Austria Tour

I entered Austria in my Fiat Tipo via Dobbiaco-Prato alla Drava and visited the High Tauern National Park. Unfortunately, from the Grossglockner glacier onwards, a thick fog prevented me from seeing anything until the descent into the opposite valley, where I reached Krimml. This is classic Austria, with perfectly tended meadows and neat houses with steep roofs. I slept in a typical inn complete with beer tankards and a bearded Tyrolean playing the accordion. The following morning I visited the famous Krimml waterfalls and the Schwaz mine, which you enter on a little train through a narrow tunnel. In the afternoon a stop in Innsbruck, where I visited the historic centre with the famous Golden Roof and the great hall full of statues of Kings and Emperors, as well as an imperial residence set on a hill.

In the evening a short stop in the typical Tyrolean town of Hall in Tirol and then a transfer, passing through a short stretch of Germany, to Werfen, where I slept in a guesthouse. The following morning I visited the ice cave, to get to which you have to hike on foot, take a cable car and then another lift. In the afternoon the enchanting Salzburg with its fortress, from which you enjoy a fine panorama of the city, the churches with spires, one of which preserves a cliffside village, and above all the memory of Mozart. The shops are beautiful and the metal signs projecting over the main street put on a fine display. From here I set off for a tour of the Czech Republic, but I'll talk about that in the itinerary of the same name.

On the way back I made a stop in Vienna, visiting the historic centre, the other, much more beautiful residence whose name I don't remember, rich in greenery, flowers and monuments (the neoclassical Gloriette arch is enchanting) and the imperial Hofburg Palace. I also visited the majestic St Stephen's Cathedral with its characteristic polychrome roof and its steep bell tower. Vienna is very beautiful and rich in monuments but very sad and austere. I still consider it an essential stop on any journey through Europe. I didn't fail to eat a Sacher Torte in the famous pastry shop in the centre. Here my Austrian tour ended, but for the record I must say that on previous trips I had been to Bregenz on Lake Constance, Villach, I had slept in Hainburg an der Donau and made a short stop in Vienna (see the relevant itineraries).

I have often passed through Klagenfurt and Heiligenkreuz on my way to Eastern Europe.