestr. 7, A-5640 Badgastein, tel. +43/06434/20 970, fax 23 80 30.
  email: info@gletschermuehle.at, web: www.gletschermuehle.at/

Food Suggestions:

• Villa Solitude, Kaiser Franz Josef Str. 16, Badgastein, A-5640, tel. + 43/06434/25 160, fax 25 16 25

• Hotel-Café Austria, Bad Hofgastein, tel. 06432/6223

#8 Salzkammergut Lakes

Austria's region of lakes, just east of Salzburg, where seemingly every town has a see (pronounced zay) suffix, has long been a favorite for Sommerfrische, the old Austrian term for traditional extended summer vacations in the countryside.

The principal lakes are Fuschlsee, Mondsee, Attersee, St. Wolfgangsee and the Traunsee. In summer, they are crisscrossed by a variety of passenger craft while cog railways chug up mountainsides. There are also many back roads to explore and endless miles of walking paths.

Bad Ischl, though not on any of the lakes, is a famous spa and for many years the fashionable summer home of Emperor Franz Josef.

Other upscale resorts are St. Gilgen and Mondsee. Attersee is less expensive but still charming. Gmunden, at the northern tip of the Traunsee, is popular with artists and musicians

Best Towns:

• Attersee
• Bad Ischl
• Gmunden
• Mondsee
• St. Gilgen
• St. Wolfgang

Suggested Activities:

• See Gustav Mahler's home in Steinbach and the Gustav Klimt house in Seewalchen. Both towns are on the Attersee
• In Bad Ischl, see Emperor Franz-Josef's Imperial Villa and the villa of composer Franz Lehar.
• In Attersee, board the Attersee-Schiffart for a lake tour including an onboard lunch or dinner the latter with live music.

Places to Stay: 

• Hotel Seehof, A-5311, Loibichl (near Mondsee), tel. +43/06232/5031, fax 503151,
  email: seehofnextra.de, web: www.seehotel.org/

• Hotel Attersee, Hauptstrasse 18, A-4864 Attersee, tel. +43/07666/7864, fax 7864 91,
  email: hoteloberndorfer@rtk.at

Food Suggestion:

• 1er Beisl Landungsplatz 6, Attersee, tel. +43/07666/7877

#9 Hallstatt

This tiny, unique village on the steep side of a Dachstein foothill above the waters of the solemn Hallsttersee, is traversed by one narrow road restricted to residents and delivery vehicles which is regulated by five-minute stoplights at each end of town. Its train station is on the lakes opposite shore. Hotels and food are simple and there is little nightlife.

Top Sights:

• Parish Church
• Chapel of St. Michael and its charnel house packed with skulls and bones (occupants of the tiny cemetery are exhumed and moved to the charnel house after just a few years in the ground)
• Heimatmuseum

Suggested Activities:

• Visit the local salt mines
• Electric boat trip on the lake
• Excursion to Dachstein Caves

Places to Stay:

• Hotel Grüner Baum, Marktplatz 104, A-4830, tel. +43/06134/8263, fax 8420,
  web: www.hallstatt.net/gruenerbaum/unten-eng.htm

• Haus Sarstein, A-4830 Hallstatt 83, tel. +43/06134/8217

Food Suggestion:

• Dine at your hotel.

#10 Lienz

A beautifully restored medieval city center, good weather, proximity to one of Europe's great mountain roads, and the influence of nearby Italy are this southern Austrian towns principal attractions.

Top Sights:

• Bruck Castle and its Museum of East Tyrol and Gothic Chapel
• Parish church of St. André

Suggested Activities:

• On the way south to Lienz, drive the Grossglockner Road, which ascends to more than 8,000 feet
• Have a picnic on the shores of Tristacher See, four kilometers south of the town
• Visit Aguntum, a Roman settlement dating to the 1st century

Places to Stay:

• Romantik Hotel Traube, Hauptplatz 14, A-9900 Lienz, tel. +43/04852/64444, fax: 64 1 84,
  email: hotel.traube@tirol.com 
• Haidenhof Gasthof Hotel, Grafendorfstrasse 12, A-9900 Lienz, tel. +43/04852/62440, fax 62440-6,email: info@haidenhof.com

Food Suggestion:

• Mammas, Hauptplatz 14, tel. +43/04852/644 44

(February 2002)

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