The Salzburg Salzkammergut

A couple of friends wanted to go back to Salzburg and, to make the trip in company... why don't you come too? We looked at each other... give or take, we have already been there 3 or 4 times, the city is beautiful... but yes, let's come! At home we discovered that with this one it would have been the seventh time and so I thought of going back to the Salzkammergut to see its lakes again, basing ourselves in Salzburg for the overnight stays and the evening wandering. The problem was where to park the car overnight, but, after combing the web, the Hotel Ganslhof, at Vogelweiderstraße 6, besides being a stone's throw from the pedestrian area of the Mirabell gardens, turned out to be the only one with a very convenient and large car park in its garden.

Having booked the two non-smoking rooms, on the afternoon of 1 October we arrived in Salzburg, parked the car, dealt with the formalities, luggage in the room and... off for a walk around Salzburg... it felt like being at home, but Salzburg is always beautiful and we gladly went back. Respecting our habits, the first dinner in Salzburg? obviously... at the Stern... savouring the inevitable gulaschsuppe.

Our plan, living a stone's throw from Mestre, foresaw a half-day for the outward journey and a half-day for the return, two days in Salzburg and one day in the Salzkammergut, but that same evening, having all four of us realised that we were walking in an environment now familiar to us, we decided to change everything, accepting my proposal to spend one day in the Salzkammergut and one day in nearby Germany, at Burghausen, a town dominated by the longest castle in Europe, 1,051 m of tower-like buildings, dwellings, churches, workshops, stables, courtyards, arches, defensive walls and whatever else made up the living environment of its inhabitants, nobles, soldiers, craftsmen and servants. Burghausen and the nearby Altötting, the city of churches, are the subject of a dedicated description. On 2 October, a hearty breakfast and we set off for the nearby Salzkammergut.

The weather is still uncertain, but 5 lakes awaited us, the Fuschlsee, the Wolfgangsee, the Traunsee, the Altersee and finally the Mondsee, all linked by a road ring that allows you to follow their shores until you return towards Salzburg. We had two very precise destinations, one the little town of St. Wolfgang for its cog railway that would take us to over 1,700 m to admire the lakes from above, and the other Gmunden, the city of ceramics, where even the bells of the municipal carillon have been made with this material. Being careful to respect the speed limits, given that checks are not lacking, at the Fuschlsee we came across a wedding... all in traditional costume and the bride arrived in a calash where even two trumpeters sat on the box announcing the event. Traditions that have disappeared in our country... a shame, because we have lost a part of our roots.

We set off again towards the Wolfgangsee, where at St. Wolfgang there is a little station and a narrow-gauge railway, the SchafbergBahn, with cog trains that in their two carriages carry tourists along the 5,850 m of track, overcoming a height difference of 1,200 m until reaching the summit of the Schafberg, at an altitude of 1,783 m and from where you enjoy a stupendous panorama, even with the uncertain weather. The view towards the lakes below and the peaks of the nearby Tauern is beautiful, a breathtaking panorama. A rigorously Teutonic lunch at the Haus Schafbergspitze and then... all aboard and down to St. Wolfgang to set off again towards Gmunden.

Having crossed Bad Ischl, a stop at the Traunsee to visit the protruding peninsula where the Traunkirchen stands, a Baroque church dedicated to Maria Krönung, where the famous Fischerkanzel is found, a statuesque representation of Peter, his boat and the fish caught in the net. On the natural monument of Johannesberg there is the chapel of Johannesberg of the same name, whose documents date it back to 1356. We arrive in Gmunden in the late afternoon, but this does not prevent us from observing the Rathaus, the Town Hall with its Glockenspiel, a singular and unique carillon of 24 ceramic bells. Just time to quickly visit the adjoining Stadtpfarrkirche in Kirchenplatz and then continue, now in the dark, towards the last two lakes, the Attersee and the Mondsee, ending our day with the return to Salzburg.

We spent 3 October in Burghausen and Altötting in Germany, the subject of another dedicated description. On 4 October, after the hearty breakfast at the Hotel Ganslhof, we headed to the market of Mozartplatz, in the centre of Salzburg. Having done the last shopping, including the inevitable Salzburg chocolates, the Mozartkugeln and the Mozarttaler, we took the road back towards Italy. Before the two toll tunnels under the Tauern, the Tauertunnel and the Katschbergtunnel, we decided to take the old road that leads from Radstadt to Rennweg am Katschberg, a slightly longer route but one that offers a decidedly more beautiful panorama compared to the fast motorway. The splendid day and the almost non-existent traffic on this stretch of beautiful scenic road gave a very pleasant tone to our return, allowing us to admire in all its beauty the Tauern mountain group.

Back on the motorway, at Villach the weather turned bad, dark clouds were entering Austria coming from Italy and leaving us to guess what we would find. Two more purchases in Austria, the excellent pork at the Gästhaus & Fleischerei Fruhmann in Wernberg and then at the InterSpar in Villach for gulaschsuppe in a jar, würstel and other typical products that you do not find in Italy. Even though the torrential rain encountered in Italy distracted our minds, what we visited on this short holiday in Austria and Germany repaid us fully, because it was truly worth it, since these splendid tourist destinations, the Salzkammergut with St. Wolfgang in Austria and then Burghausen in Germany, being less known than other places frequented by organised tourism, reserved for us some very pleasant surprises with what we were able to admire while visiting them. Have a good trip. Wanda & Giancarlo